《Saijaku Hakugai Made Sareta Kedo, Chou Nankan Meikyuu de 10 Mannen Shuugyoushita Kekka,》 Volume 1 - Prologue Act 1: Labyrinth Training Prologue Temple of Fortress City Lamour¡ª For children who had turned thirteen this year, today¡¯s event was going to be the turning point of their lives. It was the day they would find out what their gifts were. ¡¸You¡¯re also nervous, right, Kaa-kun?¡¹ An adorable girl with shoulder-length blue hair looked up at me with her usual gentle expression as if seeking an agreement with me. Contrary to her words, this girl didn¡¯t seem to be nervous at all. She is Reina Groat, my childhood friend. ¡¸Y-Yeah.¡¹ We would receive God¡¯s blessing today. Last night, I was so high strung that I couldn¡¯t sleep all night. ¡¸Rena has been wondering what Rena will get in her blessi~ng. She¡¯s fine even if she receives the ¡°princess¡± gift, but please spare her from receiving the ¡°Rabbi~t¡± gift.¡¹ She said to me as she turned round and round on her spot. Naturally, I knew that she was joking. She just wanted to look cute. But well, she might really feel that way. I mean, her airheaded nature was an exact copy of my mother¡¯s nature. ¡¸Well, I think getting ¡°princess¡± is pretty much impossible. And there¡¯s no rabbit gift in the first place.¡¹ I mean, that¡¯s royalty. Rena¡¯s remark was by no means disrespectful to royalty. However, I¡¯ve known her ever since I can remember. I know that she loves to be spoiled by others like a princess, so I didn¡¯t feel it was unnatural for her to become one. Actually, I could hear a muffled laugh from the child who had lined up behind Rena and happened to hear her words. ¡¸Really? Too bad¡­¡¹ When I patted Rena, who dropped her shoulder in disappointment, she shut her eyes as if she were enjoying it. ¡¸What about you, Kaa-kun¡¹ ¡¸Uhm, maybe¡­ something like swordsmanship.¡¹ It was a big fat lie. I don¡¯t want swordsmanship or any gift related to swords. My grandfather wishes for me to receive a swordsmanship gift so that I can become the successor of the Heineman family¡¯s dojo. However, what I wish for is something completely different. I want a gift that would help me become an outstanding hunter like my mother. Hunter¨Dthey are the pioneers who explore unexplored regions or dangerous areas or subjugate dangerous monsters in this world. It was an occupation where one would often brush with death. Therefore, a hunter needed necessary gifts to help them in their jobs. To be honest, I don¡¯t have even a bit of talent in swordsmanship. My memorization ability is below that of the average of a normal child of my age. The same goes for my strength. In fact, I am the weakest amongst the children in my age group. Moreover, there is Roman, who is like a mass of talents amongst my relatives. That¡¯s why I think it¡®s okay to appoint him as the dojo¡¯s successor. Suddenly, I heard a loud cheer from the inside of the temple. It seems we¡¯ve got a rare gift holder this year. ¡¸Curiou~s?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah.¡¹ I appropriately replied to Rena¡¯s inquiry while absentmindedly looking at the temple. A few minutes later¨D ¡¸KAI! RENA!¡¹ A beautiful girl with long, wavy blonde hair ran toward us. ¡¸Ah! Lyla-chan!¡¹ Rena, who was standing beside me, greeted the new girl with the same, angelic smile as before. This blonde girl is also one of my childhood friends, Lyla Hellner. She¡¯s the only ranked girl of the big dojo of Heineman sword style in Lamour. She is also my fiancee. ¡¸How was the result?¡¹ ¡¸As expected! Not too far off from the prediction.¡¹ Lyla shrugged in disappointment. She was the same as me; her future path has been predetermined. And the gift she has received is the very testament of that. That¡¯s why she feels a bit disappointed. While I pondered about what to say to Lyla, two men came out from the temple. One of them was a brown-haired youth with handsome and graceful features. The other one was a tall young man with long, blue hair tied behind him. When I saw lines of adults wearing pure white armor following the two of them, I approached them while tilting my head in puzzlement. ¡¸Roman, Keith, are you by chance¨D¡¹ ¡¸Lyla-san, my gift is ¡¾Spear King¡¿.¡¹ Before I finished my question, Roman pushed me aside and spoke to Lyla. ¡¸I know. I saw it already.¡¹ ¡¸I-I see!¡¹ After sending a triumphant glance at me, Roman looked at the adults in white armor who had lined up behind him. One of those adults stepped out of their formation. ¡¸You¡¯re Lyla Hellner, I presume. I¡¯m from the Saint King Sorcery Knight Order. I¡¯ve heard about your gift. My apologies, but may I ask a little bit of your time?¡¹ He called out to Lyla. ¡¸But, I¡¯m different from Roman. My gift isn¡¯t a rare one.¡¹ ¡¸I know, but you¡¯re the daughter of the Hellner family. Anyhow, you¡¯re someone who has received proper combat training every day. When such a person receives the ¡¾Advanced Swordsman¡¿ gift, it¡¯s bound to be a big deal. Naturally, you¡¯ve no obligation nor you¡¯ll be forced to go against your will. It¡¯s kinda like a job offer for you.¡¹ The old knight in white armor bowed to Lyla. Saint King Sorcery Knight Order is the most elite knight order in the Ameria kingdom. With their authority, they should be able to force Lyla to join their ranks, but when one of their members bowed his head like that, it was even more difficult for Lyla to refuse their offer. ¡¸I understand.¡¹ Lyla chewed her lips for a moment after she sent a glance to Rena and me. She finally gave in to the old man¡¯s request. ¡¸This isn¡¯t something to talk about in such a place. Oh right! Our knight order also has an office in this Lamour. Let¡¯s talk there!¡¹ After quickly speaking, the old man in white armor headed out of this place. ¡¸Let¡¯s go together, Lyla-san.¡¹ ¡¸Ye¡­ ah.¡¹ Although Lyla repeatedly looked at us with a reluctant expression, she finally left this place at Roman¡¯s urging. £¨Sorry, Kai! Roman has been too excited since he learned about his gift.£© Keith apologized for Roman¡¯s actions with a whisper while clapping his hands together. £¨Don¡¯t worry about us! Look, you¡¯re about to be left behind by them.£© "" Hearing that, Keith Steinberg hurriedly looked at the two of them. He nodded to me for the last time, then chased after the group. ¡¸Let¡¯s go Kai-kun!¡¹ I was looking at the place where Lyla had disappeared amongst the crowd of people when Rena¡¯s voice snapped me out of my daze. Since it was our turn next, the crystal released a blinding light the moment Rena touched it to receive God¡¯s blessing. And then¨D ¡¸S-Sword¡­ S-saint.¡¹ The moment one of the priests muttered these words, the entire temple erupted in turmoil. ¡¸No way! After Spear King and Archmage, we got a Sword Saint too! Just what in the world is wrong with the children this year!¡¹ The knight from Saint King Sorcery Knight Order who was beside the priest couldn¡¯t hide his excitement either. It was natural. Sword Saint was the symbol of pride for any swordsman. Just like Sage and Hero, when the Demon race had risen in power, Sword Saint had been a symbol of a heaven¡¯s chosen person who was bound to fight the demon race along with the Sage and the Hero. In short, Rena was¨D ¡¸This means that the advent of the Demon Race is just around the corner.¡¹ The knight from Saint King Sorcery Knight Order¡¯s muttered with an extremely anxious look on his face. ¡¸This is a temple. Please don¡¯t say something that may cause mass panic in the public!¡¹ The priest warned the knight to shut up for now. ¡¸M-My bad!¡¹ The knight snapped out, hurriedly shut his mouth, and bowed to the priest. ¡¸Well then, next.¡¹ My heartbeat accelerated as I arrived in front of the priest. The priest recited an aria and placed a talisman on my forehead. Then, my body shone with a dim light. Suddenly, I felt like my body had become far heavier than before as if a full plate mail had been placed on me. Is this a kind of restriction before I¡¯ll receive a revelation? Strange! How come I¡¯ve never heard about such a restriction before. Despite the heaviness, I kept walking up the stairs while thinking about such matters. The moment I reached the altar, I placed my hand on the crystal. ¡¸Eh?¡¹ Even though the crystal usually shone when someone placed their hand on top of it, it didn¡¯t show any reaction this time. After frowning for a while, the priest peeked into the crystal. Then, he raised his face and looked at me with an expression as if he were looking at trash. ¡¸The Most Incompetent In This World¡¹ He spat out those words. Volume 1 - CH 1 Act 1-1: The Most Incompetent Person In This World Fortress City Lamour is a mid-sized city with a population of around five thousand. It¡¯s an extremely common city in the Holy Amelia Kingdom. However, Lamour has one thing that cities in this world rarely possess. Many children born in this city had special gifts that represented the turning point of history. Moreover, a few years ago, the Amelia kingdom was facing an unprecedented crisis because of the invasion of one of the four demon kings¨DAshmedia. That event led the first princess and the saint of the Amelia kingdom, Rosemary Loto Amelia, to summon the Hero and the Sage. Moreover, the children born with Archmage, Spear King, and Sword Saint gifts all came from this city of Lamour. And one of these people, the one with the Spear King gift, is my opponent for today¡¯s mock combat. ¡¸ORAORAORA, Can you see that!? INCOMPETENT!!!¡¹ I just barely defended against the lunges of the wooden pole in a brown-haired youth. The pole was aiming for my head, chest, and abdomen. Moreover, even when I said ¡°defending,¡± the youth only attacked with one hand as if to make fun of my powerlessness. Nevertheless, I did my best to dodge his attacks. ¡¸You¡¯re wrong, Roman. He¡¯s not incompetent. He¡¯s the most incompetent in this world!!¡¹ The friend of that brown-haired youth called Roman, a handsome blonde-haired young man, jeered at me. It was followed by sneers from all the male students who were training in the dojo. ¡¸ORAORAORA, CHANCE!¡¹ Roman¡¯s voice became even louder as he thrust his wooden pole toward my forehead. He easily knocked me out. When I regained consciousness, I felt a stinging pain on my forehead along with a cold, comfortable hand on my cheek. I opened my eyes and saw a beautiful-haired girl looking at my face with a worried expression. ¡¸Lyla?¡¹ When I tried to move my head, I realized that we were under the shade of a tree in the corner of the mock combat arena. I heard the shouts of the students who were training in the dojo next to the arena. ¡¸Kai, are you okay? You got hit pretty hard on your forehead.¡¹ She asked me while waving her long blonde hair to the side. This girl is Lyla Hellner. We were once engaged, but our engagement was cancelled after her family learned that my gift was ¡¾The Most Incompetent in This World¡¿. ¡¸Yeah, my forehead swelled a bit.¡¹ Lyla, my childhood friend, took a closer look at my forehead. When I saw the huge, twin peaches hidden beneath her black training clothes coming closer and closer to me as she inspected my forehead, I felt the heat passing on my cheeks. I rose in a hurry, but I ended up touching the peaches a little bit since she was still checking on my forehead. After I received ¡¾The Most Incompetent in This World¡¿, my physical strength has taken a nosedive. It doesn¡¯t improve no matter how much physical training I do. Right now, I¡¯m weaker than even untrained women and children. It¡¯s the reality of my current situation. That¡¯s why I¡¯m really lucky that the mock battle only ended up with a little swelling on my forehead. Lyla heaved a sigh and touched my forehead. She¡¯s really worried about me. ¡¸Are you really going to the Royal Capital?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, I almost have no reason to stay in this city anymore.¡¹ Maybe since Lamour often gives birth to many excellent gift holders, the people who get trash gifts, like me, receive a cold treatment. It¡¯s really tough since, in the Amelia kingdom, gifts decide your future. Gifts are everything. Whether you¡¯re going to be a winner in life or a loser, your gift decides it all. It seems my mother learned how I¡¯m being treated in this city. She went as far as to order me to come to the royal capital. ¡¸Then, are you going to look for a job in the royal capital?¡¹ ¡¸It looks like my mother is planning to send me to study at the ¡¾World Sorcery Institution (Babel)¡¿. I mean, look, it¡¯s a neutral city, and I have a bigger chance to find employment over there.¡¹ The neutral academy city ¡¾Babel¡¿ is a huge academy city composed of several schools. Children of nobles from all over the world go to that academy. It¡¯s a great place for learning even for someone with a trash gift like me. After all, even the tribe that isn¡¯t blessed with gifts is also studying there. ¡¸I see, Babel, huh¡­¡¹ To my surprise, Lyla nodded upon hearing my answer. At first, she showed strong rejection upon knowing that she was going to be separated from Rena and me, her childhood friends. I guess she has already sorted out her feelings. ¡¸I¡¯ll send a letter once I¡¯ve reached there.¡¹ ¡¸That¡¯s unnecessary. I mean¨D¡¹ Even though it seemed she was about to say something more with a gentle smile, she suddenly shut her mouth. ¡¸Well, I shall take my leave since I have to sort my luggage in my room. See you again, Kai.¡¹ ¡¸Y-Yeah. See you later.¡¹ I was quite puzzled due to the strange nuance in her parting words, but I still rose and raised my right hand. Well then, let¡¯s visit grandfather for my last greeting. The moment I thought that¡ª ¡¸OI!¡¹ As if to replace Lyla, who just left, Roman called out to me. He was not even trying to hide the hint of threat in his voice. ¡¸Uhm? is something the matter?¡¹ ¡¸I¡¯m the gift holder of the Spear King!¡¹ And here I thought that he had something else to say to me. It turned out to be just the usual. ¡¸Yeah, I know that.¡¹ ¡¸You¡¯re no longer engaged with Lyla-san! I might come from a branch family, but I¡¯m still a member of the Heineman family. I have the right to marry her. No, it¡¯s not just me!¡¹ Yes, Roman is my cousin. It seems he has had a huge crush on Lyla since a long time ago. That¡¯s why he never tried to hide his sense of rivalry toward me, who was engaged to Lyla at that time. Roman¡¯s gift is the ¡¾Spear King¡¿. It isn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that he¡¯s one of this kingdom¡¯s greatest future war potential. Naturally, it¡¯s the same for Rena and Keith, and the Amelia kingdom¡¯s government has arranged for them to receive proper combat training in the royal capital. Roman had also received the same offer as them, but he refused and decided to keep training in Lamour. The government of Amelia kingdom had initially insisted he accept that offer, but when they realized that nothing could change his mind, they had approved his stay in Lamour as long as he didn¡¯t neglect his training. Maybe, the reason Roman refused the government¡¯s offer is that Lyla also refused their offer, and he expects her to stay in Lamour. ¡¸That¡¯s for Lyla to decide.¡¹ As soon as the Hellner family had cancelled Lyla¡¯s engagement with me, Lyla had declared that she¡¯d decide her husband on her own. It seems she was against the old custom of her family from the very beginning. Thus, she might¡¯ve been using the cancellation of her engagement with me as a trigger to distance herself from her family. ¡¸Quite confident, aren¡¯t you? Do you really think that Lyla-san will choose an incompetent like you?¡¹ ¡¸Nope. What I feel about her is different from what you feel about her. You¡¯re just overly worrying about this matter.¡¹ Lyla and I had been raised like siblings. I mean, even now, both of us are still fairly bewildered like the first time when we had learned that we were going to get married to each other. ¡¸What¡¯s that¨D¡¹ ¡¸ROMAN, Don¡¯t waste your time talking to that trash and go back to training!¡¹ A burly man with cropped hair and split chin scolded Roman in a loud voice while sending a scornful look to me. He¡¯s one of the dojo¡¯s instructors¨DShiga. People do change, huh. He always used to look at me with a kind expression until I received my gift. ¡¸Instructor Shiga, you¡¯re right. Why should we waste our precious time talking with that drop-out, incompetent human?¡¹ The handsome, blonde-haired young man who stood beside instructor Shiga, Riku, admonished Roman while sneering at me. ¡¸Dammit! I know it! Do you hear me, don¡¯t approach Lyla-san anymore!¡¹ After throwing that half-threatening remark, Roman trotted back to the dojo. I heaved a sigh, then went toward my grandfather¡¯s room. "" ¡¸Thank you very much for the kindness you¡¯ve shown to me.¡¹ When I straightened my posture after saying that, my grandfather apologized to me. ¡¸Sorry, all my attempts to help you were crushed so thoroughly.¡¹ ¡¸For what?¡¹ ¡¸The matter of your engagement with Lyla, and the matter of your expulsion.¡¹ ¡¸My relationship with Lyla is more like that between siblings. So I feel nothing wrong with the cancellation of our engagement. Moreover, it has always been my dream to visit Babel and the Royal Capital. That¡¯s why I honestly don¡¯t think I¡¯m in the loss.¡¹ It¡¯s how I truly feel. I used to secretly dream of taking the hunter examination to become a hunter, then go to the capital of hunters, Babel. That¡¯s why, for me, this expulsion is like a dream come true. Regarding the matter of my engagement with Lyla, she herself is most likely gonna use this chance for a change of pace. ¡¸You can always come back whenever you want, you know!¡¹ ¡¸No, I don¡¯t belong to this place. I mea¨D¡¹ ¡¸I said that you should at least come back once in a while!¡¹ My grandfather yelled at me and left the room before I could even reply to him. His anger was only natural. I mean, he has always been raising me as the next head of the family ever since I was young. Even when I turned out to be a failure or an incompetent person lower than trash in other people¡¯s eyes, his love for me as his grandson didn¡¯t change even one bit. I bowed again, feeling another deep sense of gratitude to my grandpa. Volume 1 - CH 2 Act 1-2: Departure to a New Journey Early in the next morning, I left my house along with my belongings and headed toward the south gate of Fortress City Lamour, specifically toward the waiting place for the coach. When I reached there, I saw around twenty-thirty people waiting in front of several luxurious carriages. Amongst them was an extremely beautiful pink-haired girl. Clad in a white dress, she looked as if a goddess herself had descended in the mortal realm. Raising the cuff of her skirt, she smiled at me and greeted me. ¡¸You must be Kai Heineman. I¡¯m Rosemary, your fellow traveler on this journey to the Royal Capital. Please call me Rose.¡¹ Rosemary, huh! She has the same name as the Saintess of this kingdom. Well, it might be just a coincidence, I guess. ¡¸Yes, my regards to you.¡¹ I also nodded at her, but then¡­ ¡¸You incompetent bastard, how dare you!¡¹ A red-haired woman clad in white armor, who stood behind Rose, seized my collar with an enraged expression. ¡¸Anna! Stop at once! To begin with, I was the one who requested to travel with him. Your rude action is only smearing mud on the Sword Saint¡¯s and my faces!¡¹ ¡¸M-My deepest apologies!!¡¹ Rose let out an extremely harsh remark. I couldn¡¯t imagine a woman with such a delicate frame could say these harsh words. As soon as Rose rebuked her, the red-haired woman let go of my collar. The one Rose referred to as the Sword Saint was my grandpa. He had arranged my carriage to the royal capital. I had no idea why he did that, but I know that he meant no harm to me. That¡¯s why I shouldn¡¯t have met any problems along the way¡­ or so it was supposed to be. ¡¸Rose-sama, Anna only did that because of her loyalty to you. Please forgive her.¡¹ The bearded man beside Rose, who had worn a pure white jabot on his black dress, came forward. He placed his hand in front of his chest and tried to persuade Rose. ¡¸I understand!¡¹ After saying those words, Rose hit her cheeks with her palms, and her smile returned to her face. It seemed that her sense of value was closer to us, the commoners. She might need to act with dignity as befitting of her status. However, doing that could¡¯ve resulted in her accumulating a lot of stress. ¡¸Well then, let¡¯s depart.¡¹ Rose seized my right hand and forcefully pulled me into the carriage. Naturally, the people around us looked at me as if I were their parents¡¯ enemy. Seeing this, I could only heave a deep sigh and feel a sense of resignation. === TN: Next release 15/07/2021(It¡¯s long after all) Volume 1 - CH 3 Act 1-3: The Situation of the Other Two Childhood Friends Since our departure, one week has passed. The journey from Lamour to the Royal Capital will take at least two weeks. We¡¯re taking a break as the sun has gone down. Currently, I have lined up to receive the rationed dinner. ¡¸Only¡­ this?¡¹ I reflectively asked when I saw that the portion I got from the middle-aged cook-like man was only a piece of hard, black bread. Surely, I might be staying in the same coach as Rose and the others, but I had heard from my grandpa that he had already paid my travel expenses beforehand to the merchant. Therefore, there was no reason for me to keep my silence upon receiving this kind of treatment. ¡¸This is the order from Lord Fracton. Now get lost! You¡¯re blocking the line!¡¹ The middle-aged, cook-like man waved his hand to drive me away as if I were not worth his time. Fracton was the proud-looking bearded man who had advised Rose before we departed from Lamour. He hates me and never misses the chance to speak ill about me on this journey. Even I think that his hate toward me looks so childish. Nevertheless, most of Rose¡¯s attendants were also treating me almost the same way as him. Therefore, I gave up trying to protest against them. When I returned to my tent, someone kicked me on the back, and I fell forward. ¡¸OI INCOMPETENT! How dare you hit me!¡¹ A bearded, plump, old swordsman kicked my stomach with a vein bulged on his forehead. ¡¸GUH!¡¹ I couldn¡¯t breathe for a moment. At the next moment, a dull pain assailed my body. ¡¸Are you trying to infect me with your filthy presence too, huuuuh!?¡¹ I could only curl up like a turtle when the man was about to kick me again. The heck, if you don¡¯t want to get infected, then don¡¯t come to make trouble for me. It seems this old man has the mentality of a child who didn¡¯t grow up properly. Even the nearby attendants didn¡¯t try to stop this extremely unreasonable violence. I thought they were rotten from the bottom of my heart. After who knows how many time he kicked me¨D ¡¸Stop at once!¡¹ The rain of kicks finally stopped when an angry young woman shouted at the swordsman. When I raised my face, I saw the angry face of the red-haired woman. She put her hand on the old, plump swordsman¡¯s shoulder. ¡¸OI ANNA, are you trying to protect this apostate, who is lower than trash!?¡¹ The old swordsman shouted at the red-haired woman as blue veins bulged on his forehead, ¡¸I¡¯m not doing this to protect him. I¡¯m just doing my job since he¡¯s Rose-sama¡¯s guest!¡¹ The red-haired woman who didn¡¯t back down was one of Rose¡¯s attendants, Anna. As the two of them glared at each other, a voice rang out. ¡¸Who made this ruckus!?¡¹ A blue-haired man with an unshaved beard walked toward us. When the old and plump swordsman saw this, he clicked his tongue. He spat on the ground in front of me and headed toward the cook to receive his dinner. ¡¸T-Thanks.¡¹ I bowed to thank Anna for her help. ¡¸If not for Rose-sama¡¯s order, I wouldn¡¯t have come to save you! Now, go back to your tent immediately!¡¹ However, she left as soon as she said those words. The blue-haired man with the unshaved beard had a great sword on his back. He passed by Anna¡¯s side as she left and arrived in front of me. Then, after staring at me for a while, he looked at the other attendants around us like a falcon looking at their prey. ¡¸You people better explain yourselves later!¡¹ He spoke to them in a voice that sent chills running down my spine. The attendant who was dressed in white armor left with a terrified look on his face as if he were running away from the blue-haired swordsman. This blue-haired swordsman was called Al-san, and he was the manager of Rose¡¯s attendants. He was also one of the few people who treated me like a normal human. ¡¸It seems our people are bringing trouble for you again, Kai-kun. My deepest apologies for this.¡¹ Al-san bowed to me. ¡¸N-No, it doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯m used to this kind of treatment.¡¹ That¡¯s right. Even back in Lamour, it was normal for the owner of a trash gift like me to receive such unjustified treatment. Such treatment was common especially in the Holy Amelia kingdom, the place where people¡¯s faith toward the Holy God of Martial arts, Ares, was strong. Although this faith wasn¡¯t that extreme back in my hometown, Lamour, the gift bestowed by God Ares was treated as something that defined the value of people. In short, as I had received ¡¾The Most Incompetent in this World¡¿ gift, I was treated like a worthless human in this world. After all, it seemed as if God had declared that I was an apostate. Well, I had never done something like that though. I mean, I was thirteen years old. Whether it was the old swordsman who kicked me before, or Anna, who was scorning at me, or the other attendants who chose to become a bystander while I became a target of unreasonable violence, everything only happened because I was regarded as an apostate by God due to the gift I received. Al-san gritted his teeth upon hearing my reply. ¡¸Next time, I¡¯ll carry your meal to your tent.¡¹ He made that suggestion with a stern look on his face. He was not allowing me to say no. ¡¸No! There¡¯s no need to go that far for me¨D¡¹ ¡¸Kai-kun, you shouldn¡¯t hide your feelings like that.¡¹ After saying that, Al-san went toward the cook-like middle-aged man. Rose¡¯s attendants quickly opened a path for him. ¡¸Give him the proper meal that he should receive.¡¹ Al-san spoke in a calm voice when he arrived in front of the cook-like middle-aged man. ¡¸B-But, Lord Fracton¨D¡¹ ¡¸ARE YOU DEAF!? I said, give him his proper meal!!!¡¹ Al-san seized the cook-like man by his collar and glared at him while shouting those words. ¡¸R-r-right away!¡¹ After screaming like a baby, the cook-like man gave me a wooden tray with a proper meal. ¡¸Be grateful that I only gave you shameless people a proper education this time. Don¡¯t think that I¡¯ll be so kind to warn you if you do this same sh*t again.¡¹ Leaving behind those words, Al-san went into the tent of the nobleman called Francton with a demonic expression on his face. Seeing that, I brought my meal into my tent. ¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô The mountain trail of Silke great forest! A few days later, we entered the mountain trail of the Silke great forest. Currently, we were camping on one of several camping sites along the mountain trail. "" Ever since that incident, Al-san kept bringing my meals to my tent. Moreover, I couldn¡¯t see the blatant hatred of Rose¡¯s attendants, at least not on the surface. Nevertheless, they still avoided me, and the look in their eyes when they saw me was still the same as before. However, the disappearance of their blatant hatred toward me was truly a blessing on my side. Good grief, my life has been completely turned upside-down after I received my gift. Well, I rarely used to get along with other people. However, even the attitudes of those who I regarded as friends until now had completely changed as soon as they knew about my gift. They had started to speak ill about me being an incompetent apostate. Although I was hurt at first upon receiving such treatment, Lyla, Rena, and Keith were there for me. The three of them treated me like before. ¡¸I wonder what Rena and Keith are doing right now.¡¹ When it was confirmed that both Rena and Keith had received rare gifts, namely ¡®Sword Saint¡¯ and ¡®Archmage,¡¯ they had both been brought to the Royal Capital to receive proper training. At first, both of them had firmly refused to go to the Royal Capital, but they realized later that they were different from Roman, who had received proper combat training from a young age. Therefore, they had no choice but to go to the Royal Capital due to the unique characteristics of their gifts. Keith¡¯s gift was ¡®Archmage,¡¯ a gift geared for magic. Unfortunately, Lamour was famous for its martial arts; if he stayed in Lamour, he wouldn¡¯t get proper training. Therefore, the Amelia kingdom¡¯s government had arranged for Keith to become the apprentice of the chief of the royal sorcerer. As for Rena, she was the owner of a gift that could be said to be the bane of the demon race army. That was why her existence had to be revealed to the public as fast as possible. For that reason, Amelia kingdom¡¯s government had forced her to train along with the hero team, the most elite team for the Demon King¡¯s subjugation. Unlike Lyla and I, who were forced to participate in combat training from a young age, Rena had never even held a wooden sword in her entire life before receiving her gift. Yet, those crazy bastards had forced such a girl to join the hero party, the most elite party in the Demon King¡¯s subjugation. "" Naturally, I had opposed such recklessness. But, no one was willing to hear the opinion of an incompetent like me. Rather, they scolded me and told me that I was just jealous of Rena¡¯s gift. ¡¸Kai, are you still awake?¡¹ The clear, transparent voice of a woman called out my name from outside my tent. ¡¸Yeah, I¡¯m still awake.¡¹ I immediately woke up and replied to her. Then, an extremely beautiful, pink-haired girl dressed in a white robe entered my tent. It was Rose, the master of all those attendants. To be honest, I had a hard time dealing with her. That was why I always tried to get as far away as possible from her. ¡¸Is something the matter?¡¹ I asked her that question in a tense voice. ¡¸My apologies!¡¹ She apologized and bowed her head toward me. ¡¸E-EH?¡¹ I was flustered since I had no idea why she did that. "" ¡¸I heard about what happened to you from Al. He told me what the knights did to you.¡¹ She spoke with a faint voice as she entwined her hands together with a sad look on her face. It was something I would never expect from a cheerful woman like her. ¡¸No, please don¡¯t worry about it¡­ is what I wanted to say, but it did happen, and there¡¯s nothing I can do about it.¡¹ I knew that nothing good would come for both of us if I kept brooding over the matter. It was enough for me since they were at least treating me like a human for now. Moreover, since most likely, I wouldn¡¯t be involved with high-ranking nobles, such as Rose, again in the future, there was no need for me to get familiar with her. ¡¸However, because I selfishly asked Sword Saint-sama to allow you to travel with me until the Royal Capital, you ended up¡­¡¹ So she was the one who wanted to travel with me, huh. It might be a natural reaction from someone who doesn¡¯t know about me, Kai Heinemann. Naturally, although I was famous as the sole descendant of the Sword Saint, Rose didn¡¯t seem like someone who would go out of her way to request my grandpa just to satisfy her curiosity. ¡¸Rose-san, why did you want to accompany me on this journey to the royal capital?¡¹ ¡¸Because you¡¯re Keith and Rena¡¯s childhood friend.¡¹ ¡¸You know them!?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, the leader of the royal sorcerers is my magic teacher. That¡¯s why I know Keith. He¡¯s my fellow student. As for Rena Groat, she¡¯s my best friend.¡¹ When Rose said that she was the student of the leader of the royal sorcerers, I became even more curious about her identity. Is she truly that famous Saint? No, no, no! That¡¯s impossible. I mean, Lamour should¡¯ve been in an uproar if such a big shot visited that city. ¡¸Then, did they say something about me to you?¡¹ ¡¸Yes. Especially Rena. She always talks about you. I came to know you better from her stories than from my conversations about you with Keith.¡¹ Dammit! That Rena must¡¯ve told Rose about the black history of my childhood. I mean, I¡¯ve always been playing with Rena ever since I gained awareness about my surroundings. ¡¸I see! Is that the main reason you wanted to accompany me on this journey? ¡¹ ¡¸Yes. I wanted to meet you, who they always mention in their stories, in person. That¡¯s why I asked Sword Saint-sama¡¯s permission to allow me to accompany you in your journey.¡¹ ¡¸Is Rena doing fine in Hero-sama¡¯s team?¡¹ Honestly, I couldn¡¯t stop worrying about Rena since she was such an airhead. ¡¸Well, not to mention Hero-sama, even the knights dote on her since she¡¯s such an innocent girl.¡¹ I see. I felt like I had just let go of a heavy load on my shoulder. I felt that this information was worth participating in her group. ¡¸Thank you very much for telling me that, Rose-san.¡¹ I bowed to Rose while expressing gratitude from the bottom of my heart. Even though Rose and I enjoyed the conversation revolving around our childhood, we had to end our conversation. Rose¡¯s attendant, the red-haired woman called Anna, had come inside my room with a demonic expression and forced Rose to go back to her tent. A while after she left, a muscular middle-aged man with blue hair and an unshaved beard, Al-san, visited my tent. ¡¸Sorry for disturbing you this late at night!¡¹ ¡¸Don¡¯t worry about it! Is something the matter?¡¹ There had to be a valid reason for him to visit me late at night. ¡¸Thank you for willing to talk with Rose-sama despite what her attendants did to you. I was really happy when I saw her talking so frankly with you.¡¹ After he straightened his back, Al-san bowed to me. ¡¸N-No, please stop bowing like that! Rather, I feel grateful that someone like her is willing to speak to an incompetent like me. Ehm¨D¡¹ ¡¸Although it was not as much as you, my gift was amongst the low rank one. That¡¯s why I feel some sort of sympathy toward you.¡¹ ¡¸ Low-rank gift.¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, that¡¯s why this is all I can say to you. Never give up! Your efforts will never betray you!¡¹ Al-san bumped his fist on my chest with an expression that told me that he had also struggled against his fate. He then left my tent. ¡¯Your efforts will never betray you.¡¯ It was the first time someone had told me that. Well, that aside, with what had happened until now, I could pretty much guess Rose¡¯s identity. Most likely, she was the daughter of a high rank noble of this kingdom. This told me that Al-san had climbed up to his current position as the manager of Rose¡¯s attendants after a long, bloody effort. As long as I didn¡¯t give up, I might become someone like Al-san, who was needed by others. My consciousness descended into darkness as soon as I lay down. Volume 1 - CH 4 Act 1-4: Conspiracy Silke Great Forest, deep in the mountain road. The scenery was just like an endless sea of greenery. After cautiously walking amongst the tall trees, which blocked the moonlight, Fracton Sarmaj heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the two people waiting there. Fracton was a bigshot public official in the Amelia kingdom, otherwise known as a civil official. Properly speaking, he was a coward afraid of battle. That was why this was his first time walking in the mountain¡¯s forest at night. ¡¸How¡¯s the situation over there?¡¹ ¡¸Perfect! Everything has been in place. Armies of ogres and black panthers summoned by thirty summoners of the empire will surround your group. If you add the two of us, not even a rat will be able to escape from our encirclement.¡¹ The one who replied to Fracton¡¯s question was an old man with a red cloth having the crest of a Twin-Headed Divine Bird covering the lower half of his face. ¡¸As expected of a unit led by ¡¾Supreme Summoner¡¿, Enzu-dono. I¡¯ve often heard the rumors about your deeds.¡¹ Contrary to his nickname, the old man called Enzu had crew-cut hair. He was an extremely muscular man on top of that, which could be seen from his red robe. This man was one of the six generals, a position equivalent to the strongest men in the Glitnir empire, the summoner. He was a literal, strategic-class weapon of the Empire. ¡¸It¡¯s just baseless flattery. How about the Princess¡¯s side?¡¹ ¡¸Princess Rose was just chatting with the incompetent apostate a while ago, but she has already returned to her tent to sleep. We just need to make some disturbance later to separate the knight leader, Arnold, from her. The only thing left will be for you to finish your job.¡¹ The reason Fracton had betrayed the royalty of his own kingdom was that as long as Princess Rose, the strongest contender to become the next ruler of this kingdom, disappeared, the chances of Prince Gilbert, the prince Fracton and co. supported, becoming the next ruler would increase. ¡¸Hah! A bastard who sold out the royalty, the people they should serve, huh! Such an audacious idea is unthinkable for soldiers of the empire like us.¡¹ The black-haired young man with a slightly wild appearance and a scar on his face, who was leaning on the trunk of a tall tree on his back with his arms crossed, couldn¡¯t help but spit out disdainful remarks in response to Fracton¡¯s words. ¡¸Sword Emperor-dono, are trying to say that we are shameless?¡¹ This black-haired man was the current ¡¾Sword Emperor¡¿¨DSigniel Gastrea. He was a genius who had succeeded the title of the Sword Emperor at a young age from the previous Sword Emperor, Ashburn Gastrea. Despite his title, he was known as an extremely honest, yet rude man. ¡¸Humph, nothing good will come even if I answer your question. But well, I guess I expressed it in a bad way. My apologies!¡¹ ¡¸You don¡¯t even know the real situation in our kingdom, yet you dare to say those extremely rude remarks! You think an apology alone is enough for me to let go of this matter!¡¹ Fracton felt humiliated by Signiel¡¯s harsh remark. Fracton felt that what he was doing was the best course of action to prevent the destruction of the order in his motherland. That was why he couldn¡¯t allow a youngster who didn¡¯t even know the real situation in his motherland to insult him like that. ¡¸Hah, what are you blabbering about? It¡¯s a fact that you guys sold your own master, right?¡¹ ¡¸We¡¯re not selling her! We¡¯re marrying her off to the royalty of the empire!¡¹ ¡¸The heck! Instead of getting married, I think that the poor princess will end up as the plaything of these gloomy and perverted summoners for her entire life.¡¹ Rosemary¡¯s gift was the Saint, a power that allowed her to summon the hero from another world. Her unique power was the main reason the empire wanted her. The princess could summon a new hero, and this could lead to the deterioration of the international relationship between the Amelia kingdom and the Empire. Therefore, Gilbert¡¯s faction had prepared a plan to marry off the princess to the royalty of the empire. Gilbert¡¯s faction did that mainly to eliminate the woman who was the strongest contender for the throne rather than because of their fear toward the military country. ¡¸That¡¯s enough, Signiel! My apologies, Fracton-dono. He¡¯s just a little excited since he has yet to become familiar with the atmosphere of a foreign country.¡¹ Enzu straightened his posture, bowed, and apologized to Fracton. Seeing that, Signiel just smacked his lips and closed his eyes. Fracton immediately snapped out of his rage. He realized that he had almost started a quarrel because Signiel¡¯s remark had hurt his pride. ¡¸Well, it doesn¡¯t matter! I shall go back and prepare to take action. When worse comes to worst, I hope that Signiel-dono can help us to stop Arnold.¡¹ ¡¸¡­¡¹ After signaling with a light gesture using his chin, Signiel vanished in the depths of the forest. Enzu also bowed again before retreating into the forest and vanishing like Signiel. Left alone in that place, Fracton was elated right now. His faction could finally exile the princess from her motherland. For them, Princess Rose was a lunatic. She said that a kingdom should be governed by competent people regardless of their social status. This meant that even a commoner could enter the stage as long as they were competent. These words of hers could bring about unspeakable chaos. In accordance with the traditional law of the Amelia kingdom, the throne should be inherited by the eldest son. However, the one who had the final say was still the king. As if that was not enough, the political enemy of Fracton¡¯s group was a Saint. Rose was an existence chosen by God to summon the hero. Therefore, like the priest, she was incredibly popular amongst the masses. The support for her was guaranteed. What Gilbert¡¯s faction feared the most was that the king might appoint Rose as the next ruler to raise the morale of the army for the incoming battle against the Demon King army. However, what would happen if Rose became the ruler of the Amelia kingdom? One thing was for certain. She¡¯d destroy the order; she would uproot the order that these nobles had been protecting since their ancestors¡¯ era. That was why they had to prevent that at all costs. They had to save the noble society. Therefore, even though Fracton¡¯s family had served the royal family for generations, he still took the trouble to betray the person he served. £¨There¡¯s no way we¡¯d fail with this kind of line up.£© They were accompanied by two of the six generals, the strongest men in the Glitnir empire. According to Fracton¡¯s calculation, the leader of the kingdom¡¯s knights, Arnold, was powerful; he was at least on par with the Sword Emperor, Signiel. As long as the Sword Emperor kept Arnold in check, Fracton thought the plan would be smooth sailing. As long as the other general managed to bring the Princess to the Empire while Arnold was kept occupied, Fracton and co. would have won. £¨My loyalty is only for you, Prince Gilbert!£© Fracton retraced his way back to the camp after saluting his master, who had been waiting for good news in the royal capital. Volume 1 - CH 5 Act 1-5: It was Night When I Entered The Cave, But When I Came Out From The Other Side, It Was Noon Later in the night, I suddenly got the urge to urinate. So, I woke up, left my tent, and rushed into the forest. Normally, doing it in the vicinity of the camp would not be a problem. However, if I met another attendant of Rose during that time, it would become troublesome. Therefore, I went even deeper into the forest. The forest had become even darker during the night. The moonlight couldn¡¯t penetrate the forest since the trees were huge and their branches piled up on top of one another. Walking into the forest at night made me feel like I was falling into a bottomless swamp. After I had walked for a while¡ªalthough I had been startled many times due to the cries of small animals¡ªI was stunned to see a red-haired man dressed in a black robe suddenly appear out of nowhere from inside the forest. Woah! That startled me for real this time! The man¡¯s sudden appearance almost made me pee on my pants. I mean, this place was supposed to be a hinterland without human settlement right! Moreover, even though I had tried my best not to talk to the others unless it was really necessary, I still remembered the faces of Rose¡¯s attendants. This man wasn¡¯t one of them. There was no doubt about it. Could he be a hermit who lives around this area? I thought. ¡¸Uhm, excuse me, do you live around this area?¡¹ My mother, who was a hunter, had told me before that sometimes, eccentric men lived deep in the mountains for research, such as sorcerers. This man clad in a robe might be one of those people. ¡¸An unexpected situation right off the bat, huh¡­¡¹ The red-haired man did not reply to my question. He just touched his unshaven beard and went into deep thought for a while. ¡¸Well, I guess there¡¯s nothing wrong with playing for a while. I still have some time before the mission starts, after all.¡¹ An evil smile appeared on the man¡¯s face. I just caught a glimpse of that sadistic smile, and yet, that was enough to make me shrink back in fear. ¡¸Ah, I don¡¯t mind even if you try to escape though. Rather, escape quickly. Things won¡¯t get interesting otherwise.¡¹ The man just snapped his fingers, and several pairs of beastly eyes appeared behind him. ¡¸HIIIII!?¡¹ The moment I saw those eyes, I felt a chill run down my spine. I couldn¡¯t help but let out a light scream. Then, the figure of a beast resembling a black dog slowly emerged from the darkness of the forest. There was no doubt about it. This red-haired man controlled this beast and the others. And from what he said, it seemed he was going to let those dog-like beasts torture me alive. Why? Why is it always me? I held back the impulse to cry as I ran away as fast as I could. My breathing became dishevelled. My heart seemed like it was about to explode. My legs screamed in pain, begging me to stop running. Despite all that, I forced myself to keep running since I could feel that those beasts were still after me. Due to my gift, ¡¾The Most Incompetent in This World¡¿, I had become too slow. Those beasts should¡¯ve been able to easily catch up to me. However, they just leisurely followed me as if they were trying to slowly drive me into a desperate situation. Ironically, the only reason I was still alive was that the red-haired man, who controlled those beasts, wanted to enjoy hunting the fox, which was me. I had no idea where to run anymore. I randomly ran according to my instincts. By now, I had already delved deep into the forest. When I finally came out of the forest, I arrived in a place that resembled a small basin under a waterfall. DAMMIT! I was completely cornered. I had no choice but to hide behind the waterfall. Well, it was much better than becoming those beasts¡¯ food. Forced with no other option, I ran into the waterfall under the small basin. There, I saw a small cave, large enough for one person to enter it. If I follow this cave, I might be able to escape from them! I felt really lucky to find a hiding place when I needed it the most. Thank God! I headed inside the cave since I thought I wasn¡¯t safe enough yet. After god knows how long I had run for, I noticed a change on the wall and the ceiling of the cave. Instead of being made from natural soil formation, they were made of artificial stone created from reddish-brown soil. Dozens of minutes later¡ªNo, maybe it wasn¡¯t even ten minutes since I started running¡ªI felt that my limbs, lungs, and heart had already reached their limit. Suddenly, I saw light at the end of the cave. Thank god! The other side of the cave is really connected to the outside. But, it¡¯s supposed to be midnight, right? ¡¸Eh?¡¹ The place I arrived upon passing through the other entrance of the cave was a wasteland devoid of vegetation. Moreover, the sun was shining brightly above me. What, in the hell, is this place? I mean, it was night right before I entered this cave under the waterfall. Yet, when I came out from the other side, it was day. What sorcery is this? Okay, let¡¯s calm down first! My body is already on its limits after running for so long. Let¡¯s find an appropriate hiding place first. I should look around this place first. It might be a hidden place. This wasteland was around 500 miles in radius. High cliffs surrounded it everywhere. Several dead trees were spread around the cliff, and there was also something that looked like a fountain. Moreover, there was a temple standing solemnly right in the center of the wasteland. It seemed to me that this place had been built to hide that temple. Well, I had to quickly find a hiding place since the beasts could catch up to me any time. Even if just for a short period, I could at least fool those beasts by hiding in that temple. However, each of these beasts had a keen sense of smell, so ultimately, I had to prepare myself for the worst. I turned around to check whether my pursuers had already entered this place or not, but¨D ¡¸No way¡­¡¹ This was the biggest shock I had received today. The entrance through which I had entered this place was not there. It had disappeared without any trace. I rushed forward for a confirmation, but the result was the same. I couldn¡¯t even find a trace of the entrance. My mother had told me about this a long time ago. Some ruins had traps that blocked their entrances. This might be one of such traps. I was trapped, but at the same time, saved from those beasts. That-red haired man might give up the pursuit. After all, for him, I was nothing more than a game to pass the time. He could lose interest in me if he couldn¡¯t find me for a few days. Since that was the case, I planned on using these few days to look for a way to get out of this place. That was the only option for me. The first thing that I came with was the temple; it could be the key to escaping this place. Therefore, I decided to search that place first. Volume 1 - CH 6 Act 1-6: The Beginning of the Ordeal I went up the stairs leading to the entrance of the temple. Everything inside the temple, be it the floor, the ceiling, or the walls, was made of an almost-transparent blue stone. Mysterious round, shining crystals had been installed at fixed intervals along the wall. In the center of the room was a huge cylindrical pedestal. Engraved on it was a magic circle with an object resembling a black slate beside it. ¡¸Woow!¡¹ Honestly, it¡¯s too beautiful for a ruin made by humans. Rather, it doesn¡¯t seem to have been created by humans at all. When I got closer to the structures, I started investigating the slate and the pedestal in the center of the room. A few minutes later, I found a handprint-like form engraved on the surface of the black pedestal. Does that mean I have to place my right hand on it? I gulped. Even though I had no idea what would happen to me, I still placed my right hand on that form. Suddenly¡ª ¡ºConfirming access of the owner of the gift beyond Divine rank. Registering Kai Heinemann as a player¡­ Complete! Welcome to the ¡¾Gods¡¯ Ordeal¡¿. We Wish for Your Success, Player-sama.¡» A transparent board appeared before me. However, it immediately vanished when I let go of my right hand from the hand-print due to the surprise. What the hell was that? I think I saw letters written on that, but¡­ Let¡¯s try it again. I silently placed my right hand on top of the hand-print again. ¡¸What is this?¡¹ A little pole-like sign appeared in the corner of my right eye. I tried to tap on it, then a transparent board suddenly appeared in front of me. Sequence-like letters were written on that transparent board. [TL: It might be the ¡°!¡± sign.] ¨DRule No. 1: The player can¡¯t leave this game unless they beat it. ¨DRule No. 2: The registered player won¡¯t age in this place, and the time in the outside world is suspended until he is here. ¨DRule No. 3: Player is given the ¡¾Item Box¡¿ and ¡¾Special Appraisal¡¿¡¯s skill. He is also given ¡¾Escape Shoes¡¿ and ¡¾Unbreakable Stick¡¿. ¨DRule No. 4: The Elixir that can be carried in the item box is equivalent to 20 cups. The ruin turned out to be a ¡ºGame¡». What does it mean that I can¡¯t leave unless I beat this ruin? Wait a minute! Even top-class hunters have to form teams with other top-class hunters if they want to beat a ruin. And yet, I was told to beat it by myself? Moreover, the flow of time outside is suspended. Doesn¡¯t that mean I¡¯m bound to run into those beasts again once I beat this ruin? ¡¸The heck, for what reason did I run into this cave then!!¡¹ No, calm down! Let¡¯s think about what I can do for now! Let¡¯s sort out all of the information I got since I entered this cave first. First, I couldn¡¯t come out of this ruin unless I cleared this ¡ºGame¡». Second, the time outside was suspended until I left this ruin, which meant that my time here was literally unlimited. Lastly, I had been given five things upon becoming a player. The first was ¡¾Item Box(Infinite Storage Box)¡¿. It was one of the things I had wished for since I wanted to become a hunter. I was quite familiar with this skill. Item box was a skill granted to ¡¾Merchant¡¿¡¯s gift holder. It was an ability to store a fixed amount of things. The second was ¡¾Special Appraisal¡¿ from ¡¾Appraisal¡¿ skill. It was the ability to read the nature of various things and was a skill usually acquired by the ¡¾Appraiser¡¿¡¯s gift holder. The third was ¡¾Escape Shoes¡¿, an item for escaping. The fourth one was ¡¾Unbreakable Stick¡¿. Just like its name, it was an extremely tough stick. The fifth and the last one, Elixir, was said to be an all-purpose miracle drug that could instantly heal any wound. This was a legendary item that should only exist in fairy tales. The skills that I got were supposed to be only given to a specific gift holder. And since my gift was ¡¾The Most Incompetent in this World¡¿, I shouldn¡¯t have gotten those skills. Since I didn¡¯t understand anything, I decided to try them anyway. ¡¸Item box¨D UWAAAAA!?¡¹ ¡¹ The moment I muttered those words, a big header named ¡ºLIST¡» suddenly appeared on the transparent board before me. When I tried to press that header, the words ¡¾Escape Shoes¡¿ and ¡¾Unbreakable Stick¡¿ appeared on the transparent board. ¡¸Is this really the item box?¡¹ My forefinger trembled as I tried to tap on ¡¾Escape Shoes¡¿. At the next moment, a pair of black boots appeared right in front of me. I suppressed my feelings of elation as I touched the shoes, then put the item back. ¡¸I-It¡¯s gone.¡¹ When I pressed the ¡°LIST¡± entry again, the item ¡¾Escape Shoes¡¿ appeared in front of me once more. ¡¸Amazing! This is so amazing!!¡¹ Item box was supposed to be an extremely valuable skill. It wasn¡¯t supposed to be owned by a non-merchant gift¡¯s holder. Since I really got ¡®item box,¡¯ does that mean I got ¡®special appraisal¡¯ too? I took out ¡¾Escape Shoes¡¿ again. When I touched it this time¡­ ¡¸APPRAISAL!¡¹ I shouted that word, and the surface of the transparent board changed. ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D ¡ï¡¾Escape Shoes¡¿: If the user chooses to escape from their enemy, these shoes would make it far easier for the user. However, if the user is the one who initiated the battle, the shoes would lose their effect. ?Item Rank: Superlative ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D ¡¸Woow¡­¡¹ I unconsciously clenched my fists. I had been wondering about what kind of shoes they were that they allowed their wearer to escape from an enemy; it turned out to be a national-class treasure. As long as I had the ¡¾Escape Shoes¡¿, I wouldn¡¯t have any worries about escaping from the beasts after clearing this ¡¾Game¡¿. When I tried to appraise ¡¾Unbreakable Stick¡¿, this item also turned out to be a superlative-class item, the same rank as ¡¾Escape Shoes¡¿. The stick¡¯s description said that it was ¡ºA stick that will never break or deteriorate¡». These two items were definitely not something humans could make. Anyhow, as long as I had ¡¾Appraisal¡¿ and ¡¾Item Box¡¿, even someone with a trash gift like me wouldn¡¯t have any problem working as a hunter. It was like a dream come true. Now, my future after I cleared this game looked better. All that was left was for me to clear this game. Come to think of it, this appraisal might work on me too. When I pointed at myself while muttering ¡¾Appraisal¡¿, a new transparent board appeared before me. ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D ¡ïSTATUS ¡¾Name¡¿ Kai Heineman ¡¾Age¡¿ 15 Years Old(Aging Suspended During The Game) ¡¾Gift¡¿ The Most Incompetent in this World(God Rank) ¡¾HP¡¿¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡£µ ¡¾MP¡¿¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡£³ ¡¾Strength¡¿¡¡¡¡¡¡0£®£± ¡¾Stamina¡¿¡¡¡¡ 0£®£± ¡¾Agility¡¿¡¡¡¡ 0£®£± ¡¾Magical Power¡¿¡¡¡¡¡¡0£®£± ¡¾Magic Resistance¡¿¡¡ 0£®£± ¡¾Luck¡¿¡¡¡¡¡¡ 0£®£± ¡ïSkills in Possession:¡¾Infinite Storage Box¡¿, ¡¾Special Appraisal¡¿ ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D Yeah! The ¡¾Appraiser¡¿¡¯s appraisal can really be used on a person. This status thing, is this the one those guys in the hunter guild use all the time? Well, I had heard from my mother before that the hunter guild was developing a magic tool to measure one¡¯s individual ability by cooperating with the people who could use appraisal skill on a person. And they had succeeded. Even though I had no idea about the average value of a normal person who had just registered to the hunter guild, mine was 0.1. Even I knew that this was a tiny number. It might be the effect of my gift too. I saw that ¡ºThe Most Incompetent in This World¡» was flashing on the transparent board, so I tried to touch it. ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D ?Gift Name: The Most Incompetent in This World ? Explanation: A gift for someone with the lowest talent in this world. Even though the holder¡¯s relative strength, abilities, and growth rate will be the lowest amongst the intelligent beings of this world, due to their incompetence, the holder had no limits. ?Gift Rank: God Rank ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D There were no limits. I had no idea what this meant since it was way too vague. However, according to my assumptions after reading the explanation, it seemed that my effort was going to be rewarded. Since that was the case, was my gift actually an incredible one? Or not? I mean, after they learned about my gift, almost everyone had started to hate me for no reason. I thought it was better that I don¡¯t have any strange expectations toward my gift. Well, the truth was going to be revealed sooner or later anyway. And finally, I came to the elixir. Elixir was supposed to be the name of a miraculous restorative drug in myths or fairy tales. It could restore any kind of wound in just a moment. To be honest, it was too good to be true, but the incompetent me had acquired ¡°item box¡± and ¡°appraisal¡± after I came to this place. Just in case, I had to appraise ¡°elixir¡± too. ¡¸No way¡­¡¹ The result that came out when I appraised the fountain near the shade of trees left me speechless. ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D ?Elixir¡¯s Fountain£ºA fountain where the miracle panacea, elixir, endlessly gushes out. ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D I mean, it was a fountain where elixir endlessly gushed out! To test that, I tried to make a shallow cut on my index finger with the dismantling knife I had brought along with me. Then, I put my finger into the fountain. ¡¸It got healed¡­¡¹ When I saw such an unrealistic phenomenon, my eyes were wide open, and my mouth was flapping non-stop like a fish out of water. Soon, I screamed at the top of my lungs until my throat felt sore. That was correct. I was elated right now. I mean, I, who was branded as the most incompetent in the world, had gained ¡°item box¡± and ¡°appraisal,¡± two rare skills. As if that wasn¡¯t enough, I even made the greatest discovery in this era, namely elixir¡¯s fountain. Not even a first-class hunter could achieve such a feat. I would receive favorable treatment if I reported my findings to the hunter guild. With this, I could become a first-class hunter like my mother. However, I, who was innocently smiling at that time, had forgotten a simple fact. There was no such thing as free lunch in this world. Success is built atop countless failures. Unfathomable hardship always comes along with a miracle!! Volume 1 - CH 7 Act 1-7: Nightmarish Reality I couldn¡¯t leave this space unless I cleared the ¡ºGame¡». I knew what to do next so I started searching around the temple. Fortunately, I immediately found what I was looking for. ¡¸This is a¡­ dungeon, right?¡¹ There was a huge gate inside the temple and a long passage made of so many blue stones that I got bored of seeing it. No matter how I looked at it, this place was clearly a dungeon. In short, my goal was to clear this dungeon. Well, nothing would change if I sit like this doing nothing. There is no retreat, and the rules state that I have to clear this dungeon. I have no choice but to go forward. I wore the ¡¾Escape Shoes¡¿ and unsheathed my knife from the scabbard strapped on my waist. Since I was really weak, my chances of winning were much better with a sharp weapon like a knife rather than with a dull weapon like a stick. The cold stone floor actually sent a chill running down my spine. This was the life-threatening adventure I had always dreamed of since I was a kid, the adventure I had to give up after I learned what my gift was. Before my gift was revealed, I had been forced to succeed in the Heineman sword style. However, from the very beginning, my dream was to become a hunter like my mother, and not a swordsmanship instructor. That was why, during the ceremony two years ago, I had secretly wished that my gift wouldn¡¯t be related to swordcraft. If it wasn¡¯t, I was sure that my grandfather would have allowed me to become a hunter. In the end, I ended up being branded as ¡®incompetent.¡¯ Forget becoming a hunter, I had even lost the swordcraft that I had desperately trained until now as I had become too weak. It was the reason I couldn¡¯t help but feel elated right now. Although I had completely immersed myself in viewing the passage wall for more than ten minutes, I had never let my guard down. I was especially vigilant toward the path behind me, my retreat path to the surface. It was the basics of dungeon exploration. Well, it was just textbook knowledge for hunters that I had read in my mother¡¯s room a long time ago. A while later, I finally came out of the blue stone¡¯s passage and arrived at a crossroad. Now, the question was: which path should I choose? The easiest way was going straight ahead. ¡¸Eh£¿¡¹ The moment I stepped out of the passage, I saw a living being on my right side crouched on the floor while eating something. My train of thought was completely suspended for a moment. The next moment, a piercing pain assaulted my body. It felt as if someone had driven a stake into my spine. A moment later, I realized what that living being was eating. The bright red liquid that was spurting from my right shoulder like a fountain was enough to make me understand. Yes, the thing this monster with a locust-like head was eating was¡­ my right arm. ¡¸GIHYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!¡¹ I ran as fast as I could toward the entrance while screaming like a cock that was being strangled to death. Just what in the he*l is that? When did it attack me? Why couldn¡¯t I see the moment it attacked me at all? No, in the first place, why did it look at me with such eyes? I couldn¡¯t understand at all. However, this unexplained situation terrified me. IT HURTS! It so fuc*ing hurts! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! Suddenly, the pain that had almost made me mad disappeared. I felt like my head was boiling over. Overwhelmed by fear, my brain ordered my legs to run, run, and run. I couldn¡¯t remember what happened after that. I just dashed toward the wasteland in front of the temple. In my dimmed consciousness, I remember throwing myself into the fountain filled with blue liquid. Then, my consciousness faded away. When I opened my eyes, the sun was shining brightly. I squinted due to the brilliant sunlight, then looked around my surroundings. It seemed I was floating on the surface of dark blue water. I found out that my body hadn¡¯t sunk into the fountain. Thus, I forced my languid self to move to the shore lake while recalling the unpleasant sensation I had before I passed out. Strange, my head feels so heavy! Why did I pass out in the middle of the fountain? I tried recalling my memories. I was going to the Royal Capital after receiving a call from my mother. I had rocked inside the carriage for a week and had a conversation with Rose during the camp. When I left the camp to do my business, I met a red-haired man. And then¡ª ¡¸¨D!!!¡¹ A series of nightmarish flashbacks assaulted me at once. The more I recalled the situation, the more blood I felt draining out of my body. Yes! That¡¯s right! I ran into this place to escape from those beasts, entered the dungeon, and then a locust-like monster ate my right a¡ª My right arm? ¡¸My right arm is¡­ still there?¡¹ When I saw that my right arm was still attached to my shoulder, I heaved a deep sigh and plopped on the ground. Maybe, it was just a nightmare. I mean, if that was a reality, I should be missing my right arm. Yeah, that must¡¯ve been a dream. Finally, my train of thought was back to normal again. ¡¸Eh, my clothes¡­¡¹ Yes, there was indeed not a single scratch on my skin. However, the right arm part of my clothes was torn until the base. Upon a closer look, I found a blood clot around the base of the right arm of my clothes. ¡¸Elixir!¡¹ All of a sudden, I unconsciously muttered a word that was left in my head. That¡¯s right. If that is the case, everything makes sense now. After that locust-like monster tore off my right arm, I had run like my life depended on it, fallen into this elixir fountain, and passed out. In short, the reason there was not a single scratch on my right arm was none other than ¡°elixir.¡± If that¡¯s the case, everything that happened in the basement of that temple is not a pipe dream. Then, I have no choice but to go to that hellish place again in order to get out of this space. ¡¸Dammit! No! Like hell! I have enough of that hell!¡¹ I couldn¡¯t even see the movements of that locust-like monster. If what the monster tore off was my head instead of my right arm, I would¡¯ve died for sure. The only silver lining of that situation was that I had survived. I absolutely wouldn¡¯t enter that place. ¡¸Or not! I have to enter that place sooner or later. Well, my right arm is safe and sound thanks to elixir¨D¡¹ After I cheered myself up, I turned around and headed toward the temple again. On the ground leading to the temple, I saw large patches of blood spread everywhere. It was definitely the blood that had been spurting from my wound. ¡¸Haha¡­¡¹ I see! So that¡¯s the case, huh. It¡¯s always the same every time. The thing I want the most is always robbed from me in the worst possible way. I unconsciously let out a dry laugh upon realizing the extraordinarily high and thick grey wall that separated me from my future. Soon, that laugh turned into bitter cries. Unable to withstand the extremely cruel fate that I had never asked for, I finally broke into tears for the first time in a few years. After crying my heart out, I calmed down a lot. Anyhow, I knew that the current me couldn¡¯t win against that locust-like monster. If I forced my way into the dungeon, I would only become its food. However, the only way to get out of this place was by clearing that dungeon. Will Rosemary dispatch a search party if I wait until morning? I better not hope for that. There is no way her attendants would obey her order to search for me. Even if Al-san orders them, I¡¯m sure that they would still refuse. Moreover, the time outside of this world is suspended right now. Morning would never come in the outside world unless I clear this dungeon. Dammit! I was backed against the wall. Anyhow, I refused to die in this kind of hidden place. Moreover, the situation might change for the better as long as I persevered. For example, someone else might come to challenge this dungeon while I waited. Since that was the case, the first thing I had to do was securing food and water. For water, I had the fountain, which endlessly pumped out elixir. The main problem was food. ¡¸As expected, there¡¯s no food, huh¡­¡¹ I tried to walk around the space, but forget about a nut, I couldn¡¯t even find a small animal or grass in this place. I spotted a caterpillar-like animal beneath the shadow of stone or rock, but it was inedible since it contained a fatal poison, though I did not want to eat those caterpillars either. However, it was too early to give up. I mean, since the passage of time outside this place and my age progression was suspended, there was a chance that I might not feel hungry. Or else, I might be able to alleviate my hunger with elixir. I had no choice but to bet on those possibilities. For the time being, let¡¯s not do anything that would exhaust my stamina. Thus, I lay down on the ground and closed my eyes to sleep. Volume 1 - CH 8 Act 1-8: First Meal It turned out that this place also had a circle of night and day. As per my calculations, seven days had passed since I got trapped in this place. These seven days had smashed my expectations to pieces. Hunger did exist, and elixir alone was far from enough to fill my stomach. I had already consumed the brown bread in my bag long ago. I was starving right now. It felt like the skin of my abdomen was sticking to my stomach. Even after searching the area many times over, I couldn¡¯t even find a blade of grass to eat. The only thing I saw was those caterpillars. However, it was still too early to give up. Those caterpillars were poisonous. Since I couldn¡¯t find anything on the surface, I decided to try underground. There, I might be able to find bug larvae. I could still move; I just needed to persevere for a bit more. ¡ªAnother fifteen days have passed. Digging all this time with an ¡¾Unbreakable Stick¡¿ has been fruitless. I¡¯ve run out of stamina to dig anymore. I think I¡¯ve finally reached my limit. I know that if I don¡¯t eat anything, I will die in a few days. I couldn¡¯t think properly because of the starvation haunting me every hour. When I recalled this situation later on, I realized that this might have been the main reason I did such a silly thing. ¡¸KUHAHAHA! If I don¡¯t eat, I will die! I would rather have a quick death than suffering such hell!!¡¹ Currently, in my right hand, I was holding the caterpillar that seemed to be enough for one mouthful. This caterpillar was an extremely poisonous bug¡ªa bug that contains an extremely strong poison capable of killing a dragon in just a moment. Moreover, the bug had extreme nutritional value. A poisonous bug capable of instantly killing a dragon. If I ate this, I knew I¡¯d die. Therefore, I drank elixir over and over again till my stomach was full of it. And then, I swallowed that extremely poisonous bug at once. THROB! THROB! Suddenly, an unimaginable heat assailed my stomach. It felt as if magma had been poured into my stomach. My vision turned red. ¡ºYou have met the requirement to get weak poison resistance. You gained a skill¨D¡¾Weak Poison Resistance¡¿.¡» On the verge of passing out, I heard the voice of an inorganic woman. ¡¸I¡¯m still¡­ alive?¡¹ My head and my body hurt like hell, yet I was still alive. The headache and nausea disappeared as soon as I drank elixir. The main point was that I didn¡¯t feel hungry anymore. The voice of the woman when I was about to pass out did say ¡¾Weak Poison Resistance¡¿. ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D ?Skill¨D¡¾Weak Poison Resistance¡¿: Resistance against weak poison. ?Condition for skill acquisition: Survive even after eating a living creature that contains poison over a thousand times more lethal than usual. ?Rank: Elementary rank ?Rank up condition: Survive even after eating a hundred living creatures that contain poison over a thousand times more lethal than usual. ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D Weak poison resistance, huh! I had gained that skill by surviving after eating that bug with the help of elixir. I had never even heard of a poison resistance skill, but then, no one could survive poison a thousand times more lethal than usual without a miracle drug called elixir. That must¡¯ve been the main reason. Anyhow, just one of those caterpillars was enough to fill my belly. With this, I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about food for the time being. However, once I ate all of those caterpillars, things would change. ¡ªA hundred days have passed. Maybe because I acquired weak poison resistance, I don¡¯t faint anymore as long as I drink elixir. Well, the headache and the nausea are truly unbearable though. In these hundred days, I had fulfilled the upgrade condition of ¡¾Weak Poison Resistance¡¿ and acquired ¡¾Poison Resistance¡¿. ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D ?Skill¨D¡¾Poison Resistance¡¿: Resistance against poison. ?Condition for skill acquisition: Survive even after eating a hundred living creatures that contain poison over thousand times more lethal than usual. ?Rank: Intermediate rank ?Rank up condition: Survive even after eating a thousand living creatures that contain poison over a thousand times more lethal than usual. ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D Now when I ate the caterpillar after drinking the elixir, I didn¡¯t feel headache or nausea anymore. Moreover, I understood something in these hundred days. The number of those extremely poisonous bugs didn¡¯t decrease at all. Maybe they had extreme fertility or it was the work of this bizarre space. Whatever the reason was, their number remained constant in this place. Since the caterpillars didn¡¯t seem to breed or transform into butterflies, I think the latter reason was the cause of their constant number. In this way, the ¡¾Extremely Poisonous Bug¡¿ became my indispensable staple food. Volume 1 - CH 9 Act 1-9: Training Days TN: Sponsored Chapter, Thanks for SoulCarver106 for sponsoring this chapter. === ===It¡¯s almost been a year since I got trapped in this bizarre place. Currently, I¡¯m just single-mindedly swinging the ¡¾Unbreakable Stick¡¿. The reason I¡¯m doing this is simple: If I don¡¯t do anything, I might become anxious about my future. Naturally, I had a little hope that my stats might rise if I kept swinging ¡¾Unbreakable Stick¡¿. However, it was still the same as before, constant at 0.1. As I thought, it wouldn¡¯t be that simple. Anyhow, maybe because I had been training in the way of the sword since I became aware of my surroundings, I could forget everything once I swung my sword. ¨DTen years after the start of the game. Many years have passed. In the first few years after I got trapped here, I used to count the days in batches of thirty by engraving on the tall cliff surrounding the space. However, then I realized that the slate inside the temple records the number of days and years. Therefore, I stopped counting the days and decided to rely on that slate instead. During those times, not a single day passed without me missing my family or my hometown. But then, to forget the feeling of loneliness in my chest, I came up with the idea of having virtual matches against the people I trained with until I was banished from my hometown. ¨DForty years after the start of the game. I managed to beat all my peers of the same age in our dojo and also the adult ones in the virtual matches. And when I also defeated all of the instructors at the dojo¡­ ¡ºYou have met the acquisition requirement of ¡¾Commandement Sword Art One Sword Style, Beginner¡¿. You have acquired a skill¨D¡¾Commandement Sword Art One Sword Style, Beginner¡¿¡» [TL: ½äÁ÷„‡Ðg(Kairyu Kenjutsu) is roughly translated as ¡°Commandement Style Sword Art¡± or ¡°Divine Rule Sword Art.¡±] The inorganic voice of the woman resounded in my head. ¡¸Eh? ¡¹ When I heard another change in like years, I used appraisal while trying to be as calm as possible. ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D ?Skill¨D¡¾Commandement Sword Art One Sword Style, Beginner¡¿: Entry-level sword style. Slightly increases the user¡¯s stats when fighting with a sword. ?Condition for skill acquisition: Train every single day for 40 years, and keep doing mock combat with a sword for more than 12 hours per day. ?Rank: Elementary rank ?Rank up condition: Train every single day for 120 years, and keep doing mock combat with a sword for more than 12 hours per day. ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D The skill I had acquired this time was an enigmatic skill called ¡¾Commandement Sword Art One Sword Style¡¿. Naturally, I had never done any mock combat since there was no opponent for me at all. It seemed that my virtual matches were counted as mock combat. After all, those virtual matches were the way for me to keep up my connection with other people and maintain my sanity. That was why I had no reason to stop doing that. ¨DEight hundred years after the start of the game. My sword danced in the air, drawing smooth curves like flowing water. Now, I could use the stick as if it were one of my limbs. My ¡¾Commandement Sword Art One Sword Style, Beginner¡¿ had already broken through the intermediate rank and reached the esoteric rank. I tried to use appraisal on the skill and found out that it raised my stats when I fought with a sword. However, what I was doing was just virtual mock combat. So I didn¡¯t feel any particular change in my body at all. But well, with this experience, I understood that swordcraft isn¡¯t about skills or physical abilities. [TL: MC changed the way he referred to himself from I(boku) to I(watashi), which shows his mental growth.] I went from being a person with physical abilities equal to that of a toddler to winning against my grandfather, the sword saint Elm Heineman, without a hitch. My grandfather was a personage who had fought against the fourth demon king along with the hero party in the past. His real abilities were guaranteed. In the virtual mock combat against him, I found out that physical abilities were nothing more than a superficial advantage. That¡¯s right. The way of swordcraft, otherwise known as swordsmanship, is a skill that transcends something like brute strength. ¡¸Well, my grandfather isn¡¯t in his golden age. There are still countless powerful people all around the world.¡¹ Before I got trapped in this place, my grandfather had taken me on a field trip to various martial arts tournaments and dojos. I swung my sword every day while thinking about how to beat my opponent. That was why even though I had forgotten everything before I was trapped in this place, those martial artists¡¯ special moves never left my mind. Idavoll kingdom¡¯s strongest swordsman used two swords like limbs¡ªTwin Sword Gram. The supreme and strongest elf who was said to be able to combine sword and magic¡ªSilver of magic sword. Glitnir Empire¡¯s former sword emperor¨DAshburn. The world still had many more strong men. Thus, I embarked on a sword journey with delight. ¨DFifteen hundred years after the start of the game. Many more years have passed. After beating my own grandfather in his golden age, I constructed in my mind the image of every single swordsman I had ever seen. Currently, I was trying to recreate the image of the first sword saint, a person recognized as the strongest swordsman in history. Naturally, I had never met the so-called first sword saint since he had long since passed away before I was born. In the end, he was nothing more than a product of my imagination. However, his strength was the real deal. The moment I won against the first sword saint, I arrived at art-like perfection(Kaiden). ¨DThree thousand years after the start of the game. After defeating the first sword saint, I decided to move on to the most formidable training partner that I had already decided on when I began this training. It was the supreme martial artist at the pinnacle of swordsmanship. I knew of him from a story my grandfather told me once long ago. This person mastered all kinds of martial arts, the supreme sword god who stood at the pinnacle of swordsmanship. And, since I had defeated the first sword saint, I should be able to recreate that perfect swordsman. Ironically, the perfect image of the god of martial arts I created was none other than my current self, Kai Heineman. I started the mock combat against myself, the most perfect martial artist and the god of martial arts. The meaning in defeating the ideal version of myself, the result of me swinging my stick for so many years¡ªtoo many to the point that I barely remembered the me when I had just entered this place¡ªwhile heading toward a contradictory goal, perversion, was realized when I defeated myself and gained ¡¾Commandement Sword Art One Sword Style, Pinnacle¡¿. ¡¾Commandement Sword Art One Sword Style, Pinnacle¡¿ seemed to boost my stats to the highest when I entered combat with a sword. However, a thing like stats was nothing more than an appendix for a swordsman. It wasn¡¯t even the most important thing. I couldn¡¯t even say such a thing was useful. By the way, as a result of eating poisonous caterpillars every day, I got ¡¾Poison Assimilation¡¿, a skill that surpassed ¡¾Poison Resistance¡¿, ¡¾Poison Invalid¡¿, and ¡¾Poison Absorption¡¿. It was the pinnacle of those skills. This ¡¾Poison Assimilation¡¿ enabled me to integrate poison with my body. This meant that if I got poisoned, instead of me getting harmed, my HP and MP would recover. It was a useless power for me, who did nothing but swing my stick, but it was better than nothing, I guess. ¡¸Well, I guess it¡¯s time to go.¡¹ After I finished my meal that had the same menu for as long as I could remember, the ¡¾Extremely Poisonous Bug¡¿, I stood up and started swinging my ¡¾Unbreakable Stick¡¿. Anyhow, too many years had passed to the point that I had almost forgotten about everything that had happened before I entered this place. However, the only reason I could spend thousands of years so easily was that I walked on swordsmanship. Anything other than swordsmanship was a trivial matter for me. That was why when I won against my ideal self and realized that I had reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship, I honestly was at a loss for what to do from now on. The reason was simply that I had lost a goal that had been standing in my way. Defeating my ideal self had become my sole reason for living in recent years, a goal to surpass. After I won, I couldn¡¯t find a new goal. At this rate, I became sure that I might lose myself against despair. There was no sparring partner left for me. One day, I suddenly arrived at the most basic question: why did I start swinging my sword and honing my skill? Sometimes, it could be hard to see what¡¯s under your feet. As if a hammer had struck my head, I suddenly remembered that there was something in that temple that my soul craved for. I ended up laughing like an idiot as I recalled that the next thing I had to do was right beside me all along. I had reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship, and yet, I forgot about the dangerous place where I could challenge the strong and satisfy my thirst for real, deadly combat. When I had just entered this place, I never even considered the option of capturing that dungeon located in the deepest part of that temple. The reason being that the dungeon was a death zone filled with dangerous monsters. Properly speaking, back then, I had no chance of surviving in that place. However, for the current me, there was no place as wonderful as this one. I could find a new challenge to cross inside that dungeon. ¡¸Uhm! This excitement, I really can¡¯t get enough of it!¡¹ Thus, I strode toward the death zone with ¡¾Unbreakable Stick¡¿ in my hand while trying to suppress my loosened cheeks. As I entered the dungeon, I saw a locust-like monster slowly walking toward me from the front. When I used appraisal on it, the result was ¡¾Name: Battaman¡¿. I see! Not even appraisal allows me to see the other party¡¯s stats. Interesting! "" I mean, deciding something based on numerical values was definitely a killjoy. What would be so interesting about knowing that I¡¯ve beaten an enemy with numerical stats below me? Rather, the fact that I couldn¡¯t see its stats made things more interesting for me! Due to the passive effect of ¡¾Commandement Sword Art One Sword Style, Pinnacle¡¿, all my stats would rise by 50 on average. I¡¯m looking forward to how much I can go against this fella with those numerical values. I¡¯m getting really excited now. ¡¸Oi, Battaman, or whatever you are, show me the path I should take.¡¹ After saying that, I walked toward my enemy without even trying to hold back the joy and excitement in my heart. I dodged all of the Battaman¡¯s claw attacks by a paper-thin margin. My wooden sword easily redirected its all-out, right-middle kick and even its trump card. ¡¸That¡¯s all you got, huh¡­¡¹ I just needed a few moments to realize something. Even if this guy kept attacking me for a hundred years, its extremely crude attack wouldn¡¯t even be able to leave a scratch on my skin. Well, I guess I shouldn¡¯t have put that much hope into a locust. I somehow managed to suppress my disappointment and readied my wooden sword. And then¨D ¡¸¡¾Commandement Sword Art One Sword Style¡¿, First Form¨DDeadline¡¹ A line appeared on the body of the Battaman. That line spread toward the Battaman¡¯s limbs and reached its head. ¡¸GIGAH!?¡¹ That was the last word the Battaman ever spoke. Its body swayed, a spray of green blood fountained out, and finally, it crumbled into fine pieces of meat. I swung my wooden sword to the side to shake off the leftover blood on the blade. Then, I used appraisal on myself. The average value of my original stats had risen from 0.1 to 0.2. It seemed I could raise my physical abilities by defeating my enemy. When I found that my first real combat opponent was such a small fry, it was a huge disappointment. However, so what, this weak me was bound to meet a strongman I couldn¡¯t defeat. ¡¸Well, since that¡¯s the case, let¡¯s subjugate the monsters.¡¹ Yup! That was my current goal. With that in mind, I single-handedly started a large-scale bug clean-up using the ¡¾Unbreakable Stick¡¿ in my hand. Volume 1 - CH 10 Act 1-10: Ordeal and Magma Zone TN: Another sponsored chapter brought to you guys by Blackvein Morganis. Thank you for the coffee. === ¨D¡¾God¡¯s Ordeal¡¿, Deepest part of UG, the ninth floor. After defeating the Battaman, I loitered around the blue passage to meet an opponent that could drive me into a life or death situation. However, all I met were small fries. I mean, no matter how fast or powerful the attack of the monsters I met along the way was, those crude attacks could not hit me in any way. The monsters¡¯ stats were like pearls before swine, useless without any refinement whatsoever. Just a light touch of my wooden sword on the joints of those insect monsters was enough to sever their limbs. ¡¸If I knew it would be this boring, I would¡¯ve just wasted my time swinging my sword.¡¹ In the three years after I started exploring this dungeon, although it was not that much, my base stats rose to an average of five. The reason I took three whole years to reach the tenth floor was that this dungeon was just too f*cking huge. As if that wasn¡¯t enough, the size increased as I went down. This dungeon had a safety point that could be used as a resting place since no monster could enter that place. That safety point also had a teleportation circle to send me back to the entrance of the temple. Thus, the method to traverse in this dungeon was akin to moving from one safety point to another and moving back to the temple¡¯s entrance for resupply. I needed dozens of days in the dungeon to reach another safety point. Naturally, there was a limit on how many ¡¾Extremely Poisonous Bugs¡¿ I could bring with me. Inside the dungeon, I procured my meal from these bugs. Like that, I kept advancing deeper and deeper into this dungeon while killing the bugs and eating them as a provision. When I descended the giant stairway in the innermost area of the ninth floor, I saw a giant bee waiting in the next room. ¡ºFirst Trial: Defeat Killer Hornet! Begin!¡» Hearing the inorganic female voice resound in my head, I readied my ¡¾Unbreakable Stick¡¿. Finally! This guy might be the opponent I¡¯ve been looking for. ¡¸LET¡¯S ENJOY, OUR DEATH BATTLE!¡¹ I screamed at the top of my lungs as I walked toward the monster bee. Suddenly, the monster bee¡¯s body shook and became blurry. I felt a chill run down my spine and shifted my center of gravity to the right. As I did so, I realized that my left arm had been gouged. ¡¸Hmm! An opponent I can¡¯t see, huh! Not bad.¡¹ I readied my ¡¾Unbreakable Stick¡¿ again as the tip of my lips rose upward. I was enjoying the comfortable pain and the delight of brushing against death after a long time. I couldn¡¯t see the enemy; this meant my opponent was formidable. I had never felt so delighted before. Suppressing the joy in my heart, I took a strong grip on my wooden sword¡¯s handle. ¡¸In the end, only this much, huh¡­¡¹ I had expected this situation before, but I couldn¡¯t help but feel disappointed. Sure enough, I couldn¡¯t see that monster bee¡¯s movement. But, the bee just moved in a straight line. It was f*cking predictable. Moreover, since the bee shook its body on the same spot before executing its ultra-high-speed attack, during that period, it was literally a sitting duck. I mean, the bee practically told me where it was going to attack next so that I could dodge. As if that wasn¡¯t enough, the guy¡¯s trump card was¨D I raised my wooden sword over my head as I saw the incoming lump of violet poisonous water raining down toward me. ¡¸¡¾Commandement Sword Art One Sword Style¡¿, third Form¨DMoon Mirror¡¹ I sent the lump of poison raining down toward me back at the monster bee with my wooden sword. As if someone had rewound the scene, the lumps of violet poison retraced its previous orbit and went on to melt the tip of the monster bee¡¯s tail. ¡¸Sorry, but such crude use of projectile weapons doesn¡¯t work on me.¡¹ Third Form¨DMoon Mirror was a counter form I had created to defend against the long-distance attack magic of Silver, the magic swordsman. Silver¡¯s ultra-high-speed magic aside, returning such a crude attack wasn¡¯t a big deal for me. Seeing its melted tail, I could tell that the poison contained an extremely powerful acid. Well, it wouldn¡¯t even have worked on me though. Despite screaming in pain, the giant bee, which should¡¯ve created some distance from me, kept clinging to the ceiling. Uhm, so it¡¯s different from the other bugs. Even when it¡¯s at such a disadvantage, it doesn¡¯t escape or lose its fighting spirit. This thing was a bug but, for some reason, it had the pride of a warrior. ¡¸Time to end this.¡¹ I clasped my wooden sword in my left hand, lowering my center of gravity as much as possible. Then, I slightly raised the tip of the sword with my right hand. [TL: Uhm, Gatotsu?] This was my current fastest sword art and my response to my opponent. When the bee¡¯s body started to shake¡­ ¡¸¡¾Commandement Sword Art, One Sword Style¡¿, Second Form¨DFlash¡¹ The moment I spun those words, numerous streaks of light rushed into the room. As for me, I was already standing behind the giant bee. ¡ºGIGI?¡» The moment the bee turned around, its head slid down and fell on the ground along with its body. ¡¸Rest in peace.¡¹ I swung my wooden sword to the side to get rid of the green bodily fluid sticking on its blade. Then, I fastened it back to my waist, ¡ºConfirming the subjugation of Killer Hornet. You¡¯ve cleared the 1st trial. You acquired Special Clear Privilege.¡» Immediately after the inorganic female voice resounded in my head, a long, narrow wooden box appeared in the centre of the room. When I opened the wooden box, I found a long sword with a shiny red blade. I immediately tried appraisal on it. ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D ¡ïFlame Sword: When this sword cuts a target, it can burn them by using the mana in the atmosphere. ?Rank: Advanced ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D A sword that can burn the target it cuts, huh! I should be able to grill those bugs with this. I mean, doing that might improve their flavour. After healing the wound I had received from the Killer Hornet, I descended to the eleventh floor. The ground of this place was boiling lava. Yup, this is it! This is how it¡¯s supposed to be! I mean, if I can¡¯t find an opponent, even if it sounds like a joke, it should at least be this much even. Now, the problem was what to do now. Forget exploring, I couldn¡¯t even take a step forward in this situation. This wouldn¡¯t have been a big deal if I had heat-resistant shoes, but unfortunately, I had no such convenient thing with me. ¡¸Resistance, huh¡­ Well, this might be a good chance for a little experiment.¡¹ After I cleared the tenth floor¡¯s trial, that place had turned into a safety point I could use to teleport outside. I took off ¡¾Escape Shoes¡¿ and put it back into my item box. Then, I tried to dip the tip of my toe into the magma and immediately pulled it back. ¡¸Tch! It¡¯s impossible after all.¡¹ In the end, I took out the elixir from my item box. I clicked my tongue while grimacing at the pain in the tip of my toe. The elixir healed the burn, but then, I dipped my toe into the magma again. After repeating the same thing fifty times, ¡ºYou have met the requirement to get ¡¾Weak Heat Resistance¡¿. You acquired a skill¨D¡¾Weak Heat Resistance¡¿.¡» A transparent board appeared before me along with the inorganic female voice. ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D ?Skill¨D¡¾Weak Heat Resistance¡¿: Have a little resistance to heat. ?Condition for skill acquisition: Exposing one part of the body to high heat 50 times. ?Rank: Beginner ?Rank up condition: Exposing one part of the body to high heat 500 times. ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D This is it! THIS IS IT! YAAY! My time and elixir are infinite! I¡¯ve got another goal in front of me! Let¡¯s raise this new skill till I gain ¡¾Heat Assimilation¡¿. Volume 1 - CH 11 Act 1-11: A New Goal TN: Another sponsored release from SoulCarver. === ¨D7612 years after the start of the game. ¡¾Gods¡¯ Ordeal¡¿ UG 350th Floor! So much time has passed since I started diving into ¡¾Gods¡¯ Ordeal¡¿¡¯s dungeon that my sense of time has started to numb. Why did it take this much time, you ask? Well, keeping the sheer size of each floor aside, every floor in the dungeon had a unique nature. The eleventh to the fiftieth floors were a magma zone. The fifty-first to the hundredth floors were a freezing zone, tundra. The next fifty floors were a desert zone. Whenever I would walk in that zone, the sand would suddenly attack me with a sand spear as if it were a sentient being. The fifty floors after that were an underwater zone. The entire zone was submerged in the water. Moreover, the water sapped my HP bit by bit. The following fifty floors were a wind blade zone. Wind blades incessantly rained upon the player in this zone. The 251st to 300th floors were a thunderbolt zone. Here, thunder and lightning incessantly rained down. I will omit the process, but I only started clearing those areas when I raised my skill to the ¡°Assimilation¡± level. As a result, I acquired ¡¾Heat Assimilation¡¿, ¡¾Ice Assimilation¡¿, ¡¾Earth and Sand Assimilation¡¿, ¡¾Wind Assimilation¡¿, ¡¾Water Assimilation¡¿, and ¡¾Thunder Assimilation¡¿. After the 300th floor was the dragon zone that was filled with various kinds of dragons. And today, I¡¯ve reached the 350th floor. In the center of the floor, I saw a tiny and adorable golden dragon sitting inside a magic circle. Even when I approached the golden dragon, it didn¡¯t move. However, its eyes never left me and kept me locked in its coercion. What a terrifying pressure! This fella is clearly a cut above the rest of the dragons. I unsheathed ¡¾Raikiri¡¿, a sword I got after subjugating ¡¾Thunder Lion King¡¿ in the 300th floor¡¯s trial. It looked like a sword from another world and was called ¡¾Nihontou¡¿. The sword fit my current sword art. ¡¸Well then, Golden Dragon! Let¡¯s fight to the death in a battle that will burn our souls.¡¹ I shouted while pointing ¡¾Raikiri¡¿¡¯s tip toward the Golden Dragon. Hearing my voice, the dragon finally raised its head in a slow manner as if it were reluctant to fight me. It then looked at me again. ¡ºEighth Trial: Defeat Golden Dragon Fafnir! Begin.¡» As soon as I heard the inorganic female voice in my head, the battle began. *** I ran toward the 349th floor as if my life depended on it. ¡¸PUAH! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!¡¹ When I reached the floor, I collapsed on the top of the cold ground with my face looking up. Then, I laughed at the top of my lungs. I lost. I had been completely defeated. It wasn¡¯t because of a disparity between physical strength. I lost because my opponent invalidated all my attacks. Keeping the matter of my sword blade failing to cut through its scale aside, even the shockwaves erupted due to my slash got canceled too. Maybe, the sword attack itself had been nullified. In short, it should¡¯ve been the effect of ¡¾Physical Attack Resistance¡¿. No! It might have been at the level of ¡¾Physical Attack Invalid¡¿. If that was the case, I couldn¡¯t defeat that fella no matter how powerful my physical attacks became. This is it! My next goal is to subjugate that Golden Dragon. I went back to the upper ground in a hurry while suppressing the joy in my heart. Anyhow, I had no prospect for victory unless I could do something about my opponent¡¯s ¡¾Physical Attack Invalid¡¿. If my sword couldn¡¯t reach it, I had to look for another method. This reminded me that I had acquired numerous books, including grimoires, during my exploration in this dungeon. As for the grimoires¡ªmaybe because it was the effect of my gift, ¡¾The Most Incompetent in This World¡¿¡ªI couldn¡¯t form a contract with any one of them. So, I just threw them into my item box. Properly speaking, grimoires were something one should contract with, and not read. I had forgotten from whom I had heard that piece of information due to it happening long ago before I entered this place. However, I was sure that this should be the case. Even if I couldn¡¯t form a contract with a grimoire, the grimoires were still composed of letters. If I could master and understand those letters, I might be able to gain useful knowledge. Naturally, no one would even consider the option of reading a grimoire¡¯s text in a normal situation. I mean, one would be risking frying one¡¯s brain by doing that. Yet, I braved such danger without a second thought. Rather, the feat being impossible made me even more passionate. I felt as if it was some sort of a sense of duty for me. In short, the option of not doing it didn¡¯t exist for me. Accompanied by a plop, I lay down with the elixir ready in my mouth and started reading a grimoire. Volume 1 - CH 12 Act 1-12: Attribute-less Magic ¨D7673 years after the start of the game. When I had just started reading the grimoire, I had to drink elixir every five minutes due to extreme headache. As I continued reading, I acquired a skill whose function I couldn¡¯t understand. It was called ¡¾Magic Poison Resistance¡¿. However, after I got that skill, the pain I experienced when reading the grimoire decreased a lot. This increased my reading efficiency by miles. In the end, I acquired ¡¾Magic Poisoning Invalid¡¿. Now, I could read the grimoire just fine without experiencing a headache again. Although the grimoire¡¯s letters were nothing more than incomprehensible symbols in my eyes, translating them was not a big deal for me. After all, one of the treasure boxes I found in the dungeon contained magic letters¡¯ translations. After understanding the contents of the grimoire, I found an extremely important fact, a fact that I couldn¡¯t use normal magic. At this point, I had a general understanding of attribute magic. This attribute of magic was what is generally known as ¡°magic.¡± It was composed of general attribute magic and special attribute magic. The general attribute magic was composed of four basic elements, namely fire, water, wind, and earth; besides them, there were four advanced elements: ice, thunder, light, and darkness. All of them made eight attributes in total. ¡°Special attribute¡± was a term used for anything outside of those eight elements. This attribute magic couldn¡¯t be acquired unless one had a certain amount of talent. This included the talent to make a contract with a grimoire. The so-called talent mentioned here was apparently unrelated to a gift or a skill. If one couldn¡¯t form a pact with a grimoire, they wouldn¡¯t be able to acquire the magic in that grimoire no matter how hard they trained. Consequently, I, who had no redeeming talent, couldn¡¯t form a contract with any of those grimoires. This might make one wonder whether I had spent the last sixty years in vain or not. There was actually another kind of magic called attribute-less magic. To put it simply, this magic aimed for a certain effect by applying mana in one¡¯s body or something else. Since one only needed to control their mana, it didn¡¯t require any particular talent. In short, it was the most suitable magic for me. At this point, the books I had acquired from the treasure box weren¡¯t just grimoires. The total number of books I had collected had until now surpassed tens of thousands. And this included books of various fields outside of magic. As a result of carefully reading all those books in the last sixty years, I found that attribute-less magic was extremely inefficient. I noticed this when I read a book containing medical knowledge. The human body is composed of countless tiny cells. The gathering of those small cells is called a tissue, and the gathering of those tissues is an organ. Each organ had its own function. These organs I mentioned were none other than human internal organs. The grimoire of ¡¾Super-Physical Strengthening¡¿ and ¡¾Super-Fast Recovery¡¿, attribute-less magic, was loading several tissues with mana. Ideally, with loading one mana per cell, their effect would quite literally shoot through the roof. However, this requires precise control of mana. In addition, as long as I master control of mana, I should be able to gain my first long-range attack too. The effort I had to put in to achieve that goal simply couldn¡¯t be compared to before. It was far more steep and difficult since I had no target of comparison. ¡¸This is it. This is what I¡¯m looking for! ANOTHER GOAAAAAAAAAAAAL!! I CAN STILL BECOME STRONGER!!¡¹ Thus, my mana manipulation training began along with a strange yet delighted laugh. Volume 1 - CH 13 Act 1-13: Development of Long-Range Attack and A New Magic Spell ¨D8167 years after the start of the game. Mana is an extremely pure form of energy inside the human body. It¡¯s stored in the elixir field of the human body, otherwise known as the dantian, which is located near the liver. Mana control is a process where someone draws mana from mana¡¯s storehouse, the dantian. At first, I could only draw minuscule amounts of mana from my dantian after a long arduous effort. However, after doing that for a hundred years, I could now draw any amount of mana I wanted and spread it outside my body within a radius of dozens of meters. This had reached a point where I could paint in the air with my mana. The next thing now was practical application. Since I had mastered mana control, it was time to see how I could increase the efficiency of attribute-less magic. Thus, I started the development of a new magic spell by using the already-existing grimoires as my reference. And the result of my long years of effort was four magic spells. The first was a physical reinforcement magic spell, ¡¾Herculean Strength¡¿. This spell covered every cell in my body with mana and gave that mana the effect of reinforcement. The second was a recovery magic spell, ¡¾Panacea(Ultra Recovery)¡¿. The spell made it possible for me to recover at a cellular level. This was a magic spell inspired by the theory in the medical books I had found in this dungeon. The third was a weapon reinforcement magic spell, ¡¾Magic Clad¡¿. Just like its name, the spell allowed me to cover my weapon with mana to a molecular level, thanks to my extreme mana control. It allowed me to exert the maximum potential of my weapon, and this spell was inspired by a chemistry book. The fourth one was an exploration-type magic spell, ¡¾Divine Eye¡¿. The spell allowed me to search the area within a dome of 500 meters radius with me as its center. I wasn¡¯t the one who gave the names to these magic spells. They were already there in the list of my skills when I practiced them. With this, I had created the foundation for my strength to reach the next level. Now, I needed to put them to practical use to develop a long-range attack. I had crossed out archery or other long-range weapons at the very beginning. My weapon of choice was a sword. I couldn¡¯t choose anything else. Since that was the case, I¨D I held a stone in my right hand and started throwing them. "" ¨D11065 years after the start of the game. Many more years have passed. After I kept throwing those stones, I acquired ¡¾Commandement Throwing Art, Beginner¡¿. Then, it rose to intermediate, esoteric, kaiden, and finally to ¡¾Commandement Throwing Art, Pinnacle¡¿. Now, I had cleared all the necessary conditions to gain throwing arts. Naturally, just like magic, this was a part of the necessary foundation to reach new heights. The current me had already cleared the requirement to throw my sword or mana, which had its attribute altered. I had achieved this after 500 years of long trial and error. Naturally, since I was a swordsman, I couldn¡¯t use this throwing skill as it was meant to be; nor did I want to use it. Thus, I did my best to incorporate ¡¾Commandement Throwing Art, Pinnacle¡¿ into my sword art. The result of my long, painstaking years of effort was the complete integration of ¡¾Commandement Throwing Art, Pinnacle¡¿, which resulted in the birth of ¡¾True Commandement Sword Art(Shin Kairyu Kenjutsu)¡¿. Therefore, aside from the already-existing forms ¡¾Deadline¡¿, ¡¾Flash¡¿, and ¡¾Moon Mirror¡¿, I gained an additional three new sword forms. I then made full use of the special characteristic of the dungeon, namely the refilling of the monsters after a certain amount of time had passed. I started killing the dragons from the 300th to the 349th floor. And just a few days ago, I had received the title ¡¾Dragon Slayer¡¿. When I got this title, I realized that I could acquire a title after accomplishing a certain feat. The title boosted my stats when I fought against dragons. What a coincidence! It¡¯s just the right title I need to kill that fella. Anyhow, my current status was much better. ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D ¡ïSTATUS ¡¾Name¡¿¡¡Kai Heineman ¡¾Age¡¿¡¡15(Aging Suspended During The Game) ¡¾Gift¡¿¡¡The Most Incompetent in this World(God Rank) ¡¾HP¡¿¡¡9000 ¡¾MP¡¿¡¡8000 ¡¾Strength¡¿¡¡3214 ¡¾Stamina¡¿¡¡2955 ¡¾Agility¡¿¡¡¡¡3428 ¡¾Magical Power¡¿¡¡¡¡3699 ¡¾Magic Resistance¡¿¡¡3026 ¡¾Luck¡¿¡¡1020 ¡ïSkill in possession: ¡¾Item Box¡¿, ¡¾Special Appraisal¡¿, ¡¾True Commandement Sword Art, One Sword Style¡¿, ¡¾Poison Assimilation¡¿, ¡¾Heat Assimilation¡¿, ¡¾Ice Assimilation¡¿, ¡¾Earth and Sand Assimilation¡¿, ¡¾Wind Assimilation¡¿, ¡¾Water Assimilation¡¿, ¡¾Thunder Assimilation¡¿, ¡¾Magic Poisoning Invalid¡¿. ¡ïTitle: ¡¾Dragon Slayer¡¿ ¡ïMagic: ¡¾Herculean Strength¡¿, ¡¾Ultra Recovery(Panacea)¡¿, ¡¾Magic Clad¡¿, ¡¾Divine Eye¡¿ ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D My opponent might have higher status than me. Moreover, I had no idea how my attack would affect that fella who had a cheat-like skill called ¡¾Physical Attack Invalid¡¿. Let humans do their best, and leave the rest to God¡¯s will! I moved toward the last teleportation circle on the 349th floor and went down the stairs toward the 350th floor. Just like before, the Golden Dragon glared at me while lying down on its lapel. I unsheathed ¡¾Raikiri¡¿. Lowering my center of gravity, I did my best to suppress the excitement in my heart and glared back at the Golden Dragon. ¡ºSuspended 8th Trial, Defeat Golden Dragon Fafnir! Resume!¡» The inorganic female voice resounded again in my head. Yeah! You¡¯ve been itching to resume this fight too, right? This is a love across 3500 years after all. I¡¯ve been yearning for a battle to the death in the last 3500 years. Now, let¡¯s quickly begin our battle to the death. Using ¡¾Magic Clad¡¿, I covered ¡¾Raikiri¡¿ in my mana and boosted its destructive power to the limit. I also boosted my power with ¡¾Herculean Strength¡¿. Although it could sound too boorish as a greeting, I decided to give my most powerful strike as a greeting to my opponent anyway. The current me could pull the power of ¡¾Raikiri¡¿ to its limit and wield it at my will. I swung ¡¾Raiki¡¿, aiming at the space above the head of the Golden Dragon. ¡¾Raikiri¡¿ unleashed thunderous war, dyeing the space in golden color. At that moment, it released extreme heat that burned the atmosphere. The resulting shockwave and thunderous roars shook my ears¡¯ drums. That attack gouged the wall behind the Golden Dragon, completely eradicating its form. The sheer heat of my attack had turned the stone into crimson magma. When Fafnir turned around to see the wall behind them, for some unknown reason, I got the feeling that its face had stiffened. Trembling, it hurriedly plopped on the ground and let out a small scream. ¡¸Well then, let¡¯s begi¨D¡¹ But then, Before I could even finish my war declaration¨D ¡ºI give up.¡» A little girl¡¯s voice shook my eardrums. ¡ºConfirming the surrender declaration of the Golden Dragon Fafnir. You have cleared the 8th trial. Since you subjugated the target without injuring it, you have gained a special clear privilege.¡» An absurd victory declaration from the inorganic female voice resounded in my head. ¡¸Eh?¡¹ She wasn¡¯t joking. I mean, she declared that I had won without even having to cross blades with my opponent. Moreover, the absurd situation didn¡¯t just stop with that. A transparent board appeared before me, and following it¨D ¡ºLet¡¯s see! Golden Dragon Fafnir is looking up to you as if it¡¯s asking to become your comrade.¡¹ WHAT?! It wants to become my comrade? ¡º¡¶Yes¡· or ¡¶No¡·¡» Even if it was asking me to become its comrade, I might not even need such a giant creature as a comrade. No, wait a minute! There is no useless thing in this dungeon. Should I make my choice based on that? Anyhow, it seems this lizard can talk too. I¡¯ve been a loner for more than ten thousand years. I have been getting these withdrawal symptoms of wanting to speak with someone whenever I hear that inorganic female voice in my head. This might be my first and last chance to gain a conversation partner. ¡¸Then, ¡¶Yes¡·¡¹ When I chose ¡¶Yes¡· without hesitation, the Golden Dragon shone. Its body rapidly shrunk. I see! So it can adjust its size, huh. I kept watching the spectacle despite the rising tension in my chest. Then¨D ¡¸Wait a minute! Isn¡¯t it¡­ way too small?¡¹ The dragon shrunk until it became as big as a human. Or should I say that its silhouette was really that of a human? It had transformed into a young girl in her early teens and with a small build. She was dressed in black and white womanly clothes. Yes, no matter how much I scrubbed my eyes, it really was a little girl. The Golden Dragon turned out to be a SHE. She had long-shiny blonde hair that covered her ears. Moreover, her hair grew until her waist and was divided in half by ribbon. [TL: https://maneaddicts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/velvet-ribbon-blonde-hair-pinterest.jpg] ¡¸It¡¯s nice to meet you. Fafnir is at your service, Master, DESU!¡¹ The dragon gave a light bow as she introduced herself. Volume 1 - CH 14 Act 1-14: A Long-Nosed Monster Who Proclaims Himself as an Evil God The reward of the special-clear privilege was ¡¾Dragon God¡¯s Cloth¡¿, ¡¾Dragon God¡¯s Overcoat¡¿, and ¡¾Dragon God¡¯s Shoes¡¿. All these items had three special effects, namely firmness, deterioration-free, and powerful physical attack resistance. The clothes I had acquired inside the dungeon had become tatters now. That was why, the first two special effects, firmness and deterioration-free, had truly saved me from a lot of trouble finding or manufacturing clothes. After taking care of various things, my strange cohabitation with Fafnir began. Since I wanted to read my book collection at ease in the most comfortable way, I built a house with readily available wood. I think there was an elaborate book about construction amongst the books I had gathered in the dungeon. Currently, I¡¯m cooking the meat of the thunder cow that I harvested on the 290th floor. By the way, the salt comes from the seawater in the ocean zone located on the 170th-180th floors. I had stored the water in my item box, poured it in the kettle-like item I got from the dungeon, and lastly, evaporated all the water in the kettle with my flame sword. I had almost infinite time in this dungeon, so I had taken my time to create a lot of salt. ¡¸It¡¯s so delicious, DESU!!¡¹ Fafnir chewed on the meat I cooked. Her cheeks were puffed like that of an adorable squirrel. ¡¸Thank god you like it.¡¹ When I tried the meat, an unspeakable delicious flavor spread in my mouth. Yeah, eating around the dining table with another person was truly a good thing. Rather, it was more than enough for me, who had lived a loner life for far too long. Although I still yearned for a deadly battle against a powerful opponent due to my pride as a warrior, that yearning had eased a lot after Fafnir¡¯s appearance. It seemed she was also enjoying dungeon exploration and cooking with me. So it was a win-win relationship. ¨D13000 years after the start of the game. We¡¯ve reached the 400th floor. Currently, we are facing a giant creature with a long nose and a body wrapped in armor. I¡¯ve seen this creature before in the animal picture book of another world; I found the book in this dungeon as well. If I¡¯m not wrong, this creature¡¯s name is ¡ºElephant¡». Well, the one in front of me is a bi-pedal elephant though. ¡ºOur name is Evil God Girimekhala. I praise thee for reaching this floor, newbie god!¡» Yup, he¡¯s an awfully haughty monster. An Evil God, huh¡­ it seems he got a bit too heated in welcoming us. Rather, it seems like he¡¯s suffering from a certain illness that affects teenagers, causing them to have delusions. I had read that in one of the books I found in the dungeon. ¡¸Faf, what should we do to this fella?¡¹ I spoke to Faf, otherwise known as Fafnir. The reason I called her by her shortened name was that her name was too long. This made it difficult to call her name during the battle. Thus, after hundreds of years or so, I shortened her name to Faf. ¡¸BEAT HIM TO DEATH, DESU!¡¹ Faf spoke in her usual adorable voice while pushing her right fist into the air. Yup, same as ever, Faf made another dangerous declaration. Whenever I tried to have mock combat with Faf to kill some time, before I even realized it, she would turn into a girl with a berserker-like personality. Somehow, I felt like I had failed to properly raise my daughter. I guess I have to read the book about raising children when I have time next time. ¡¸Oi, the monster over there, I¡¯ll give you a chance to surrender right now. As long as you surrender to me, I¡¯ll spare your life.¡¹ I didn¡¯t beat around the bush and offered the beast a chance to surrender. ¡ºYou want me¡­ to surrender?¡» His huge body trembled non-stop, and he raised his long nose. Uhm, are you moving to tears now? I mean the result of our battle became as clear as a day the moment we faced each other. The difference between our power was like that between heaven and earth. I mean, his reaction was rather similar to the reaction of a small animal that was facing an overwhelmingly strong opponent they couldn¡¯t defeat. It was something I had read in one of the books I had found. ¡¸Yes, you¡¯re obviously scared of me. Whether it¡¯s a bug or a dragon, I shall spare them as long as they don¡¯t try to harm me.¡¹ Even though I used to quite literally massacre all monsters before me with no exception, I had softened my attitude a lot in fear of turning Faf into a berserker lady. ¡ºH-H-HOW DARE YOUUUU! We are the Evil God Girimekhala, the first vassal of our lord, God Mara-sama! You think the likes of a lowly, newbie god like you can talk to me in norma¨D¡» ¡¸I see. In short, you refuse to surrender.¡¹ Since his delusional self-introduction was getting more and more annoying, I interrupted him at once. Then, I launched a preemptive attack with ¡¾Raikiri¡¿, which was strengthened with ¡¾Magic Clad¡¿. The absurd amount of white light released in that slash turned that self-proclaimed evil god intoa cinder at once. ¡¸As expected of Master, nanodesu! Another instant kill, nanodesu!¡¹ I wonder why Faf¡¯s sensibility seems to have worsened than before. Well, whatever! It¡¯s not like that will be a plus or minus to her common sense anyway. Let¡¯s teach her slowly after this. Anyhow, I acquired an item called ¡ºSubjugation Picture Book¡» as the reward for special clear. ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D ¡ï¡¾Subjugation Picture Book¡¿: When the owner of the book subjugates the creatures in ¡¾Gods¡¯ Ordeal¡¿, they can store the subjugated creature¡¯s soul in the book and recreate the subjugated creature¡¯s flesh with their mana. The owner can also summon the subjugated creature from the book. Only the person who used the book first was regarded as its owner, the one with the authority to summon the subjugated monsters inside the book. Moreover, the scale of the world inside the book and its storing capacity depended on the magical power of its owner. ?Item Rank: Transcendent ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D Suddenly, a transparent board appeared before me. ¡ºThe soul of Evil God Girimekhala has appeared. Do you want to store it in the picture book?¡» Yup, nothing wrong with trying it. I pressed ¡¾Yes¡¿ with my right index finger, and the book opened a certain page on its own. The page had the image of a long-nosed creature. This looks interesting. Since my time is infinite in this space, let¡¯s try to verify the effect. If the effect is useful, let¡¯s collect more souls starting from the first floor. Volume 1 - CH 15 Act 1-15: Subjugation Picture Book¡¯s Verification Sponsored Chapter by a kindred soul whose acronym is AK. Thank you very much! === After returning to the temple above ground, I took out ¡¾Subjugation Picture Book¡¿ from my item box. Well then, let¡¯s test whether it¡¯s really possible to use this book. Yup, I couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit excited. ¡¸What is that, desu?¡¹ Faf, who clung to my back as usual, looked at the bulky and extravagant book in my hands with an extremely curious expression. ¡¸It¡¯s a book I got after killing that self-proclaimed evil god.¡¹ ¡¸Self-proclaimed evil god?¡¹ Faf tilted her head to the side with a confused look on her face as if she was trying to recall that self-proclaimed evil god. However, she then heaved a sigh like she gave up. Yup, it seemed Faf had already forgotten about that self-proclaimed evil god¡­ Rather, we didn¡¯t even hear his complete self-introduction since I killed him before he could finish it. Faf was an extremely wise child, but in some aspects, she was completely indifferent toward things she had no interest in. Well, she might remember that self-proclaimed evil god as something like a bipedal, big monster. ¡¸I¡¯m talking about that bipedal monster with a long nose.¡¹ ¡¸Ah, the monster who got kicked in the ass by Master, desu!¡¹ ¡¸Faf, a girl shouldn¡¯t say such things with bright shining eyes, you know.¡¹ I remind her as I usually did and patted her head, ¡¸Yes, nodesu!¡¹ Faf raised her right punch in the air with her usual cheerful voice. She didn¡¯t seem to understand it, but whatever. With that action, she was only mimicking me. In short, I just had to act properly in front of her. Well then, now it¡¯s time to verify the ¡¾Subjugation Picture Book¡¿. Let¡¯s try to summon it first. I turned the first page of the book and saw ¡ºSubjugation Picture Book ¦¸¡» written in big letters. ¡¸Uhm? ¦¸?¡¹ When I turned back to see the book cover again, the title there had also changed to ¡ºSubjugation Picture Book ¦¸¡». Strange! I¡¯m sure that there was no ¡°¦¸¡± when I first received the book, but¡­ Oh, forget it! It must have been just my eyes pulling a prank on me. Yes, I must¡¯ve missed the ¡°¦¸¡± when I checked it before. After thinking about that, I opened the second page and continued reading several subsequent pages. These pages seemed to be the instruction manual for this book. Now, let¡¯s see¡­ ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D ¡ï How to Use The Picture Book: ?1 ¨C The owner of the book must capture the soul of the target with the picture book. As long as the target surrenders from the bottom of their soul, it is possible to capture them while they¡¯re still alive. It is possible to then reconstruct the flesh of the target with the magical power of the owner of the book. ?2 ¨C The owner of the picture book can make special changes or change the size of the world inside the picture book, where the target lives, by pouring more mana into the picture book. In addition, the form of that world completely depends on the magical power of the owner of the picture book. ?3 ¨C The subjugated target can be summoned whenever the owner of the picture book wants. The owner of the picture book just has to say ¡¾Release¡¿ in their mind. Besides, as long as the owner of the picture book gives their permission, the subjugated target can move freely in and out of the picture book by their own will. ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D I didn¡¯t really understand those points. However, they said that by pouring mana into the book, I could create an original world inside it where the subjugation targets could live. Moreover, the book also came with a proper way to summon the subjugated target. Well, let¡¯s try to summon first. When I opened the self-proclaimed evil god¡¯s page, ¡¾Name¨D¨DGirimekhala¡¿ was written there. £¨Girimekhala¨D¨D¡¾Release¡¿£© I recited the name of that self-proclaimed evil god in my heart in accordance with the picture book¡¯s instructions. The next moment, the giant monster with a long nose, Girimekhala, suddenly appeared before me. After looking around for a few seconds with a seemingly confused expression, Girimekhala finally saw me. He immediately jumped back. ¡ºYOU, you¡¯re the newbie god from before!¡» He shouted another delusion of his mind in a loud voice. What a pitiful fella! This guy seems to be suffering from an extremely severe delusional disease. At first, I thought that he wouldn¡¯t be able to hurt me, the one who summoned him. However, Girimekhala made some distance from me and assumed a stance. It seemed what I thought wasn¡¯t the case. Well, I did find that it was repulsive to force others to obey me with an unknown power. So, this development was a nice thing for me. Anyhow, as described by the picture book, this self-proclaimed evil god was my first summoned monster. In short, he was my subordinate. However, he seemed like an extremely proud creature, I didn¡¯t think he would submit that easily to me. Or rather, we wouldn¡¯t even be able to have a proper conversation if he kept acting this way. I mean, I didn¡¯t think that I would hear something other than ¡°Evil God, etc, etc, etc, etc¡­¡± from him. That was why I wondered about what to do to this fella. Suddenly, I recalled that I had a book titled ¡¾New Recruit Training Textbook(Hell Edition)¡¿, which I just read recently. This book contained a way to teach immature yet proud recruits about pecking order and build a favourable relationship with them afterwards. Since this subjugated target was the same as a recruit, I might be able to use him as a good reference for training monsters I would capture later. Well, let¡¯s test it. ¡¸Very well then! I shall beat that crooked personality of yours.¡¹ I took out ¡¾Unbreakable Stick¡¿ from my item box and raised it overhead. ¡ºB-Beat me? What kind of non¡­ se¨D¡» I knocked on Girimekhala¡¯s cheek with ¡¾Unbreakable Stick¡¿ before he could even finish shouting. His giant figure spun as he blew away to the side at terrifying speed. In the end, he crashed against the tall cliff along with a loud, exploding sound. ¡ºGAH¡­¡» When I approached Girimekhala, he was already on the verge of death. So, I took out elixir from my item box and poured it over his dying body. Come to think of it, I seldom use elixir nowadays. ¡¸Look, you¡¯ve already recovered, right? Now stand up!¡¹ I pointed the tip of ¡¾Unbreakable Stick¡¿ at him. ¡ºY-You¡­ just who in the hell are you?¡» Girimekhala squeezed his voice as he asked me that question with a ghastly, pale face. ¡¸Me? Ah, now I realize that I¡¯ve yet to introduce myself, huh. My name is Kai Heineman, your new master,¡¹ ¡ºMy master!? Just what kind of jo¨D¡» When he tried to stand up again with an angry expression, I closed in at once and beat him with a horizontal strike. Girimekhala got blown away and crashed against the cliff again. What a lazy recruit! I approached the man, whose body had already sunk into the cliff. He was twitching like a dead bug, and I poured elixir on him again. ¡ºO-Ouch, what in the¨D¡» I beat him when he shook his head and tried to stand again. His mouth kept flapping non-stop as beads of sweat fell from his face like a waterfall. ¡¸Have you finally understood your current situation? That¡¯s right! Starting from now, I¡¯m gonna beat that rotten personality of yours till it gets straightened.¡¹ I repeated the words written in that textbook meant for the trainer in high spirits. ¡¸Beat him up, nodesu!¡¹ Faf raised her right fist to the heavens. ¡ºAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!¡» Thus, my training in the name of correcting Girimekhala¡¯s rotten personality fully started that day. Accompanying along were the latter¡¯s screams of despair as I beat him again and again with my ¡¾Unbreakable Stick¡¿. Volume 1 - CH 16 Act 1-16: The Birth of Hardcore Fanatic(Side: Girimekhala) Days after days after days, basically every day since then, my morning starts with that monster beating me nonstop using that equally monstrous wooden stick. I get free from my suffering only at the arrival of night. At first, I thought of retaliating when he was asleep, but that monster has no openings at all. On the contrary, I receive merciless counterattacks from him along with unimaginable pain. Now, my heart has become too worn out to even attempt something against that person. I have turned into a yes man who can only go through the torture of that aberration, which he calls ¡°training.¡± Speaking of that aberration, he said that his name is Kai Heineman. I wonder just what in the hell is wrong with that monster? For me, Girimekhala, he¡¯s an extremely powerful vessel in a completely different way. I mean, going against him is like a bug trying to challenge a giant, legendary dragon. It isn¡¯t a matter of winning or losing anymore; the difference between our strengths is like that between heaven and earth. Yes, the desperation I feel is similar to what I sense when confronting my master, Mara-sama. This dungeon, ¡¾Gods¡¯ Ordeal¡¿, is a game(gateway to honor) to become a great god who represents their own myth. Confident of their abilities, gods bet on their pride and life to challenge this dungeon and conquer it. If they can¡¯t clear this dungeon, only death awaits them. If they clear it, however, they would be honored with the title of a great god. That¡¯s just how crazy this trial is. It¡¯s a literal hell or heaven. At the end of the day, the goal of this dungeon is to make one a great god. And since this aberration already has that much power, he should be able to go straight into the deepest floor of this dungeon and defeat the last guardian there. Yet, despite having such tremendous power, Kai Heineman always does contradictory things. This dungeon can be cleared in two ways. The first way is to follow a regular route, clearing one floor after another. You could say that this route is unnecessary for him since he¡¯s powerful enough to beat the last guardian of this dungeon. The other way is to use the right hand of a god to use the access code that would send the god straight into the last floor. Then, the god can beat the last guardian and clear the dungeon. The last guardian is so powerful that its power causes unrest even amongst gods. That¡¯s why only foolish gods use the access code. However, this shouldn¡¯t be a problem for Kai Heineman. He should be able to beat the last guardian with ease. This is the reason his current actions don¡¯t make sense at all. All the gods who come to challenge this dungeon should already know of these two routes. What I¡¯m trying to say is that Kai Heineman¡¯s action of clearing this dungeon floor by floor doesn¡¯t make sense since he¡¯s strong enough to beat the last guardian of this dungeon. While I mulled over this question, the sun rose. The figure of Kai Heineman walking out of his residence, a small wooden building, appeared before me. ¡¸RISE AND STAND!!!¡¹ My body jerked on its own when I heard his shout. ¡ºYES SIR!¡» I spontaneously jumped up and stood with a straight posture. Then I saluted him with my right hand. ¡¸Oi, Tell me again. What are you!?¡¹ ¡ºYes sir! I am nothing more than a lowly bug who crawls on the ground!!¡» Nowadays, this reply has become a part of my life. I felt humiliated at first. However, I abandoned such useless pride long ago. This routine has reached a point where my mouth answers on its own. ¡¸Good! It seems like you finally have some guts after thirty years of training. Rejoice! From now on, you¡¯re no longer a worthless bug. You have been reborn as a warrior.¡¹ ¡ºYES SIR! It¡¯s a pleasure to receive such an honor!!¡» Why? What¡¯s with this shaking voice of mine? What¡¯s with all these tears? The hot liquid kept slipping down from my cheeks and falling to the ground. Despite seeing me trembling while I cried due to the unexplainable emotions I felt, Kai Heineman raised his lips. ¡¸Girimekhala, I shall give thee a present to celebrate your graduation as a warrior. What kind of a world do you wish for?¡¹ He asked me an incomprehensible question. ¡ºA¡­ world?¡» ¡¸Yes. Apparently, this picture book has such a system.¡¹ ¡ºE-Eh, what¡¯s what for me¡­¡» ¡¸What? So you don¡¯t have a world you wish for, huh. Since that¡¯s the case, I guess I shall create a world similar to the land where creatures like you can live.¡¹ The moment Kai Heineman muttered those words, the scenery before me distorted. It transformed into the scenery of my homeland, which I badly miss. A palace-like building majestically towered over the plains in this world. ¡ºT-This is¡­¡» To be honest, seeing the scenery before me, I was completely at a loss for words. Did Kai Heineman just casually create a world? Nononono! Not even a great god should be able to achieve such a miracle. I mean, creating a world you have never seen before should be an impossible task. The scenery before me distorted again, and this time, Kai Heineman appeared in front of me. ¡¸What do you think? Not too bad, right?¡¹ ¡ºDid you¡­ really create this world?¡» ¡¸Well, to be exact, I just reproduced a scene you saw before using this picture book, which I found in this dungeon. And, it¡¯s not my power that created this world.¡¹ That¡¯s impossible. At the end of the day, this dungeon was created to train a god into a great god. Anything beyond that should be impossible. No matter how powerful an item in this dungeon is, it shouldn¡¯t be able to create the impossible scenery before me. However, there is no need for Kai Heineman to tell a lie to me either. Why should he lie to someone he can swat to death anytime he wants to? In short, he¡¯s telling the truth about that book. Since that¡¯s the case, it means that the book underwent a transformation when it became Kai Heineman¡¯s possession. Such an incomprehensible existence. Power rivalling that of a great god and power to create a world! I¡¯ve never heard of anyone having these two powers at the same time before. Thus, I decided to ask a question that has always been in my mind since I realized the depth of Kai Heineman¡¯s power. ¡ºWhat are you trying to do in this dungeon?¡» For someone as powerful as Kai Heineman, clearing this dungeon should be as easy as flipping his hand. Yet, he chooses to walk his way through each floor instead of going straight to the last floor. This Girimekhala is dying to know the reason Kai Heineman does such a thing. ¡¸Naturally, to become stronger.¡¹ Kai Heineman¡¯s reply betrayed all of my expectations. It was just too simple. ¡ºC-Can you become¡­ even stronger than now?¡» Does he want to become an existence even higher than he already is? Does he seriously think about that despite having a power rivalling that of a great god? Such greed for strength. ¡¸Naturally, I¡¯m far too immature after all. Fortunately, I¡¯ve found a glove that can seal my strength. With this, I can limit my strength and enjoy even more fierce and deadly battles that can burn my soul.¡¹ A madgod! There¡¯s no doubt about it. The existence before me has a few screws loose in his head. Honestly, this is the first time I¡¯ve met such a mad god. And yet, for some reason, I feel a sense of longing toward such absurd madness. £¨I see. This must be the reason I was crying before.£© When I understood that, my hesitations, questions, doubts, and even my loyalty toward my former master, scattered and vanished at once. They were replaced with an unshakable faith toward the existence who stood before me. That¡¯s why¨D ¡ºFrom this moment onward, this bug pledges his absolute loyalty to you.¡» At this very moment I, Girimekhala, knelt and pledged a vow in my heart in the name granted by my supreme master. Volume 1 - CH 17 Act 1-17: The Beastman Proclaiming to be The King of Divine Beast; Nemea ¡ª56000 years after the start of the game. Tens of thousands of years have passed since then. I started exploring the dungeon again. Although, I did it from the 1st floor again to hunt monsters in order to fill my picture book. The monsters had suddenly become really weak some thousands of years ago, so I decided to seal my abilities with ¡¾Glove of Sealing God¡¿. It was a treasure I found in one of the chests in this dungeon. This treasure could provide me the enjoyment of a deadly battle that would burn my soul. As for why I suppressed my ability, it¡¯s simply because my opponents would be too weak otherwise. To be specific, it¡¯s because I found out that each of my stats had almost stopped rising after crossing the ten-thousand mark. Thus, I started to ask myself. Have I reached my limit? The answer I got was in the negative. I knew for a reason that I should be able to become even stronger. And that reason was none other than the only merit of my so-called gift, ¡¾The Most Incompetent in this World¡¿. Therefore, it couldn¡¯t be said that I had reached the limit of my growth. I simply had yet to find a more effective way to raise my stats at my current strength. Just as I had been mulling over this matter, I had found this ¡¾Glove of Sealing God¡¿. By wearing this ¡¾Glove of Sealing God¡¿, I could freely limit my physical strength and magical power to my liking. In this way, I had gained a way to restrain my strength. After I found and equipped this treasure, I realized something. My stats rose even higher if I killed an enemy after a deadly, fierce battle with my life on the line. I realized this fact after many trials and errors in the way of researching a method to make me stronger. In one of the experiments of that research, I battled a powerful monster while restraining my abilities with ¡¾Glove of Sealing God¡¿. When I came out as the victor of that deadly and fierce battle in a tattered state, I discovered that my stats had risen again. Even now, tens of thousands of years after that discovery, I still remember the delight I had felt at that time. After all, I had established proof that I could still become stronger. Since then, I have captured this dungeon with my abilities restricted by this ¡¾Glove of Sealing God¡¿ to the very limit. Right now, Faf and I arrived in front of the stairway leading to the 600th floor of the prairie zone. We descended the stairways and arrived at the 600th floor, a semi-circular prairie surrounded by a waterfall. Then, my eyes fell on a beastman resembling someone from the lion beastman tribe. The beastman was donned in golden armor as he stood empty-handed in the center of the prairie. ¡ºNewbie god(warrior), huh. FUHAHAHAHAHA! So you reached this 600th floor with just the two of you!! Interesting!! You guys are really interesting!!¡» The lion-beastman laughed until his back bent backward. His face contained undisguised joy. He then pulled his right elbow, retreated half a step with his right feet, and lowered his center of gravity. This was the most basic martial arts stance, yet it was honed to perfection. In short, my opponent was a martial artist, and the cream of the crop on top of that. This is it! FINALLY!! This was the first time in this dungeon when I came across a monster that had mastered martial arts to the limit. Although the monsters I had fought and defeated until now possessed all kinds of troublesome special abilities, at the end of the day, they overly relied on their gifts and brute force. Therefore, the chance of fighting a genuine martial artist, like the monster before me, was a great stimulus that plucked my heartstrings. Now, if I lowered my abilities with ¡¾Glove of Sealing God¡¿, I might be able to enjoy a battle that could burn my soul. However, I saw Faf raising her small fists and growling at the lion-beastman. ¡¸Sorry, Faf! Let me fight this guy. I¡¯ve been waiting for this kind of opponent.¡¹ I stopped Faf, then took out ¡¾Unbreakable Stick¡¿ from my item box. With the stick in hand, I walked toward my opponent. ¡¸Yes, nodesu!¡¹ Faf raised her face to take a peek at my face before replying to me. Then, she vigorously punched into the air with her small fists while replying to me and retreated. ¡ºOne-on-one is it? Is that arrogance? Well, I guess it isn¡¯t. Seeing that stance, I can tell you¡¯re the same as me, a genuine fighting god(warrior), huh! Very well! I¡¯m the king of Divine Beasts, Nemea! READY WHEN YOU ARE!!¡» When Nemea took a breath, a dense red aura leaked out of his body, dyeing his muscular body reddish-brown. ¡¸I¡¯m Kai Heineman, a swordsman!¡¹ The next moment, my sword and his fist collided. With us as the center, a shockwave strong enough to blast our surroundings created each time my sword and his fist collided. *** The fist and the sword had collided for who knows how many times now. We kept attacking each other, ignoring the wounds on our bodies. Nemea¡¯s body was drenched with blood and covered in numerous scratches. It was the same for me. It had been a long time since I was this excited. This scramble for life against an extremely powerful opponent was truly the best. However, every festival would eventually end. I tried to dodge Nemea¡¯s right fist, which pierced the sound barrier by a paper-thin margin. Its orbit had suddenly changed out of nowhere and it was now headed toward my temple. I quickly wrapped my broken left arm around Nemea¡¯s right arm and diverted his punch toward an empty area. ¡ºNUH!?¡» When Nemea¡¯s posture crumbled a little due to his punch being diverted, I launched a counter-horizontal slash toward his flank with my ¡¾Unbreakable Stick¡¿. Although Nemea barely managed to block the slash with his log-like right arm, he still had to roll on the ground due to the residual force of my attack. He immediately stood up while heavily breathing. ¡ºStrong¡­ you¡¯re way too strong! This is strange. My physical strength should be above yours. And yet, I can¡¯t beat you even with my strongest weapon, my martial arts! No matter how much I think about it, this situation is way too abnormal. Are you, by any chance, holding back against me?¡» ¡¸No, I¡¯m going all out against you.¡¹ Yes, Nemea¡¯s martial arts were the real deal. I had realized that I wouldn¡¯t be able to win against him if I cut corners. In fact, Nemea¡¯s kick had managed to break my left arm. ¡ºThere¡¯s only truth in martial arts. We know not of humility! On top of that, I¡¯m a martial arts god. A defeat against an opponent who¡¯s holding back their true strength is something I can never accept. Please, I know that I¡¯m unworthy of fighting against you in your most powerful state. But, please allow me to see you in your peak state.¡» Nemea deeply bowed after he readjusted his breath. Having fought him, I had realized that he was a proud fella who wouldn¡¯t lower his head to just anyone. ¡¸I¡¯m not holding back because I¡¯m underestimating you. But, I guess you¡¯re right. I mistreated you as a fellow martial artist by holding back. My deepest apologies!¡¹ Thus, for the first time in tens of thousands of years, I completely canceled the effects of ¡¾Glove of Sealing God¡¿, revealing my peak state to Nemea. ¡ºW-WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!? GUHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA! LIKE HELL I CAN WIN AGAINST THIS!!THE DIMENSION IS WAY TOO DIFFERENT!!¡» Nemea let out a maddening laugh as he spread his arms. His face was dyed with pure wild joy. I unsheathed ¡¾Raikiri¡¿, which hung on my waist, from its sheath and raised it above my head in an upper stance. ¡¸This is an apology gift from me for staining your pride. I¡¯ll kill you with my current, most powerful strike.¡¹ I heaved a sigh, sharpened my mind, and then¨D ¡¸True Commandement Sword Art, One Sword Style: 7th Form¨DSekai(World Destruction)¡¹ I swung down ¡¾Raikiri¡¿, which was covered in a jet-black aura, toward Nemea. My slash tore Nemea¡¯s body from his shoulder. Then, Nemea¡¯s body slowly turned into black ashes as if it were being eroded by the darkness from the wound of my last attack. Yet, he laughed with pure wild joy until his body turned into ashes. True Commandement Sword Art, One Sword Style: 7th Form¨DSekai. Even a small scratch caused by this strike would enlarge and spread to its surroundings while corroding the body of the target. The corrosion won¡¯t stop until the target gets decayed and turned into ashes. It was an extremely vicious sword art. I had perfected this sword art after I finished Girimekhala¡¯s rehabilitation and created a world in the picture book for him. Considering the timing, this sword art was clearly related to this picture book. I had confirmed that ¡°world destruction¡± wouldn¡¯t affect the target¡¯s soul. Now, it was the time for this picture book to shine. And, just as I expected, a transparent board appeared before me, saying, ¡ºNemea¡¯s soul has appeared. Do you want to capture it with the picture book?¡» Just as planned, I got that fella¡¯s soul. I couldn¡¯t bring myself to hate such an honest-to-bone opponent. That¡¯s why I decided to make him my subordinate. I captured Nemea¡¯s soul with the picture book and recreated his physical body by injecting my mana into the picture book. When Faf and I reached the upper ground again, I opened the picture book and released Nemea. The lion-beastman clad in golden armor reappeared in front of me. So far, everything had gone according to my plan. Next, I had to see whether that fella was willing to become my subordinate or not. If he didn¡¯t, I thought of just forcing him to accept it. ¡¸From now on, you¡¯re my subordinate. I won¡¯t allow any objections. Just accept it.¡¹ The resurrected Nemea stared at me with a dumbfounded expression for a while without saying anything. ¡ºBUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!¡» He then burst into laughter. What¡¯s wrong with this fella? Is there something wrong with what I told him just now? Nemea rolled around in laughter until he was satisfied. He then stood back on his feet. His demeanour had changed from how it was a moment ago. He kneeled on one knee with a sober look on his face, placed his right fist on his chest and his left arm behind his back, and bowed to me. ¡ºMy loyalty is yours!¡» He spoke the words I wished to hear the most. Volume 1 - CH 18 Act 1-18: In A Certain Meaning, Those Were Fulfilled Days ¨D88099 years after the start of the game! The 899th floor! Early in the morning, I left the building to continue the dungeon exploration along with Faf. ¡¸GI GI!¡¹ Above the ground, thousands of battamans, which I had caught in the subjugation picture book, formed lines. They punched the air with their right fists while assuming martial art stances. The lion-beastman, Nemea, who stood in front of those battamans while crossing his arms in front of his chest, noticed my arrival, ¡ºEVERYONE, stop at once¡­ Attention!¡» He commanded the battaman to stop. Hearing that command, all the battamans stopped at once and straightened their backs. It seemed today was a regular training day for the battamans. Every day, Nemea taught martial arts to the subjugated monster in rotation so that they could maximize their potential. For the days other than the regular training day, the monsters usually spent time in their own world in the subjugation picture book for voluntary training or headed into the labyrinth to gain experience until their lives weren¡¯t in danger. For that reason, I could confidently say that my monster subordinates had become more powerful than how they were before I subjugated them. ¡¸My apologies for interrupting your training. Keep up your efforts with that spirit!¡¹ I issued my usual lines. ¡ºGI GA(HA)!¡» Thousands of battamans cupped their hands at once and bowed to me. The monsters captured by the subjugation picture book gained intelligence on par with a human. It enabled them to communicate with me to some extent. Thanks to this peculiar nature of the subjugation picture book, the training efficiency had tremendously increased. ¡ºTake me too, Master!¡» Suddenly, an adorable wolf puppy appeared on top of my head. It spoke as it raised its small right paw. Then, lumps of jiggly, blue, and almost-transparent water balls nestled around my feet. The wolf puppy was ¡¾Fenrir¡¿, and the jiggly water balls that nestled around my feet were slimes, to be exact ¡¾Healing Slimes¡¿. ¡¾Fenrir¡¿was the floor boss of the 800th floor, but he looked like a wolf puppy. He was so adorable that I had been unable to bring my sword down at him. At this point, thanks to the vegetables and meat I acquired in the jungle zone, my cooking repertoire had significantly increased. Moreover, thanks to various cooking books I found in this dungeon, the quality of various kinds of seasonings and the cuisine had shot through the roof. So, when I had offered a steak with plenty of special sauce I developed just for that mission, Fenrir had readily declared his surrender. When I saw that he didn¡¯t transform into a human like Faf, I guessed that Faf¡¯s human transformation was a special case. Besides, I had no idea what was the condition for that transformation either. Since Fenrir himself said that he wanted to become my kin and join the subjugation picture book like the others, I gave him my permission. As for the ¡¾Healing Slimes¡¿, they were the floor boss of the 750th floor. To be exact, they were inside the giant salamander¡¯s body, the floor boss of the 750th floor. That salamander had an absurd regeneration ability that made it one of the most troublesome opponents to subjugate so far. Once I subjugated it, these slimes came out of the salamander¡¯s corpse. They kept following me ever since then and became monsters of the subjugation picture book before I realized it. ¡¸No problem. Well, sorry guys! You have to sit at home for now since it has become dangerous as of late.¡¹ I patted Fenrir¡¯s head once, then patted the ¡¾Healing Slimes¡¿, which were snuggling at my feet. The ¡¾Healing Slimes¡¿ jumped around as if they enjoyed my pats. When I patted them again with a complacent smile on my face¡­ ¡¸So sly, nodesu! Faf wants to be patted too, nodesu!¡¹ The spoiled dragon god beside me expressed her dissatisfaction. Faf, you¡­ always look for any chance to ask for a head pat. I mean, after Fen and the ¡¾Healing Slimes¡¿ joined our camp, Faf had become more spoiled than before. She was still as adorable as before though. ¡¸Kay kay.¡¹ Heaving a deep sigh, I patted the slimes with my right hand and Faf¡¯s small head with my left. After both were satisfied, I entered the dungeon. ¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô We descended the stairs toward the 900th floor. The stairways were long, stone-paved, and traveled beneath numerous huge red gates. When we reached the bottom of the stairways, we arrived at an open space surrounded by all kinds of trees. Pure white gravel covered the ground, and a splendid wooden building in the innermost part of the open space entered my eyes. If my memories served me right, that building was similar to a building from another world called ¡ºJinja¡». It was inside one of the books from another world I found in this dungeon. The front door of the wooden building creaked open, and a beautiful, young woman with nine tails came out of the door. She was an extremely beautiful woman with glossy silver hair that stretched until her ankle, a pair of splendid twin hills on her chest, a constricted waist, a round buttock, and a pair of small animal ears growing on top of her head. She was most likely a beastman just like Nemea, just that she looked closer to a human. [TL: Is this the heroine?] She was dressed in a red and white garment whose design resembled the clothes called ¡ºShrine Maiden Garment¡». It was something I saw in one of the books of another world, which I found in this dungeon too. ¡¸Congratulations for arriving this far, O¡¯ nameless god(gentleman)!¡¹ She spread her arms as she welcomed me with a pompous, yet clear and beautiful voice. Well, that aside¨D ¡¸Let¡¯s get to the point! Surrender now!¡¹ I had confirmed this with just a glance. She was weak. However, even if no one was going to blame me, I wasn¡¯t a pervert who liked to find satisfaction in bullying a weak woman. That was against the code of a warrior. That¡¯s why I decided to accept her surrender just like Faf¡¯s and Fen¡¯s cases. ¡¸Is that a jest?¡¹ The beautiful and perfect eyebrows of the silver-haired beastwoman twitched. She then asked me while poking her finger on her cheek. ¡¸You¡¯re way too weak! Give it up! You cannot defeat me. And I don¡¯t wish to fight you. That¡¯s why your only choice is surrendering. Am I clear enough?¡¹ Yup, look at that simple yet perfect reasoning. Honestly, I¡¯m scared of my communication skills. With this, I¡¯m sure that she would obediently surrender. ¡¸Kusu, kufufufufufufufufu¡­¡¹ Contrary to my expectations, the silver-haired beastwoman covered her small mouth. She let out a muffled-yet seemingly eerie laugh while looking down on the ground. ¡¸Yes, that¡¯s right. Are you feeling relieved? Since that¡¯s the case, and I¡¯m quite a busy man too, immediately announce your surrender.¡¹ Well, I wasn¡¯t too busy in fact. ¡¸Fufufufufufu¡­¡¹ Her laugh became louder and louder. ¡¸Eh?¡¹ I frowned when I felt that her laugh contained an extreme madness that sent a chill running down my spine. [TL: Give it up. You just angered one of the most OP characters, a yandere.] ¡ºMaster, that big sister, is so scary.¡» Fen, who was nestled on top of my head, shouted while hiding behind my back. ¡¸Faf is scared too, nodesu.¡¹ Faf, who had already hidden behind my back, said the same thing. She peeked her head out a little to look at the silver-haired beastwoman. "" Yup, I know how you feel. I mean, it was only natural for them to get this scared on seeing a peerless, silver-haired beauty suddenly laughing like an evil spirit. ¡¸This mistress is weak, huh! Then how about you witness just how weak this mistress is!!¡¹ The silver-haired beastwoman charged toward me, brandishing her sharp claws. Her hair literally stood up as if it were defying gravity. Numerous beads of sweat appeared on the almost-transparent white skin of the silver-haired woman. She was also breathing heavily. At first, she unleashed various things such as fire pillars, wind blades, ice spikes, etc, etc. However, none of them worked on me thanks to my assimilation ability. Thus, she changed her tactic and kept brandishing her claws toward me. ¡¸Geez! This is why I said not to force yourself.¡¹ ¡¸It¡¯s¡­ none¡­ of your business!¡¹ When I dodged her claw attack that was aiming for the crown of my head, the silver-haired woman stumbled on her own feet and fell forward. Before she fell, I caught her by her thin waist. ¡¸See, I told ya.¡¹ At that moment, the silver-haired woman stared at my face from point-blank range. The next moment, her cheeks turned red and her lips trembled. I helped her stand back on her feet again. ¡¸Well, that¡¯s enough for today. I¡¯ll come to play again tomorrow.¡¹ I patted her head, then turned around and left the 900th floor. As for the reason, well I had all the time in this world after all. I decided to play with her as much as she wanted until she was satisfied. For around forty years after that, I visited the 900th floor every day to play with the silver-haired woman. The reason I was stuck on this floor was that this silver-haired woman kept refusing to surrender to me. Moreover, I had no intention to force her to surrender by force either. Thus, the situation had reached a stalemate. I became more and more determined to make her surrender by her own will. After all, I had noticed after playing with her for so long that her mental age was in fact disproportionate to her body. It was far lower than her appearance suggested it should be. She seemed like a child trapped in the body of an adult woman. I had all the time in this world. I was in no hurry. In short, it was a contest of endurance to see who had more patience. ¡¸Well then, I guess that¡¯s it for today.¡¹ I declared so, signalling the end of today¡¯s play to the silver-haired woman, who was already drenched in her sweat. I turned around to return to the ground above. ¡¸Hey.¡¹ ¡¸Uhm?¡¹ I turned around, looked at the silver-haired woman, who had called me. ¡¸When will you come again?¡¹ The silver-haired beastwoman asked this question with an upturned gaze while twinging her hands. ¡¸Ah, I¡¯ll come again tomorrow.¡¹ ¡¸Is that so!¡¹ She delightfully smiled upon hearing my reply. ¡¸Then, see you again tomorrow!¡¹ She waved her hands as she sent me off. Personally, I wanted her to surrender by her own will though. Unfortunately, an accident happened the next day, and I ended up having to take care of it. The dragons inside the subjugation picture book had hung a banner with the words ¡ºA Meeting to Protect The Pride of Dragons¡». This resulted in them claiming that ¡ºThose from Girimekhala¡¯s faction must apologies to us¡». I heard that one of the top brasses of Girimekhala¡¯s faction had treated a dragon in the subjugation picture book like a lizard. To be honest, the matter was a trivial one. However, the dragons took this matter very seriously, and this trivial matter became a huge problem. As a result, Faf and I had to enter as mediators. The problem got resolved two days later when both parties agreed that the top brass of Girimekhala¡¯s faction, who had a slip of tongue, would apologize to the dragons. By the way, Faf was something akin to a mascot or a boss for the dragons. The dragons would always be in a good mood whenever Faf was there. That was why I had asked Faf to soothe the dragons today. I mean, Faf¡¯s withdrawal symptoms wouldn¡¯t appear if she was with the dragons. In this way, we could divide our roles. For that reason, today, I visited Kyuubi¡¯s place alone, but¡­ ¡¸So? Shall we fight today, or not?¡¹ I found that the silver-haired woman, Kyuubi(nine-tailed fox), was sulking. When I tried to ask her what happened¡ª ¡¸¡­¡¹ She puffed her cheeks, answering my question with silence. Good grief! What a difficult child! Well, this act made her no different from Faf and Fen. However, I guessed she wouldn¡¯t talk to me today. I stood up to return to the ground above. ¡¸A-Are you going to leave?¡¹ I turned around and saw that Kyuubi had an anxious look on her face. So, I heaved a deep sigh. ¡¸If you really feel that lonely, how about you come with me? At the very least, you won¡¯t get bored anymore.¡¹ I tried to ask her to come with me. ¡¸Going, with you?¡¹ ¡¸Yes.¡¹ She fidgeted for a while. ¡¸I-I have a condition for you.¡¹ ¡¸Uhm? What is it?¡¹ ¡¸I want you to wrap your arms around me like what you did when we met for the first time.¡¹ ¡¸Is that all?¡¹ ¡¸¡­¡¹ Kyuubi silently nodded, and her cheeks flushed red. Good grief, if that was all you wanted, I hope you had said that sooner. Well, it¡¯s not like I wasted time in vain either. I have all the time in this world after all. Thus, I embraced Kyuubi¡¯s exquisite waist, which looked like it would break with just a touch. The moment I did so, Kyuubi¡¯s face flushed as red as if all her blood had rushed to her face. ¡¸M-May I call you, H-Hubby?¡¹ She asked this trivial question in a trembling voice. ¡¸Yeah, call me as you wish.¡¹ When I gave her my approval, she buried her face on my chest. No matter how long I have lived for, I don¡¯t think I would ever understand the being called ¡°woman.¡± With this, I can finally advance to the next floor. As I returned to the ground above, I carried Kyuubi¡¯s light body in a princess carry motion since she wouldn¡¯t let go of my back. Volume 1 - CH 19 Act 1-19: Gods¡¯ Ordeal, Cleared ¨D100077 years after the start of the game. ¡¾Gods¡¯ Ordeal¡¿ UG 999th Floor! It has been far, far, far, far too long ago since the first time I stepped into this dungeon. Now, I can¡¯t even remember my old self when I just entered this dungeon. Normally, I explore the dungeon along with Faf, who has become strong enough. Fen and Kyuubi also tag along whenever we explore a relatively safe area. The night after the exploration, I usually hang around the monsters of the subjugation picture book. At the end of the day, I read the books I found during my exploration, then sleep. You can say that I lead a fulfilled life in this way. By the way, maybe because I always read books, I acquired a skill called ¡¾Books Perfect Memorization Ability¡¿ a long time ago. Though, this skill is limited to books. I found out that this skill is really useful. After all, my book collection is too large. From the point of view of brain science, this skill makes it possible for my brain to remember vast amounts of knowledge unimaginable for normal humans. Just when I started to feel that living in this place wasn¡¯t that bad, we finally arrived at the innermost part of the 999th floor. On top of the gate of stairways that led toward the next floor was a metal plate with the words ¡¾Room of Last Trial¡¿. ¡¸Have you completely prepared? If yes, then let¡¯s go.¡¹ I spoke to Fafnir, who had come along with me, while suppressing the excitement in my heart. I¡¯m really excited, you know! ¡¸Yes, nanodesu!¡¹ Faf punched her right hand into the air and cheerfully replied. Thus, we descended to the floor below. The last floor was a space in the shape of a giant pillar. The pitch-black space had an extremely high ceiling and a chair and a table in its middle. Elegantly sitting in the chair was an extremely handsome, feminine man dressed in foreign black clothes who was reading a book. If I¡¯m right, this black cloth is called a ¡ºSuit¡». I saw it in a book about clothes before. The person before me had a monocle on his right eye, which he used to read the book in his hand. ¡¸Uhm, an unknown face! I¡¯m surprised! To think that a nameless god can arrive at this place.¡¹ The gentleman looked at us while saying these words. Then, he closed the book and stood up from his chair. I pulled out the long sword that I carried on my back and readied my stance. The name of this sword was ¡¾Murasame¡¿. It was my current favorite sword that resembled ¡¾Raikiri¡¿, a ¡ºNihontou¡». It had an extremely nasty effect that changed depending on the amount of mana that I loaded into it. ¡¾Murasame¡¿ was a special reward I got from the innermost part of the jinja for subjugating Kyuubi without any injuries. It was my current most powerful weapon. ¡¸Uhm, I¡¯m a human! And the one beside me is a dragon.¡¹ ¡¸DRAGON, nanodesu!¡¹ Fafnir punched her right-knuckle into the air, a weapon we got from this dungeon. ¡¸Haaah! The name of this place is ¡¾Gods¡¯ Ordeal¡¿. It¡¯s a test for a god who wants to become a great god, who leads their own mythological system. The likes of humans shouldn¡¯t be able to reach this place.¡¹ The man frowned as he said so with a sullen expression. Good grief! Here we go! Another severe delusional patient! In the first place, there¡¯s nothing like a god in this world. ¡¸Well, that¡¯s the truth though. Right, Faf?¡¹ ¡¸Yes, nanodesu! Master is human¡­ MAYBE, nanodesu!¡¹ Faf, what do you mean by ¡°Maybe¡±? Or rather, why did you emphasize that ¡°maybe¡± part? ¡¸Hhmph! It seems I have to do this myself since you seem to be lacking some manners and common sense. Let¡¯s see! My power will see through thee real ability.¡¹ At the next moment, a bright red magic circle appeared on the man¡¯s monocle. It seems that this delusional fella is using appraisal on me. Well, my appraisal can¡¯t see another person¡¯s ability though. ¡¸FUE?¡¹ Suddenly, that delusional man¡¯s eyes opened wide as he looked at me. ¡¸NONONONONO! This is impossible! What in the hell is this?¡¹ He raised his monocle and started profusely sweating out of nowhere. ¡¸Are you done? Since that¡¯s the case, let¡¯s begin OUR DEATH BATTLE!¡¹ This man was the last boss of this dungeon. He had to be extremely powerful. There were no doubts about it. The battle that would burn my soul was right in front of me. Since this was the case, I had to go all out. I used ¡¾Magic Clad¡¿ on ¡¾Murasame¡¿ and raised my physical strength with ¡¾Herculean Strength¡¿. In my stay here, the seven forms of my ¡¾Tru Commandement Sword Art, One Sword Style¡¿ had gained three additional forms, increasing their number to ten. Every one of them was akin to an instant kill strike, but I wasn¡¯t naive to expect that they would work against this last boss. However, I had a trump card, the ¡¾Final Form¡¿. If worse came to worst, that final form would annihilate this guy until not even a cell of him was left in this world. Well, I wouldn¡¯t be able to move at all for one full day after I used that ¡¾Final Form¡¿ either. However, I could leave the aftermath to Faf and those funny fellas in the subjugation picture book. They should be able to handle the rest. Well then, let¡¯s try him first. I stooped over. Just when I was about to kick the red carpet on the floor¨D ¡¸W-W-WAIT A MINUUUUUUUUUTE!!¡¹ The color drained from the face of the man(?) dressed in a suit as he raised his arms. ¡¸What are you trying to do? Don¡¯t tell me that you¡¯re thinking of surrendering without even crossing a blade with me.¡¹ Gimme a break! Just when I¡¯ve come across a formidable opponent that can force me into a corner, he(?) is trying to escape from the battle. ¡¸LIKE HELL I DARE TO DO THAT! This messed up status! Thou, just what in the hell is wrong with thou head!!!¡¹ Well, even if you say that, it¡¯s not like I can answer your question either. I mean, my appraisal was messed up a long time ago. Whenever I appraised myself, it only showed gibberish text. Nevertheless, all I felt toward Appraisal-kun was gratitude since it had been a great aid for me since I stepped into this dungeon. ¡¸You¡¯re the rude man here for saying that something is wrong with my head. Well, it doesn¡¯t matter, Let¡¯s just start our death battle. I¡¯ve been looking forward to this moment since a long, long time ago.¡¹ After saying that, I changed my mana form into something more specialized in combat. ¡¸SURRENDER, YE~~~S. I SURRENDER TO THEE!¡¹ The man(?) in the suit announced his surrender even before the usual inorganic female voice announced the start of the last trial. Why in the hell did this fella chicken out? I mean, it looks like those small fries in the subjugation picture book have more guts than him! ¡ºThe surrender of the last trial¡¯s examiner, Astaroth, has been confirmed. You have cleared the last trial. As a special subjugation reward for subjugating the last boss with coercion alone, Astaroth is given to Kai Heineman as his kin.¡» ¡¸W-WAIT A MINUTE! Becoming this monster¡¯s kin is just too much!!¡¹ Astaroth pleaded to the heavens with a face that looked like he was cri¡ª screw that, he was really crying right now. ¡ºAs a result of becoming Astaroth¡¯s master, you have acquired a new title¨D¡¾Chicken Majin¡¯s Master¡¿.¡» The inorganic female voice continued to speak without even caring about the crying Astaroth. Chicken Majin she said. It seems that this Astaroth, the last boss of this dungeon, is quite infamous for him to be called like that. The Inorganic female voice didn¡¯t stop. ¡ºDue to the effect of ¡¾Chicken Majin¡¯s Master¡¿ title¨D Skill fusion has been activated. All of ¡¾Poison Assimilation¡¿, ¡¾Paralysis Assimilation¡¿, ¡¾Petrification Assimilation¡¿, ¡¾Heat Assimilation¡¿¡¢¡¾Ice Assimilation¡¿, ¡¾Earth and Sand Assimilation¡¿, ¡¾Wind Assimilation¡¿, ¡¾Water Assimilation¡¿, ¡¾Thunder Assimilation¡¿, ¡¾Light Assimilation¡¿, and lastly ¡¾Darkness Assimilation¡¿ will fuse into ¡¾All Attributes And Abnormal Conditions Assimilation¡¿.¡» ¡¾Chicken Majin¡¯s Master¡¿¡¯s title, huh. ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D ?Title ¡¾Chicken Majin¡¯s Master¡¿: An honor bestowed on the one who rules the timid Majin. It enables the owner of this skill to fuse skills or develop an original skill ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D Contrary to its joke-like name, ¡¾Chicken Majin¡¯s Master¡¿ was an extremely useful title. I mean, I got this title as soon as Astaroth was forced to become my kin. ¡ºCongratulation, you have cleared ¡¾Gods¡¯ Ordeal¡¿! Due to the effects of clearing the trial, the targets of the ¡¾Subjugation Picture Book¡¿ have been expanded to exist outside human species above a certain level of intelligence. At the same time, as a special reward for clearing the trial, your memory will be forcefully reconnected with Kai Heineman¡¯s memory right before he entered the trial ground. Memory restoration is completed.¡» The almost forgotten memories that I missed so much have returned¡­ or so it¡¯s supposed to be. But, was I really such a pushover back then? Honestly speaking, I can¡¯t help but feel disgusted by myself back then. I mean, the current me is a completely different person than that me. Still, I have no choice but to get used to it. When I was in the middle of mulling over my restored memories, a magic circle suddenly appeared beneath our feet. Before I realized it, we had already been sent back to that memorable(?) basin under the waterfall. The cave hidden in the innermost part of the basin under the waterfall that led to ¡¾Gods¡¯ Ordeal¡¿ had disappeared, replaced by a wall of rock. I took a deep breath as soon as I left the basin under the waterfall. The cool air that filled my lungs felt so nice. I enjoyed the nostalgia with the cold air of the night. Even though I knew this feeling well in my memories, I was literally trapped in that dungeon for a hundred thousand years. I had already forgotten how it felt a really long time ago. Thus, I embraced this feeling of reminiscence. === TN: After this chapter, some might be confused about the change in mc¡¯s personality but, that change is caused by the memory fusion. The memory fusion between his invincible self and weak self caused him to doubt about his own strength amongst human(since he never fought another human in God¡¯s Ordeal). Volume 1 - CH 20 Act 1-20: Beginning of The Revenge Well, I guess my first action has been decided. To begin with, my gift is ¡¾The Most Incompetent in This World¡¿. Although I might¡¯ve gotten conceited just a moment ago for being a powerful warrior who cleared the dungeon, after getting back the memories of the fifteen-year-old Kai Heineman, doubts about my power have appeared in my heart. Most importantly, there is no way I¡¯m the strongest swordsman in the world just because I won against an image I created in my delusion. I¡¯m just a frog in the well. Being careless here might cost me my life, so I have to act really carefully from now on. Now, I even think that the dungeon called ¡¾Gods¡¯ Ordeal¡¿ was in fact not as difficult to clear as its name implied. I mean, even an incompetent like me cleared it, albeit in a really, really long time. That¡¯s right! It might be the easiest dungeon in existence. Yeah! This world wouldn¡¯t be as half-hearted as that dungeon. The fourth demon king, the hero, and dragons, terrifying beings are everywhere in this world. Before I received the memories of the fifteen-year-old Kai, I would¡¯ve jumped the gun to challenge these beings. However, now, I¡¯ve thought of holding back. I mean, wouldn¡¯t the hundred-thousand-year-old me look like a creep for having a craving for a death battle? Nonono! Someone like that definitely has a few screws loose in his head! The biggest creep in the world! Unfortunately, in the end, that someone is me. [TL: At this point, let¡¯s say that the 15-yr-old Kai is Kai A, and 100k-yr-old Kai is Kai B. After completing Gods¡¯ Ordeal, their memories fused, resulting in Kai C, the current self of MC.] Anyhow, let¡¯s act really carefully. It¡¯s better if I hold back from carelessly summoning the monsters of the subjugation picture book without confirming our safety first. Faf is barely qualified. As for Fen and Kyuubi, they still lack experience, but want to act with me. Never mind, let¡¯s put a strict order for them to live inside the subjugation picture book for the time being. Which brings me back to the main topic: What should I do from now on? Should I get my hunter qualification and start a journey around the world as soon as possible? No, let¡¯s save that for later. I have to save myself from this predicament first. I mean, the three(?) of us have been surrounded by beasts right now. ¡¸You can¡¯t escape anymore. Well, I can guess from a glance that you¡¯re just a small fry. To be honest, I was really surprised when that mist suddenly engulf you.¡¹ A red-haired man clad in a black robe came out of the trees and shrubs. Eh? He looks like a small fry! According to the fifteen-year-old Kai Heineman¡¯s memories, he should be fairly powerful. But well, let¡¯s find out the truth with real combat. ¡¸Uhm? Is that your comrade? Although she¡¯s rather young, she¡¯s a fine girl. She will be popular amongst those perverts who love little girls. Slave dealers will buy her at a sky-high price.¡¹ The red-haired man looked at Fafnir with undisguised lust. ¡¸Master, Faf wants to kill this bast*rd, nodesu!¡¹ Faf frankly spoke without even trying to hide her disgust toward the red-haired man. ¡¸Wait, please stop! I still have some questions for him.¡¹ I brushed Faf¡¯s head like usual to calm her anger. If my memories serve me right, this man should be involved in some sort of plan. I have to find out what kind of a plan it is. Moreover, after spending the longest time with her, Faf is akin to my family. I have to protect her from any possible danger. ¡¸Then, shall I do it? I¡¯m gonna remind this conceited human of his place. Eh? Worry not! It¡¯s okay as long as he¡¯s alive, right?¡¹ The Chicken Majin, Astaroth, stepped forward as he wore a skin-fit white glove in his hands. Stop doing such reckless things even though you¡¯re the weakest amongst us, Chicken Majin. ¡¸No, let me handle him. I¡¯m also curious about how far I can go against him.¡¹ ¡¸Master, are you seriously saying that you want to know how far you can go against him. Against this small fry?¡¹ Astaroth turned around and asked me with a face as if he had just seen the most wondrous creature. What a rude fella! But still, he said that the red-haired man is a small fry huh. As I thought about it, I also realized that I couldn¡¯t even feel any semblance of a threat or menace, like the one I felt from the monsters in that dungeon. Well, I have noticed that my judgment of strong enemies has been dulled lately. I mean, for the sake of improving my status, I constantly trained while sealing my abilities with ¡¾Glove of Sealing God¡¿. I never canceled its effect for tens of thousands of years. It could be the reason my judgment of an enemy¡¯s strength was dulled. I mean, I do realize that compared to before I entered the dungeon, it feels like this man¡¯s abilities are lower than before. Naturally, that¡¯s just a vague judgment based on my intuition. In reality, the red-haired man was weak. He was so weak that even comparing him to the weakest bug in the dungeon would be shaming the bug. Still, even though he wasn¡¯t a monster, I lacked confidence in engaging in a battle against him. I mean, this would be my first time fighting a human in more than a hundred thousand years. I honestly had no idea what kind of trump cards he held in his sleeve. Anyhow, he might be weak, but let¡¯s not underestimate him. Time to go all out. Thus, I took out ¡¾Raikiri¡¿ from the item box and unsheathed it from its scabbard. ¡¸Do you even understand your current situation!? Or have you lost your sanity due to fear?¡¹ More than 40 black panthers had surrounded us. From my memory before I entered the dungeon, I remember that my situation had been desperate. Yet now, they look like adorable kittens to me. Whatever! Let¡¯s do a small test for now. ¡¸¡¾True Commandement Sword Art: One Sword Style¡¿, 1st Form¡ªDeadline!¡¹ This was the basic sword art I was most familiar with. As soon as I said those words, a line ran through the black panthers. In just a moment, they turned into minced meat and fell on the ground. ¡¸Eh£¿¡¹ The red-haired man¡¯s eyes opened wide. He dumbfoundedly stared at the black panthers, who had just turned into minced meat. Astaroth was right! They were small fries. However, carelessness could cost our lives. I mean, I just realized how careless the fifteen-year-old me was before I entered that dungeon. ¡¸Well then, spit out your plan. What are you trying to do in this place?¡¹ I had a complete collection of torture books amongst my book collection. However, Faf always wanted to read the books I read, so I had put a hold on reading those books. That was the only way to prevent any strange knowledge from entering Faf¡¯s head. I realized now I might have to read that book later. Anyhow, I might be lacking the knowledge about torture, but I knew that the red-haired man would spit out the information as long as I toyed with him. I mean, look, I had a few recovery measures. Although ¡¾Panacea¡¿ was a personal skill of mine, I had numerous super-efficient healing potions that I found in the dungeon. Yes, various portions of all kinds. ¡¸S-STAY AWAY FROM ME, YOU MONSTER!!!¡¹ The red-haired man unsheathed his dagger and swung it toward me with his trembling hands. However, I struck his arms with the blunt side of ¡¾Raikiri¡¿. The red-haired man¡¯s agonizing scream resounded in the area. My strike broke the bones of his arms, bent them to abnormal angles, and pierced his skin. That scream became the signal of the beginning of my cross-examination. Volume 1 - CH 21 Act 1-21: The Result of the Cross-Examination As soon as I started the cross-examination, the red-haired man revealed everything. He told us that a noble of the Amelia kingdom, Fracton had contacted the empire and made an arrangement for them to kidnap the first princess of the Amelia kingdom, Rosemary Loto Amelia. This woman was the saint who summoned the hero. When I thought about it again, that was the only possibility left. I felt saddened because of the past me, who had failed to notice such a poor disguise by her. Anyhow, the ringleader of this incident, the one called Fracton, should be that overly proud beardy noble. My only memories about him were nothing more than him one-sidedly mocking and thoroughly harassing me as an incompetent traitor. The red-haired man also told me that the empire had dispatched two people to accomplish this mission, a summoner called Enzu and the Sword Emperor¨D Signiel Gastrea. Summoning arts were used to summon various living beings from another world to this world. According to the knowledge of the fifteen-year-old Kai, summoning arts were supreme magic only powerful people with ancient magic could perform. The summoner called Enzu was a supreme summoner with the power to summon the spirit king. The ¡¾Subjugation Picture Book¡¿ enables me to reconstruct the flesh with the soul information of the target by using my mana. I can then store the monsters in the personal world I created for them inside the book. What I do resembles summoning magic. However, the monsters of that super easy dungeon might have a hard time against the monsters summoned by that summoner. As if that isn¡¯t bad enough, their side also has the Sword Emperor, Signiel Gastrea. We are completely at a disadvantage. From a strategic point of view, I should evacuate as fast as possible but that isn¡¯t an option for me. Keeping my desire to fight a strong opponent aside, I realize that the old Kai Heineman would also refuse to do that. I think it¡¯s mainly because the old me had a strong attachment toward the woman called Rose. This factor coincides with a vague reason for our defeat and my tendency to not run away from a strong opponent. Thus, we have no choice but to go back to the camp. Moreover, even though I could barely recall anything about the past in that super easy dungeon, I clearly remembered the swordsmanship of the Sword Emperor Ashburn Gastrea even before my memories returned. His swordsmanship isn¡¯t just for show. Whenever I recall the image of his swordsmanship in his heyday, I feel a chill run down my spine. And here are we, at Signiel Gastrea, the person entrusted with the title of Sword Emperor by such a great swordmaster. Oh crap! Even though I realize that I¡¯m about to go against such a dangerous opponent, I can¡¯t stop this palpitation in my chest for some reason. This world has no lack of strong people, and Signiel Gastrea is one of the most powerful of them. It seems I really want to engage in a fight that holds no merit for me. Good grief, this impulse is hard to suppress. But, no doubt about it, this is the essence of me, Kai Heineman. Well, since it has been decided, let¡¯s make our move at once. First, we have to disturb the enemy¡¯s war potential. I took out the ¡¾Subjugation Picture Book¡¿ from my item box and opened its first page, ¡¾Battaman¡¿. The number ¡°9999¡± was displayed on ¡¾Battaman¡¿¡¯s page. The maximum registered population in the ¡¾Subjugation Picture Book¡¿ depended upon the strength of the monsters in there. Basically, the smaller the population, the stronger the monsters living inside. In short, the ¡¾Battamans¡¿, whose registered number had reached 9999, were the weakest monsters in the book. Even now, I still wonder just how in the hell I managed to gather that much. Well, it might be my obsessive-compulsive disorder, which forced me to gather till I reached the maximum number. Now, let¡¯s scout the enemy¡¯s war potential with 100 battamans first. ¡¸¡¾Battaman¡¿¨D¡¾Release¡¿ 100.¡¹ A hundred battaman appeared in front of me as soon as I uttered those words. ¡ºGIGI GAGA(Your orders, Master).¡» The battamans bowed and cupped their hands in front of their chest. ¡¸Aren¡¯t they the monsters of the upper floor of the dungeon? Maybe not. But still, don¡¯t they look way too strong compared to how they¡¯re supposed to, Master? ¡¹ ¡¸Uhm, yeah! I got this book after clearing a special condition. It allows me to capture the souls of the monsters inside the dungeon and bring them back into this world by recreating their flesh.¡¹ Astaroth raised his monocle as he brought his face closer to the ¡¾Subjugation Picture Book¡¿. The moment he did so, he sweated like a waterfall. He then looked down while touching his head. ¡¸Just how messed-up is this guy!!!!¡¹ He muttered some ambiguous words with teary eyes. Well, let¡¯s set aside this Chicken Majin, who¡¯s acting suspicious, for now. Now, to the main point¨D I stood in front of the battamans who had formed a line. ¡¸It seems an evil monster called ogre, beasts called black panthers, and some people dressed in black robes, like this one, are hiding in this area. Your job is to disturb them. You have to open a path for us to our destination. However, don¡¯t chase too far and make sure that you all come back alive in one piece. That¡¯s my only order for you.¡¹ I ordered them. Even though it looked like a joke, these Battamans were my subordinates. I didn¡¯t wish for them to throw away their lives in vain and die like idiots. ¡ºGU GIGI GA GIGI GAGA? (Are we allowed to kill them?)¡» ¡¸Yes, but don¡¯t force yourself if it¡¯s impossible. Safety should be your priority. Otherwise, do as you wish.¡¹ ¡ºGAGA GU GIGIIIIIIIIII!!(GODSPEED TO US)¡» Astaroth¡¯s cheeks twitched when he saw those battamans letting out such spirited warcries. Seeing them, Faf nodded with a satisfied expression. ¡¸WELL THEN, Let¡¯s commence the operation! Gogogogo!¡¹ ¡ºGIGI(YES SIR!)¡» At my order, the battmans spread into the forest in all directions. ¡¸Shall we go then? We can¡¯t rest on our lapels while the battamans are working hard, after all.¡¹ ¡¸Let¡¯s go, nodesu!¡¹ I sent a sidelong glance to Fafnir, who raised her right fist in the air. ¡¸Let me confirm something master. Do you really think that those guys(battamans) are going to lose?¡¹ Astaroth facepalmed with his right hand as he asked me this question. ¡¸Uhm? Well, they were originally monsters from the upper floors of that super easy dungeon, after all. It¡¯s natural for them to struggle if they fight from the front, right? But, they¡¯ve already received training for that. They should be strong enough to create a disturbance in the enemy¡¯s ranks.¡¹ After training for tens of thousands of years, the monsters I registered in this book had become much more powerful than before. I think the current theme could accomplish this job with ease. ¡¸I give up! I don¡¯t know what to say anymore.¡¹ Astaroth¡¯s shoulder dropped as he heaved a really deep sigh. It seemed as if he felt exhausted from the bottom of his heart. Volume 1 - CH 22 Act 1-22: Trampling TL : Sponsored chapter brought to you by Allan K. === After receiving the first order from their master, the battamans trembled in joy. With full spirits, they ran inside the forest of the night, their first battlefield. Their master had ordered them to cause a disturbance in their enemy¡¯s ranks, but only one ending awaited the fools who dared to block their great master¡¯s path. No matter how strong their opponent was, the battamans would make sure to send those imbeciles to the yellow springs in the underworld. It was the proof of their loyalty to their supreme ruler*. [TL: ¡°ÖÁÉϤÎÓù·½,¡± which I translated as supreme ruler since it is closer to a religious context. Ank Kai¡¯s subordinate did treated their master like god despite being god themselves] With delight and determination, the battamans leaped between the trees and the ground at a rapid pace while letting out delightful war cries. The black panther unit stationed on the west side of Silke great forest. ¡¸So boring! Why do they need to dispatch our summoner unit, the strongest unit in the empire, just to catch a mere woman?¡¹ ¡¸Can¡¯t be helped. Even if you say a mere woman, she¡¯s the only woman in this world who can summon the hero.¡¹ ¡¸Hero, huh. Isn¡¯t that just an exaggerated title? Enzu-sama is stronger than any hero.¡¹ ¡¸I think the same, but of course, the heroes are supposed to be some sort of a trump card against the Demon King, right? They would show their greatest potential against the demon king, after all. ¡¹ ¡¸So? What merit can we get from this?¡¹ ¡¸Well, first we can hear more about hero summoning from her, then we can do whatever we want to her.¡¹ ¡¸Seriously! Whatever we want? I mean, is it okay for us to fu*k her too?¡¹ ¡¸Yup. Maybe! Well, I¡¯m more curious about researching how she can summon a hero from another world though.¡¹ ¡¸That¡¯s the best! Then we aren¡¯t wasting our time in coming this far and infiltrating the kingdom. She will become your lab-rat in the day and work her ass off as our mistress at night.¡¹ ¡¸Yeah.¡¹ A sadistic smile appeared on the blond young man¡¯s face when he thought about the prospect of having a new s*x slave. ¡¸I also want to f*ck a princess at least once!¡¹ As the black-haired man with a crop cut said those lustful words, a green shadow passed by their side. ¡¸Eh, what happened, to your face?¡¹ The blond young man saw the face of the black-haired man with a crop cut slide off. ¡¸No, it¡¯s yo¨D¡¹ And that was the end of them. Beautifully sliced off, their lifeless bodies fell. ¨DSilke Great Forest, the HQ of the encirclement operation of the summoner unit. ¡¸W-WHAT IN THE HELL IS HAPPENING HERE!?¡¹ The commander of the summoner unit hysterically shouted upon seeing the abnormal incidents that kept happening one after another. They were seeing green shadows moving around, and each time they spotted one, the black panthers that were supposed to protect them would get diced, explode, and have their blood and entrails spray around. The ogre that was supposed to play a vital role in this operation couldn¡¯t do anything as well as its head exploded. ¡¸Cover me! I¡¯m gonna summon a salamander!¡¹ Despite the commander¡¯s screams, none of his subordinates responded. When he turned his eyes around to see his surroundings, his subordinates had disappeared. ¡¸UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!?¡¹ He tried to leave the nightmarish place in a hurry while screaming like a madman. However, he suddenly realized that something was wrong with his line of sight. It cracked like a broken piece of glass. ¡¸Eh?¡¹ The commander¡¯s body exploded into pieces of meat as his last, desperate scream echoed in the place. ¨DEast side of Silke Great Forest ¨C Summoner unit: Ogre division. ¡¸We¡¯ve lost all contact with the HQ.¡¹ ¡¸Those bastards from the kingdom must¡¯ve betrayed us! Those fu*kers! I¡¯ll take over the command!¡¹ The bald man with a stubble beard, Saim, yelled. He kicked the ground in fury as blue veins popped on his forehead. In the summoner unit, Saim was the second person who could summon a powerful demon beast other than Enzu. Properly speaking, Saim should¡¯ve been the officer in charge of this operation. However, thanks to his poor behavior, he could never become anything beyond the captain of a small unit. ¡¸Whatever! The fu*ker who caused this blunder will surely fall from grace. Which means that I¡¯ll be the next Commander.¡¹ The tips of his lips formed an ugly smile/ ¡¸What shall we do? At this rate we¡ª¡¹ Saim¡¯s subordinate, a blond man, asked with a stiff expression. ¡¸HAH! As if I¡¯m gonna let them look down on us! Oi, Troll!¡¹ When Saim turned around, a bald giant appeared from the darkness of the forest. Its skin was red, and its body muscular. The giant¡¯s right hand held a giant metal club. ¡ºI-I-Is it working timeee?¡» When the troll¡¯s thick and heavy voice rang out, the soldiers in its vicinity frowned. ¡¸Yeah, eat those three mana stones. And then, kill those fu*kers who dare to backstab us!¡¹ Saim made a contract with the troll. Summoners could use their summoning magic in two ways. The first was a temporary summon. Since this magic was treated as a summon, it had some restrictions; the user was unable to summon a strong creature. The second way was a ¡¾Spiritual Contract¡¿. The summoner could summon beings that already existed in this world and form a contract with them while paying a suitable price. The user needed to offer an equivalent price to use the power of the summoned being. Powerful creatures could be summoned using this method. One needed a special gift to use this ¡¾Spiritual Contract¡¿. Saim had used the latter method just now. He had summoned and ordered the Troll to do his bidding by offering an equivalent price. ¡¸W-wait a minute. Commander, THAT¡¯S¨D¡¹ Saim¡¯s pale, young subordinate tried to raise an objection. ¡¸Then, starting from you.¡¹ However, Saim pointed his finger at him. Suddenly, the pale young man dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes. ¡ºDeliziouus.¡» The troll made an entranced face as if it were satisfied. However, it casually picked the body of the pale young man and¡­ ¡ºMeat is delizious too.¡» It ate the pale young man. ¡¸Uuh¡­ ¡¹ ¡¸HIIIII!?¡¹ When they witnessed this gory scene, the members of the unit shrunk back. ¡¸You and you.¡¹ Saim pointed at the soldiers on his right and left, and the soldiers fell at once as if something had drained their strength. While the members of Saim¡¯s unit trembled in fear¡­ ¡¸WHAT ARE YE WAItING FOR! SUMMON THE OGRE NOW!¡¹ Hearing the order from their new commander, the subordinates prepared to summon the ogre. ¡¸OI, what are you waiting for! Finish your meal quickly and do your job!¡¹ Saim shouted at the troll. ¡ºOgay! I will wooog.¡» The troll threw the half-eaten corpse of the pale young man. ¡¸C-COMMANDER!¡¹ Suddenly, one of the members of the unit frantically screamed with a ghastly face as he pointed at the depths of the forest. ¡¸Uhm? What the hell is that?¡¹ Saim was also shocked. His reaction was only natural since he had seen the head of a locust in the moonlight that shone through between the gap of the trees in the dense forest. ¡¸S-SURROUND IT!¡¹ Maybe because of the fear, the summoners ordered the ogre to surround the battaman. ¡¸This guy is the trump card of the kingdom¡¯s summoner, huh? Doesn¡¯t seem that strong to me. Good grief! I wasted a contract with a troll for nothing. Still, this monster should be useful to act as a meat wall.¡¹ Maybe because he had already lost interest in this matter due to how weak the opponent seemed to be, Saim sat on the nearby stump. ¡¸Kill ¡¯em quickly.¡¹ He ordered his subordinates in a disinterested voice. Suddenly, the battaman lowered its center of gravity, pulled back its right arm, and pushed forward its left arm. ¡¸KUHAHAHA! Look. This locust is trying to use martial arts!¡¹ When Saim saw that martial stance, he laughed his ass off and rolled around while holding his side. When his subordinates saw that their superior could still laugh in such a carefree manner, they also relaxed their vigilance. ¡¸OGRE, kill that locust!¡¹ The ogre followed the order of the summoner unit, moved forward, and swung its log-like fist toward the battaman. The battaman effortlessly parried the ogre¡¯s explosive right fist with its left hand. Then, it approached the ogre as if it were just taking a walk. When it reached the ogre, it punched into the ogre¡¯s abdomen with its right fist. The punch sent the ogre¡¯s upper body flying as if it were just a piece of twig; accompanied with it was the sound of the ogre¡¯s spine breaking and a spray of blood and meat. ¡¸Eh?¡¹ ¡¸Eh£¿¡¹ The members of the summoner unit turned around and saw this scene with dumbfounded expressions. Then, the battaman blurred in front of their eyes, and the next moment¨D Numerous lines appeared on the bodies of the summoners, who had summoned the ogre, and the ogre that had surrounded the battaman. Then, all of them crumbled as if they were nothing more than pieces of meat. ¡¸Eh!?¡¹ Seeing that, Saim leaped off from the stump and¡ª ¡¸TROLL! Kill that fu*ker!¡¹ He quickly ordered the troll. ¡ºUnderstood.¡» The troll approached the battaman, who stood amidst the pool of blood and meat, raised the giant metal club in its hand, and swung down. ¡ºErgh?¡» The troll tilted its head with a puzzled expression. The battaman was holding the troll¡¯s right arm that was supposed to swing down a moment ago. The battaman¡¯s figure vanished again, and the body of the troll exploded into pieces, sending a rain of blood and fine meat in the area. ¡¸Are you¡­ kidding me?¡¹ Saim couldn¡¯t believe the reality that had happened in front of him. He fell on his rear as he retreated, only for his back to hit something like a wall. ¡¸What the¨D HeIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!?¡¹ When he turned around to see what his back had just collided into, he saw that several battamans surrounding him. ¡¸A¡­ a¡­¡¹ Saim¡¯s agonizing cries echoed in the night forest as despair hit his heart. We¡¯re gonna trample you down to fulfill the wish of our master! We¡¯re gonna trample you down to show our loyalty to our master! We¡¯re gonna trample you down! We¡¯re gonna eradicate everything that dares to point their blade at our master till none of them is left! The battamans one-sidedly, in the most overwhelming way, committed a massacre in the night forest, all to open a path for their master. Volume 1 - CH 23 Act 1-23: Treason(Side: Rosemary Loto Amelia) I, Rosemary Loto Amelia, the first princess of the Amelia kingdom, grabbed the long sword on my side as soon as I heard the commotion outside. Then, my female knight escort, Anna, entered my tent. ¡¸PRINCESS, PREPARE YOURSELF! We were raided!!¡¹ ¡¸Raided!?¡¹ I confusedly asked when I heard Anna¡¯s mortified voice, which I had heard for the first time. ¡¸IT¡¯S THE EMPIRE! There¡¯s a betrayer amongst us!¡¹ She said in a desperate voice. ¡¸Who¡¯s the betrayer!?¡¹ ¡¸It¡¯s Lord Fracton! He and several others knights are the cause of this mess!!¡¹ Lord Fracton was the first on the list amongst the members of the Gilbert faction who upheld tradition and noble supremacy. From the very beginning, he was my political opponent. And the veteran knights with him were also members of the Gilbert faction. This is bad! We¡¯re in an extremely bad situation right now! I brushed Anna on her head to calm her down. Then, I told her, ¡¸It¡¯s okay. Let¡¯s withdraw from this place. Where¡¯s Arnold right now!?¡¹ I asked for the whereabouts of the lifeline of my team. ¡¸H-He received a report that a demon beast had raided some private houses in the vicinity, so he went to check those places.¡¹ I see now! The majority of my escorts during this journey were novice knights who lacked the experience of subjugating a demon beast. The veteran knights might be able to, but all of them were members of the Gilbert faction. Even if I ordered them, they would give a firm refusal to save commoners¡¯ lives. In such a situation, Arnold was the only one who would go to save those innocent civilians. I couldn¡¯t blame Arnold for his actions. After all, I had never expected that we would have a first-hand experience of being back-stabbed by the people of our own kingdom in this journey. £¨Are you willing to go that far, Gil!?£© Currently, a battle to decide who will inherit the throne from the current king of the Amelia kingdom was happening behind the scenes. The biggest contender was me, the first princess Rosemary, and the first prince, Gilbert. However, the battle had never gone beyond political strife inside the royal palace. I would¡¯ve never expected that the Gilbert faction would make a secret deal with the empire, the kingdom¡¯s enemy. ¡¸Evacuate from this place as fast as possible. We¡¯re going to meet up with Arnold. Don¡¯t forget to bring Kai too!¡¹ I fastened my short sword on my waist. When I left the tent with the longsword in hand, I saw that many of my knights had already fallen on the ground, drenched in their own blood. ¡¸Oh no! We can¡¯t let you escape.¡¹ A blonde knight stepped on the head of a knight who fell on the ground and pointed his sword toward us. ¡¸What kind of a joke is this, Lord Fracton!? Are you trying to betray your homeland!!?¡¹ Anna groaned as she glared at Fracton, who showed a victorious smile as he stood along with the veteran knights. £¨They¡¯re the worst¡­£© I looked around and realized that our camp had been surrounded by black-robed men. If it were only that, even Anna might¡¯ve mistaken them for mercenaries hired by Fracton. The reason Anna said that they were from the empire was the two people who were clearly different from the rest. To be exact, the black-haired young man with a wound on his cheek, and the grey-haired man with a crew cut and dressed in a crimson robe. The two of them were clad in red clothes that had the crest of a twin-headed divine bird sewn on them. It was the crest of the Glotnir empire. In short, they were military personnel of the empire. Everything had already been destroyed. I looked around but couldn¡¯t find Kai¡¯s figure. Since he wasn¡¯t amongst the collapsed ones, I assumed that he had already evacuated into the forest. That should be enough since the most dangerous place was right by my side. ¡¸Don¡¯t say something as distasteful as treason. Rather, you¡¯re the one who betrayed the kingdom, Princess Rose.¡¹ ¡¸Me? Betrayed the kingdom? What kind of nonsense is this?¡¹ I was really clear about the reason behind their behaviour. They were the ba*tards who would even sell their country as long as they could protect their privilege. Trying to talk to them with reason was a fool¡¯s errand. ¡¸Because of you, our noble traditio¨D¡¹ ¡¸Ah, okay, stop! My creed is different from you people. I don¡¯t even have a reason to betray my kingdom to begin with. Just tell me why are you going as far as colluding with our enemy, the empire, just to kick me out of the kingdom.¡¹ I interrupted Fracton before he could even start his long winding talk about tradition and blablabla. I defined my question for a specific answer. My interruption caused Fracton to glare at me for a while. ¡¸As long as we marry you off with the third prince of the empire, the barren conflict between the kingdom and the empire will end. Moreover, by allowing Prince Gilbert to inherit the throne, we will protect the order and the traditions of our motherland!¡¹ After heaving a sigh, he spread his arms and gave such an answer with a proud look on his face. ¡¸Shouldn¡¯t you say that grandiose speech during a meeting?¡¹ ¡¸That¡¯s¡­ Well, you wouldn¡¯t have accepted it.¡¹ ¡¸So, you¡¯re colluding with the empire to sell me off just because I have a different opinion? You just confessed the fact that you¡¯re nothing more than a traitor.¡¹ ¡¸¡­¡¹ Seeing Fracton ground his teeth in silence, I continued, ¡¸No matter what you say, you had already betrayed the Amelia kingdom the moment you hurt her citizens! Shame on you!!¡¹ The moment I spoke those words¨D A lump of white metal leapt out from the depths of the forest and crashed against Fracton¡¯s subordinate, the veteran knight who had stepped on the head of the novice knight drenched in his own blood. The veteran knight got blown back and hit the trees behind him. He then crumbled down without even twitching anymore. ¡¸Arnold!¡¹ I almost cried when I saw the reliable figure of the blue-haired, muscular swordsman with an unshaved beard. He was holding the great sword in his hand. It was only natural since he had appeared like a dashing hero when I was in a pinch. ¡¸A-Arnold! Why are you in this place!?¡¹ ¡¸I felt that something was wrong since the locations of the said villages were way too far. Moreover, he¡¯s way too skilful in erasing his presence for a mere hunter. That¡¯s why I knocked him out and immediately returned. It seems my guess is correct.¡¹ Arnold replied as he stood in front of me with his greatsword, ready for battle. The moment he appeared, the black-robed military unit of the empire started to take out their weapons. It showed just how much pressure Arnold¡¯s existence exerted. ¡¸What¡¯s the meaning of this? This area should¡¯ve already been surrounded by black panthers and ogres?¡¹ The black-haired young man with a scar on his cheek asked the grey-haired man with a crew cut. ¡¸I¡¯m as surprised as you¡¯re. It¡¯s as if¡­ he came without any interruption. Did you set an ambush on us?¡¹ Fracton glared at the grey-haired man as if he wanted to punch him. ¡¸N-No! There¡¯s no such thing!¡¹ He denied with all his might. ¡¸Keh! That¡¯s clearly the fault of your tiger cub¡¯s summoner unit, right?¡¹ ¡¸I won¡¯t deny that. I shall investigate this matter after we return to the imperial capital and thoroughly purge the traitors. But now, we¡¯ve something even more important¨D¡¹ The grey-haired man with a crew cut looked at the black-haired man with a scar on his cheek. ¡¸I understand. That¡¯s also my intention.¡¹ The black-haired young man nodded as he stepped forward and unsheathed his sword. ¡¸I never thought that I¡¯d get the honour to fight against the kingdom¡¯s strongest swordsman in this supposedly boring duty. I¡¯m Signiel Gastrea. Let¡¯s fight to the death in a battle that will burn our souls!¡¹ ¡¸Sword Emperor, huh¡­ I guess¡­ I¡¯ve no reason to refuse.¡¹ Arnold lowered his centre of gravity as he accepted the challenge from the black-haired young man with a scar on his cheek, the sword emperor Signiel Gastrea. ¡¸¡¸EN GARDE!¡¹¡¹ Their swords clashed right after they said those words Volume 1 - CH 24 Act 1-24: The Youth They Call Incompetent(Side: Rosemary Loto Amelia) TN: Recommended to Play this bgm while reading this chapter === ¡¸Amazing¡­¡¹ The one expressing my admiration was me, Rosemary Loto Amelia. As one of the candidates to take the throne, I had received training in both magic and martial arts. The reason behind this was to make me capable of protecting the kingdom¡¯s citizens. In times of war, I would have to stand on the battlefield with both my cane and my sword for the citizens of the kingdom. That was the instructions of the first king of the Amelia kingdom, the tradition that had been carried out ever since the founding of the kingdom. Therefore, my eyes had seen all kinds of martial arts out there. I could see that the two swordsmen fighting in front of us right now had mastered their crafts to the extreme. No matter how sharp Arnold¡¯s slash was, Signiel could always dodge it by a paper-thin margin. And no matter how fast Signiel¡¯s dual-slash was, Arnold¡¯s greatsword always kept him at bay. Signiel made full use of his long and nimble body to move faster on the ground, jumping high in the air as his attack rained down upon Arnold. However, Arnold blocked all the incoming attacks with his greatsword. The turbulent dance of the greatsword and the longsword under the moonlight created an extremely beautiful spectacle. ¡¸So this is a battle between the Sword Emperor and the Lion King, huh¡¹ Anna, who stood beside me, exclaimed, completely flabbergasted at the sight of the incredible fight in front of us. ¡¸Yes, this is my first time seeing a battle to the death between two geniuses, too.¡¹ You could say that both of them were masters who had reached the peak of humanity. Moreover, it was clear that their skills were equal. Despite wielding the heavier weapon, Arnold could block all Signiel¡¯s fast sword strikes. In short¨D ¡¸Can our knight captain win?¡¹ Anna asked me in an extremely anxious voice. ¡¸The Sword Emperor can¡¯t beat Arnold.¡¹ ¡¸Eh? But, no matter how you look at it, they¡¯re equally skilled, right?¡¹ ¡¸That¡¯s why the Sword Emperor can¡¯t defeat Arnold.¡¹ ¡¸Uhm, eeh¡­.¡¹ Anna tilted her head as a puzzled look appeared on her face. ¡¸Arnold blocked all of the Sword Emperor¡¯s swift slashes with his greatsword. In terms of raw power and weight, a greatsword is far more powerful than a longsword. That¡¯s why, the Sword Emperor, whose weapon is lighter, has no other choice than to keep pressuring Arnold with swift slashes.¡¹ The gap between the Sword Emperor¡¯s slashes became more and more obvious as the fight went on. Arnold¡¯s greatsword swung toward Signiel¡¯s trunk at explosive speed. Signiel tried to dodge that slash by jumping upward, but he was a step behind Arnold. "" ¡¸UWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!¡¹ Arnold changed the direction of his slash mid-way toward the mid-air Signiel, letting out a bestial roar that shook the air. The greatsword scored a clean hit, Signiel could barely block Arnold¡¯s attack with his longsword and got blown back. Although he managed to regain his posture upon landing, Arnold was one step ahead again. Arnold had already sprinted toward Siegniel with his greatsword raised overhead. Signiel couldn¡¯t block this strike; he had lost his momentum. The victor of this battle was Arnold. Arnold was uninjured. So I guessed we could escape as long as he defeated the Sword Emperor. And yet, my naive expectations lasted less than a second¡ª ¡¸GUH!¡¹ Arnold¡¯s victory was crushed by a snake who bit his right foot. Signiel¡¯s sword slashed Arnold, who had unnaturally stopped, and Arnold fell face first. For a while after that, Signiel looked at Arnold, who was lying face down in front of him. When he saw the snake that bit into Arnold¡¯s right foot, his expression transformed into that of an enraged demon. ¡¸ENZUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!! Why did you disturb our sacred duel?¡¹ He shouted at the grey-haired man with an enraged expression. ¡¸We received an imperial order by His Majesty, the Emperor, himself to work together. The princess might escape if you lose her. Well, the possibility of that happening is quite low, but just in case. Your foolish pride is a trivial matter compared to the success of this operation.¡¹ ¡¸TRIVIAL? You bastard, how dare you mock my pride as a swordsmaaaaaaaaaaan!¡¹ Signiel¡¯s gaze didn¡¯t move from Enzu, the grey-haired man with a crew cut, as he pointed his sword toward him. ¡¸I have no intention to mock your pride, but don¡¯t think I will stay still without retaliating if you attack me.¡¹ Enzu cracked the fingers joints of his hands as he took a stance. The black-robed men¡¯s attention shifted from us to the two of them. This seemed my only chance to bring Arnold into the forest and use healing magic on him. £¨NOW!£© However, when I was about to run toward Arnold, someone pinned me down from behind. ¡¸You can¡¯t esca~pe.¡¹ When I turned around, I saw one of Fracton¡¯s subordinates looking down at me with a sadistic smile. ¡¸L-LET GO OFF ME!!¡¹ Anna¡¯s angry roar shook my eardrums. When I turned around to see her, I saw an old, fat knight with an unshaved beard on top of her. ¡¸Can we play around with this woman?¡¹ When Enzu heard the extremely disgusting question of the old, fat knight with an unshaven beard, he replied without even looking at the knight. ¡¸Doesn¡¯t matter. Do as you like.¡¹ ¡¸Ooi, he says it¡¯s okay. C¡¯mon! It¡¯s first come first serve!¡¹ ¡¸S-STOP IT!¡¹ No matter how much I screamed, no one listened to me. ¡¸Princess, please enjoy the moment when Anna becomes a woman.¡¹ One of the fat knight¡¯s comrades seized Anna¡¯s arms as she struggled. Then, the old, fat knight started to tear off Anna¡¯s armour. ¡¸NO! STOP! LET GO OF ME!!!¡¹ Anna was on the verge of crying. ¡¸GET AWAY FROM ANNA! DON¡¯T YOU KNOW SHAME!¡¹ ¡¸Of course, we know. But you see, the loser must abide by the winner. That¡¯s the rule of the war.¡¹ The old, fat knight tore Anna¡¯s tunic, exposing her huge, proud twin hills in the night sky. ¡¸NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!¡¹ Anna¡¯s scream resounded in the vicinity. Signiel sent a sidelong glance the moment Anna was about to get raped. Then, he smacked his lips as he inserted his sword back into its sheath. He walked toward the forest as if the old, fat knight and co¡¯s act disgusted him. Seeing this, Enzu also relaxed his posture and signaled the black-robed people with his eyes. Several of the black-robed people walked in my direction. This is too much! Even though Gilbert and I were supposed to share the same blood of our parents, he went as far as selling me over to the empire. As if that wasn¡¯t cruel enough, his subordinates wanted to rape the girl I regarded as my little sister. Once I¡¯m sent to the empire, I¡¯m sure that these lowlifes would continue their daily lives like nothing. No, they might even get promotions to important posts from Gilbert due to this folly. Even though they are about to rape Anna! Even though they are about to sell me to the empire! These lowlifes have turned into dangerous cancer for the Amelia kingdom. UNFORGIVABLE! All of them are unforgivable! These shameless lowlifes, all of them should just die! Oh god¡ª no, even the devil is fine! Please protect Anna from these lowlifes!! ¡¸SOMEONE, PLEASEEEEEEEEEEE!!¡¹ I screamed as loud as I could until my throat felt like it was about to burst. Suddenly, the old, fat knight who was busy playing with Anna¡¯s glorious twin hills rose in the air. No, to be exact, a figure clad in exotic black clothes had grabbed the fat knight¡¯s head from behind and lifted him with one arm. All I could see from my current position was this newcomer¡¯s back and that this figure clad in exotic clothes was a black-haired man. ¡¸GIH!! AAAARGH! GIGAGAGAGAGA!¡¹ The fat knight¡¯s scream transformed into an anguished scream, then into an indescribable scream. The next moment, I heard a loud popping sound, and the skull of the fat knight got crushed like a fruit. Then, the headless corpse lifelessly fell on the ground. ¡¸Oh my! So fragile. As I expected, his toughness can¡¯t even be compared to the weakest monster in the weakest dungeon. Well, I guess there¡¯s a great difference between the strong and the weak in this world.¡¹ Even though he had just killed a human, I couldn¡¯t feel any semblance of repulsion coming from the black-haired man in exotic clothing, who had just killed a human. It was as if what he crushed was just a mere fruit instead of a human skull. Indifference toward killing, that was the only thing I felt from him. ¡¸H-HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!¡¹ The other knight who was holding onto Anna¡¯s arms screamed upon seeing such a shocking scene, ¡¸Shut up.¡¹ The black-haired man swung his hand to get rid of the blood and flesh sticking to his hand as he kicked the screaming knight right on his head. And as expected, due to the kick, the knight¡¯s head exploded, sending a spray of blood and white matter in the surrounding area. Honestly, my train of thought couldn¡¯t catch up to this situation. Two knights actually died from those seemingly simple attacks. Moreover, even though they were rotten, those two knights, who had just been killed like lowly insects, were quite skilled. If one spoke about national power, the Amelia kingdom was undoubtedly one of the major powerhouses. Our senior knights were one of the best in the world. Yet, two of those knights died so easily like that¡­ The black-haired man looked around once. The moment I caught a glimpse of his face, I felt like my chest was about to burst. Because, this black-haired man was none other than the very person despised by many as incompetent, Kai Heineman. Volume 1 - CH 25 Act 1-25: Start of Training It seems the battamans did a really good job as the diversion. We¡¯ve arrived at our destination without any difficulty. ¡¸Oh, well¡­¡¹ I arrived right at the moment a woman was about to be raped. If I¡¯m not wrong, she should be the female knight called Anna, Rose¡¯s trusted retainer. Moreover, the man about to rape her is the trash swordsman who said that he got corrupted when I accidentally touched him a really long time ago(in my perspective). Corrupted my ass! Properly speaking, these lowlifes, who are brazenly trying to rape a woman in the public, are the real corrupted ones. Come to think of it, Anna did save me from that piece of trash. I guess it¡¯s time to return this debt of gratitude. Moreover, such a scene is bad for Faf¡¯s education. Time for cleaning these pieces of trash. ¡¸SOMEONE, PLEASEEEEEEEEEEE!!¡¹ As soon as I heard Rose¡¯s scream, I kicked the ground and arrived right behind that trashy, old, and fat swordsman. I immediately grabbed his skull and raised him in the air. Now, it was time to test how much power this trash could handle. I mean, I could get a valid, living test-bench for free. ¡¸GIH!! AAAARGH! GIGAGAGAGAGA!¡¹ However, I just applied a little strength in my grip, and his skull got smashed to pieces way too easily. How annoying! Not only did he have a trashy personality, but even his body was so fragile. ¡¸Oh my! So fragile! As I expected, his toughness can¡¯t even be compared to the weakest monster in the weakest dungeon. Well, I guess there¡¯s a great difference between the strong and the weak in this world.¡¹ For him to end up like this, I guessed he didn¡¯t have a special gift either. Well, the reason he used such unreasonable violence on the past me must have been that he felt indebted to do so to someone with a worse gift than him. Well, not that I¡¯m gonna give my sympathy to this lowlife. Anyhow, I should increase the effects of the ¡¾Glove of Sealing God¡¿ even more than usual. They¡¯re too fragile even when I¡¯m already in this extremely weakened state. Seeing the corpse, which had lost its head, fall to the ground, the bald knight who had seized Anna¡¯s hands let out a strange scream. What an idiot! This man betrayed his own master and country and stained his pride as a knight by trying to rape a powerless woman. Yet, he was afraid of dying. He should¡¯ve just stayed out of this scheme if he was so afraid of dying. Since you dare to participate, you should also accept this kind of end. In the end, he was just an egotistical and irresponsible person. A proud warrior didn¡¯t need this kind of lowlife. This matter had really pissed me off, so I kicked his head to shut his annoying mouth from screaming like a sissy. Well then, next¨D When I smiled at the black-haired spear user who had pinned down Rose, he ended up whining like a sissy too. I quickly circled him and grabbed his head from behind with my right hand. I had already applied a stronger seal on my strength with the ¡¾Glove of Sealing God¡¿. Since he couldn¡¯t react even to that, I guessed the weak of this world were really weak. ¡¸I-I have yet to do anything! That¡¯s the truth! I was just instigated by them!!¡¹ The black-robed man frantically screamed while pointing at Fracton, the high-ranking noble who was also the culprit of this farce. ¡¸HOW DARE YOU!!¡¹ Even from my current position, I could see blue veins popping up on Fracton¡¯s forehead as he cursed the black-haired spear user. ¡¸Yet, you say. Weren¡¯t you also a part of them from the very beginning?¡¹ In the memory of the past Kai Heineman, I remember that this guy and the two I killed just now were always in cahoots. It means that this isn¡¯t their first time doing an act such as rap*ing a woman in this bloody place. There was no need to examine his pretentious statement. Most of all¨D ¡¸Y-You¡¯re mi¨D¡¹ ¡¸Instigated, is it? Are you trying to betray those buddies of yours? The one who chose to do this is you. Naturally, you don¡¯t expect someone else to take the responsibility for you, right? Well, this might be the retribution for all of the crimes you have committed until now.¡¹ I threw the black-haired spear user into the air. ¡¸Sto¨D¡¹ I punched him with my right fist as he fell. The next moment, his body exploded into pieces of meat. ¡¸¡­¡¹ I thought the others would attack me at once. However, they just looked at me while the colour got drained from their faces. Well, it¡¯d be more convenient for me if they stopped moving. Let¡¯s use this chance to heal the wounded ones. I took out the ¡¾Subjugation Picture Book¡¿ from my item box and chanted ¡¾Release¡¿ in my mind. I had summoned the ¡¾Healing Slimes¡¿ and commanded them to heal Rose¡¯s subordinates. The slimes enveloped the knights, who were at their death door, and returned to my side immediately after finishing their job. I guess they wanted me to praise them. ¡¸You guys did a really good job.¡¹ There, there! They are such adorable fellas. Their gel-like bodies happily trembled when I patted them. ¡¸SO SLY!! Faf wants a pat too!!¡¹ I let out a wry smile when I heard the pampered dragon suddenly jump out from behind. ¡¸Things will get dangerous. You have to go back first.¡¹ After I instructed the slimes, all of them got absorbed into the picture book at the next moment. ¡¸I¡­¡¹ Rose had witnessed the knights, who should be heavily injured on the ground, suddenly rise on their feet as if their injuries were a lie. She couldn¡¯t hide her shock. She rushed toward Al-san, who had fainted just now, and tried to prop him up. From the result of my cross-examination of that red-haired man, I knew that his real identity was the Lion King, Arnold. The royal guard of the king, he was undoubtedly one of the kingdom¡¯s best knights. Since this personage had never swung his sword in a martial arts tournament, I have yet to see his sword art. But, my grandfather had told me that this man¡¯s ability was the real deal and that I should aim to become someone like him in the future. I never expected that Al san¡¯s true identity was Arnold. Anyhow, since Arnold was rendered in that state, I could only guess that the Sword Emperor was more powerful than him. Or he used Rose and co as hostages? ¡¸Princess?¡¹ Arnold dumbfoundedly muttered. Maybe his consciousness had yet to fully return. ¡¸Did you use summoning art just now?¡¹ The burly, grey-haired man with a crew cut, who had worn a red robe, asked me while curiously looking at me. It was as if he were seeing a wild animal in a cage. ¡¸Not quite right, but well, I do summon monsters. I guess you¡¯re not wrong in calling it a summoning art.¡¹ ¡¸FUHAHAHAHAHAHA!!¡¹ The black-robed men, who were apparently the army of the empire, looked at the grey-haired man with a crew cut when the latter suddenly laughed loudly. ¡¸Such wonderful physical abilities, and a rare monster¡¯s summoner skill holder on top of that. He¡¯s just the right person we need. Join us! In exchange, we will give you that woman. How¡¯s that? A wonderful offer, right?¡¹ ¡¸Enzu-sama, you¡¯re going against the orders of His Majesty!¡¹ The black-robed man, who seemed to be an aide, urged the grey-haired man called Enzu to immediately change his mind. ¡¸HAH! This man is at least as powerful as us. Even His Majesty will be happier to welcome him rather than some suspicious hero we may or may not be able to summon.¡¹ ¡¸But¨D¡¹ The man called Enzu seized the collar of his aide. ¡¸Oi! Are you trying to go against me?¡¹ He threatened the aide. ¡¸N-No! Forgive my rudeness!¡¹ Oioi, who gave you the right to decide that without even hearing my reply. ¡¸Y-You mustn¡¯t! Kai!¡¹ Rose raised her voice in a hurry, but¡­ ¡¸This isn¡¯t what you promised, Enzu-dono! You promised to marry Princess Rosemary with the third prince of the empire as a form of alliance with our country. Are you trying to break our agreement?¡¹ Fracton interrupted her and raised an objection with a flushed red face. ¡¸Alliance with the kingdom? Marriage with the third prince? it was your one-sided claim. We never made such a promise to begin with. Nor do we have any intention to do that. From the very beginning, that woman was just meant to be a lab-rat to summon heroes.¡¹ ¡¸Such a thing¡­¡¹ Suddenly, Fracton¡¯s expression changed to one of despair. Anyhow, since he had dared to sell Rose to the empire, there was no glory waiting for him even if this plan succeeded. ¡¸Don¡¯t decide such things for your convenience. I refuse to go with you guys.¡¹ The current me is definitely not a ¡°Good Guy.¡± It¡¯s more like I¡¯ve become someone whose moral code isn¡¯t bound to this world anymore. Well, the word ¡°Villain¡± might suit me the best. Despite that, I wouldn¡¯t go with such people who brazenly say that a powerless woman is nothing more than their lab-rat. I mean once upon a time, I used to be powerless too. That¡¯s why whenever I hear such remarks, I want to vomit. ¡¸Naturally, I don¡¯t think a kingdom¡¯s citizen like you will willingly follow us. Signiel, do it. I¡¯ll focus on giving support.¡¹ His air changed the moment I refused. Uhm, fighting against two of the Empire¡¯s six generals might put me in trouble, but well, I already predicted this situation. Couldn¡¯t be helped then. ¡¸Shut up! I¡¯ve had enough of your interference! If you do the same thing again, I¡¯m really going to kill you this time!¡¹ The man with a scar on his face, Signiel, unsheathed his sword, pointed it at me, and glared at Enzu as if he wanted to kill him. ¡¸Are you an idiot? The other party is a summoner! Are you trying to defeat him with a sword alone!¡¹ The men in black robes shrugged their heads when they heard Enzu¡¯s enraged voice. ¡¸Nope! I¡¯m not a summoner in the first place. I¡¯m a swordsman.¡¹ I¡¯m disappointed, utterly disappointed. Signiel¡¯s stance isn¡¯t the stance of someone fully devoted to swords. It¡¯s just the stance of a somewhat-talented greenhorn who had never doubted his abilities. No matter how I looked at it, there was no way he could beat Arnold with such a lack of devotion toward swordsmanship. It seems Arnold lost because of underhanded means. Still, so why did that old man, the former Sword Emperor Ashburn Gastrea, entrusted the title of Sword Emperor to such a greenhorn? I mean, the empire doesn¡¯t need such a somewhat-talented yet arrogant greenhorn either. There are way too many mysteries about his situation. ¡¸Are you the relative of Ashburn Gastrea?¡¹ ¡¸Ashburn Gastrea is my grandfather.¡¹ Does that mean this greenhorn inherited his grandfather¡¯s title due to his blood? Has Ashburn Gastrea overestimated this greenhorn¡¯s ability? No, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the case. Even though Ashburn Gastrea was rather simple-minded, his devotion toward the sword and his abilities were the real deal. He wasn¡¯t the kind of man who would besmirch our swordsmanship just for his grandson. This means that he found something in this greenhorn that convinced him to entrust the Sword Emperor¡¯s title to this greenhorn. Since this man is still a greenhorn, there is no real need to point a real blade toward him. I picked up the spear of the dead black-haired spear user from before, severed its ends with ¡¾Raikiri¡¿ to create a makeshift wooden sword, and assumed a stance. ¡¸Are you mocking me?¡¹ As soon as he guessed my intention, Signiel¡¯s expression turned into that of an angry demon¡¯s. Yet, he maintained his reason and asked such questions. ¡¸Uhm, there¡¯s no value for me in pointing my blade at the current you. After all, you¡¯re way too weak. Now come at me. I¡¯m gonna give you some pointers.¡¹ ¡¸FINE! Then, I¡¯m gonna break that pride until there is nothing left of it!!¡¹ Signiel slashed toward me with his sword. He seemed to be rather pissed off though. I received his slash with my wooden sword and started to train him to know the intention of the Former Great Sword Emperor, Ashburn Gastrea. I wanted to know what made him entrust his title to his grandson. Volume 1 - CH 26 Act 1-26: A Difference in Ability That Can¡¯t be Bridged With Talent Alone(Side: Rosemary) Basically, Signiel¡¯s strategy was ¡°hit and run.¡± His sharp sword that specialized in speed made full use of his speed. Its strength enabled him to kill his opponent in one hit using their blindspot. As a result, his opponents would often be forced to go on defense. Even the Amelia kingdom¡¯s best swordsman, Arnold, had been forced to go on defense as Signiel kept attacking his blindspots. That was why the scene happening right in front of me subverted all kinds of expectations. Even though Signiel was running at his fastest speed and slashing with his long sword from behind, Kai effortlessly repelled him with a make-shift wooden sword without even so much as turning around. Even though I couldn¡¯t see anything but Signiel¡¯s afterimage when he diagonally attacked Kai from behind, Kai¡¯s wooden sword easily parried the attack. Signiel then slashed from the diagonal-left, aiming to behead Kai. However, he had expected that attack to get parried, so he closed in the distance and swung his dagger toward Kai¡¯s abdomen. Nevertheless, Kai¡¯s wooden sword still struck down the dagger. £¨What¡¯s the meaning of this?£© To be honest, for me, Rosemary Loto Amelia, the battle between Signiel and Arnold from a while ago had been far more amazing. For some reason, I couldn¡¯t feel the same heat in this fight as I had in the previous battle. Unexpectedly, I could capture every movement of Kai as if he were moving in slow motion. Against such slow motion, Signiel¡¯s godspeed should allow him to win this battle with the first strike. Yet, Signiel always failed to land a hit. ¡¸Arnold, why are none of Signiel¡¯s attacks landing on Kai?¡¹ My doubt led me to ask such a question to Arnold, who stood beside me. He was absentmindedly looking at the battle. ¡¸¡­¡¹ ¡¸Arnold?¡¹ ¡¸Y-Yes. E~h, that¡¯s¡­ I think it¡¯s simply a difference between their mastery.¡¹ ¡¸The difference¡­ between their mastery?¡¹ ¡¸Yes, to put it simply, it¡¯s like the difference between a veteran who has been swinging his sword for decades and a newbie who had just picked his sword. The difference between these two is even greater than that.¡¹ ¡¸B-But, regarding talent, Kai is¡ª¡¹ ¡¸No, please make no mistake! This isn¡¯t something as simple as talent! Difference in talent alone is far from enough to create such a massive gap between their mastery of sword! This hopelessly massive gap is the result of overwhelming experiences!¡¹ Is there that much gap between them? I mean, this was the first time I saw the gentle Arnold speak with such a harsh tone. The color drained from his face when he looked at the battle. ¡¸Overwhelming difference in their experience?¡¹ The more I heard, the more confused I became. Kai had reached a level that only those old swordmasters could reach. But, he was far younger than Signiel. ¡¸Yes, my sword master is always telling me about it. A person who swings his sword not for fame, conceit, and joy forgets everything when he swings his sword. One can only arrive at the true meaning of swordsmanship when one abandons all thoughts and just innocently swings the sword. Maybe, Kai has arrived at that state after the end of years of training.¡¹ ¡¸B-But, Kai is still 15 years old!¡¹ ¡¸I¡¯m sure something¡¯s wrong with his age. Given his skill, I¡¯m sure that he has lived a far longer life than all of us. His sword art is the basis for my guess. It speaks of an overwhelmingly long period of training.¡¹ Arnold declared so without any hesitation. Has Kai really lived a far longer life than all of us? Could it be that he¡¯s an elf? High elves are known to live especially long lives. I¡¯ve heard that they can live for a thousand years. If it were so, I could accept it. However, Kai¡¯s birthplace was confirmed. He was a human, not an elf or a high elf. There was no doubt in this regard. ¡¸Look, it¡¯s about to end.¡¹ I snapped out of my train of thought when Arnold made that remark. I saw Signiel drop the sword in his right hand when Kai¡¯s wooden sword hit his right hand. Volume 1 - CH 27 Act 1-27: Even I Will Angry if You Say That You Know I see now. I¡¯ve finally found the answer. I have finally understood the reason Ashburn Gastrea entrusted the Sword Emperor title to Signiel. It¡¯s simply because his grandson has something that I lack. That something is the so-called talent in swordsmanship, an overwhelming one at that. I realized this after swinging my sword for a really long time. Unlike the talentless me, this man was loved by the sword. In the end, Signiel broke into a cry. This was by no means a miserable sight. It showed just how much swordsmanship meant to him; it was his path of life. ¡¸You should stop doing this kind of foolish thing. Your time is finite. Try to remember why your grandfather, Ashburn Gastrea, entrusted the title of the Sword Emperor to you.¡¹ After I said all I had to say to Signiel, who was crying like a child, I turned around to face the grey-haired man, Enzu. ¡¸Take the Sword Emperor back to the empire. I shall overlook your foolishness today in honour of the Sword Emperor.¡¹ You could say that this was my ego talking. However, I was a selfish person to begin with. Therefore, I decided to see it to the end. ¡¸A summoner beat the Sword Emperor with a sword, huh. Dangerous! You¡¯re way too dangerous!¡¹ Enzu assumed a stance. He showed his muscular body as he looked at me with a gaze full of interest. It seems things have become even more troublesome in another sense. ¡¸If I¡¯m really that dangerous, what are you going to do then? Let me say this! Signiel is the only one who has gained my recognition amongst you lot. The fact that I pardoned such vulgar and ostentatious people like you is a miracle itself, you know?¡¹ ¡¸Prattle as much as you want! But, I finally understand that you¡¯re not the kind of person who will allow himself to be domesticated by someone else. If I let you off this time, you¡¯ll definitely turn into a threat to the Empire. That¡¯s why you¡­ have to die in this place.¡¹ Enzu retreated and chanted an aria. A magic circle suddenly appeared in front of him. Finally, a majin with bright red skin and covered in fire walked out from the magic circle. The majin had a muscular body and a pair of horns on his forehead. The majin seemed to be quite hot. Even though he was floating in the air, the ground beneath him turned into molten lava. ¡ºI came in accordance to our contract. Now, what do you wish from me?¡» ¡¸Kill that person!¡¹ The fire majin crossed his arms and looked at me for a while as if he were trying to evaluate me. Then, he changed his line of sight to Astaroth and Fafnir. ¡ºThose three over there are quite strong. Do you have the necessary sacrifice?¡» He looked at Enzu without turning his head. Hearing that remark, Astaroth gritted his teeth with a devilish smile while Fafnir just tilted her head with a dumbfounded expression as if she didn¡¯t care about it. Still, why did this fire majin make such a bold declaration despite being far weaker than the weakest monster in my picture book, the Battaman? Well, that¡¯s strange indeed. I mean, this fella should be the trump card of one of the six generals, the spirit king. Despite those thoughts, I was used to this kind of situation since some monster in that dungeon could hide their strength. I assumed that this fire majin was one of those kinds of monsters. However, even if that were the case, his remarks contradicted that. From his words, I assumed that he had a way to measure our abilities and strength. Currently, I had set the average of my stats to 100 with ¡¾Glove of Sealing God¡¿. Astaroth and Fafnir were the same. They had each equipped an item that limited their average stats to 100. The reason we did this was simple. It was to deceive our opponents and lower their vigilance against us. Yet, this fire majin said that we were quite strong. An average of 100 is quite strong? Since that¡¯s the case, this guy must be¨D ¡¸I understand. I offer my subordinates¡¯ life force(mana). That should be enough.¡¹ ¡¸W-Wait a minute!¡¹ One of Enzu¡¯s subordinates tried to interrupt this scene in a hurry, but¡­ ¡¸Just accept your fate! It¡¯s for the sake of our motherland.¡¹ Enzu swiftly cut off his subordinate¡¯s plea and told him to die. The men in black robes flinched. Despair took over their face as they fell to their knees. ¡¸Astaroth, our items are working properly, right?¡¹ ¡¸Yes, they are supposed to be working properly. At least, these fools can¡¯t see through our real strength.¡¹ Fuhahaha! I see! So that is the case! This man called Enzu isn¡¯t one of the six generals. He¡®s a mere attendant of the Sword Emperor. I almost mistook him for one of the six generals since he was too haughty. And that fire monster(?), it¡¯s definitely a small-time spirit, not the spirit king himself. No wonder he smells like a small fry. Our fake stats alone were enough for him to say that we¡¯re quite strong. Well, my source of information was the empire¡¯s soldier after all. I shouldn¡¯t have expected him to tell the truth. I guess it¡¯s my fault for taking information without even considering the option that the other party might feed me some fake information. Knowing that, I can guess that this fire guy is a mere evil spirit. He¡¯s too weak to be called the spirit king. I mean, like hell a supreme spirit king would demand something like life force. ¡¸No need to take your compensation. You can¡¯t escape anymore after all.¡¹ I pointed my wooden sword toward the evil fire spirit. ¡ºI can¡¯t escape, you say? Quite a big mouth you got there, human!¡» The evil fire spirit was sneering as he looked down at me. He was smiling, but his eyes were anything but smiling. He was irritated right now. ¡¸Yeah. That¡¯s only natural. I can¡¯t let an evil spirit like you roam around causing disasters left and right. That¡¯s why I¡¯m gonna exterminate you right here.¡¹ ¡ºE-Evil spirit? Me?¡» His voice is trembling. I guess he¡¯s pissed off now. Yup, this feels great. Anyhow, I did say that I wouldn¡¯t let him escape, but it¡¯s not like there are no other means. ¡¸Hou, am I wrong then? What are you then? A monster? No, the heat you possess is even weaker than that of those flame-type monsters on the upper floor of that dungeon. Since you¡¯re neither a monster nor a spirit king, you must be an evil spirit. Isn¡¯t that right?¡¹ He was so weak that I couldn¡¯t decide which one was weaker between him and those black beasts I had slain before. They both were literally as weak as those flies flying around in this area. ¡ºI¡¯M THE SPIRIT KING; IFRIT!!¡» ¡¸Blablablabla. That¡¯s what all evil spirits say. Shouldn¡¯t you at least admit it yourself while you¡¯re still alive?¡¹ I couldn¡¯t convince him since this was my first time meeting an evil spirit. The self-proclaimed spirit king trembled non-stop from head to toe. Blue veins bulged on his forehead. ¡ºFine then! I shall take no compensation this time! I shall tear them apa¨D¡» ¡¸A~~~A! You¡¯re far too weak to do that. I suggest you give up on such a wild delusion, evil spirit! I mean, you almost made me die from laug¨D¡¹ The self-proclaimed spirit king breathed in. He then blew a scorching red flame at me before I could even finish my sentence. Naturally, since I had fire and heat assimilation skill, this flame was like a reward for me. By the way, the reason my accessories and clothes didn¡¯t get burned was that my assimilation skill affected them too. ¡ºH-How can this be!?¡» The self-proclaimed evil spirit couldn¡¯t hide his shock when he saw me safe and sound. ¡¸Your boring flame isn¡¯t even enough to warm my feet.¡¹ ¡ºIMPOSSIBLE!! You feeble human should have burned till not even your bones were left after receiving the flame of this Spirit King Ifrit!!¡» This fake spirit king is still denying reality, huh! Come to think of it, something like this has happened before. Yeah, THAT case! The self-proclaimed evil god, Girimekhala. He was such a rebellious dude when I first summoned him from the ¡¾Subjugation Picture Book¡¿, but then, he turned into a better person after I beat out his rotten guts. Maybe, I should just leave this self-proclaimed spirit king to the former self-proclaimed evil god. Let Girimekhala straighten this fella¡¯s rotten guts. I took out ¡¾Subjugation Picture Book¡¿ from my item box and opened Girimekhala¡¯s page. ¡¸Your flame doesn¡¯t work! That guy isn¡¯t your average Joey! Ifrit, go all out!¡¹ When Enzu saw the flame not working on me, he spoke in a flustered voice. However, I ignored the noisy man as I chanted ¡¾Release¡¿. ¡ºI-I know that! Take this strongest fla¡ª HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII?¡» The self-proclaimed spirit king suddenly screamed like an idiot. The reason was the giant, bipedal monster with a long nose kneeling in front of me. ¡ºOOH! Praise the supreme master! Thank you very much for calling a humble bug like me, Master!¡» The (former)self-proclaimed evil god was kneeling in front of me. Well, he had now regressed into calling himself a bug since I had gone over the top with his re-education. ¡¸I¡¯ll leave the re-education of the evil spirit over there to you. It¡¯s really troublesome since he keeps proclaiming himself as the spirit king.¡¹ The (former)self-proclaimed evil god, Girimekhala, glared at the evil spirit with his three eyes. That glare alone was enough to startle the self-proclaimed spirit king just like a rabbit being stared at by a lion. ¡ºHOW DARE¡­ A mere evil spirit is denying our supreme ruler¡¯s words! Unforgivable! Unforgivable! There¡¯s no way I¡¯ll overlook such transgression!!¡» Girimekhala screamed at the top of his lungs in anger. However, toward the last part of his scream, with bloodshot eyes, he strode toward the trembling lamb(the self-proclaimed spirit king), who had lost his fighting spirit. ¡­. ¡­. Thus, the situation was immediately resolved with Girimekhala¡¯s victory. Rather, it couldn¡¯t even be regarded as a match in the first place. Girimekhala had beaten the crap out of the evil spirit proclaiming to be a spirit king inside the dome-shaped black cloud barrier that prevented anyone from escaping. The scene was too much for an ordinary human to handle. Therefore, I made a part of Rose and co¡¯s group, who had delicate hearts, sleep for the time being. ¡ºYou¡¯re a maggot. Understand?¡» Girimekhala asked the evil fire spirit while grabbing his head. ¡ºYes. I¡¯m(watashi) just a lowly maggot!!¡» Girimekhala, who was apparently satisfied with the answer of the evil spirit proclaiming to be the spirit king, turned around and kneeled in front of me. ¡ºSupreme Ruler, may you grant this bug the permission to take care of this maggot? This humble bug feels that this maggot is in the need of further education.¡» Entrusting this guy to Girimekhala, huh! Personally, I want to quickly eradicate this trash evil spirit that feeds on humans¡¯ life force. But yeah, I think this is the right time for me to test the newly added function of the ¡¾Subjugation Picture Book¡¿. ¡¸I understand. Beat his rotten guts into shape.¡¹ After seizing the nape of the evil spirit, who was crying at the top of his lungs, Girimekhala returned to the ¡¾Subjugation Picture Book¡¿. When I opened Girimekhala¡¯s page in the ¡¾Subjugation Picture Book¡¿ again, now there was the word ¡°Ifrit¡± written in the entry of ¡¾Kin¡¿. That evil spirit has the same name as the spirit king, huh! Good grief! That idiot should know that having the same name doesn¡¯t mean that he has the same strength as the spirit king. His name might sound strong and all, but at the end of the day, he¡¯s only a paper tiger. Now, I only have to take care of the Sword Emperor¡¯s attendant, the grey-haired man. This small fry was acting like one of the six generals. He makes me furious. ¡¸W-W-WAIT! I mean, p-please wait a minute! I¡¯m sure that you¨D¡¹ Enzu kneeled on all fours, desperately pleading for his life. ¡¸I refuse. You went too far.¡¹ Despite his pleas, I beheaded him with my wooden sword before he could finish his sentence. Then, I looked at the black-robed men who were trembling non-stop like a little lamb being glared at by its predator. ¡¸Take the Sword Emperor back to the Empire. That¡¯ll be your duty. If something goes wrong with him mid-way¡­¡¹ The moment I pointed at the Sword Emperor with my wooden sword, the man who seemed to be an aide of Enzu came forward and propped the Sword Emperor¡¯s body. Then, all of them escaped into the forest as fast as they could. Volume 1 - CH 28 Act 1-28.1: It Turned Into Something Ridiculous, Huh? Arnold tied up Fracton and his surviving fallen knights. I had already done my part and they had to do theirs; I had no reason to help them anymore. With this, I had repaid the kindness Rose and Anna had shown me in the past. Now, the only thing I had to do was retrieve the battamans. Where should I go after this? Although it had been pretty much decided that the reason I had participated in this group was to visit mother-dono in the royal capital, since I had become free from the responsibility to inherit my family name, I wanted to go around the world. I had enough money to go on this trip. Maybe I should take this chance to also get my hunter qualification. To do that, I have to go to the closest city, the city of Barse. That city should have a hunter guild since it¡¯s close to a monster den, Sea Forest of Silke. Yup, let¡¯s visit that city first. I was about to leave this place¨D ¡¸W-WAIT!¡¹ Fracton shouted at me. ¡¸I-I¡¯m the shield and the sword of Prince Gilbert, the next king of the Amelia kingdom! Come join our side! Even though¡­ though you have a trash job, your power is useful to prince Gilbert!¡¹ ¡¸Bastard, you can still mutter that nonsense after all you did!!¡¹ Arnold spoke with an enraged voice as he grabbed Fracton¡¯s collar. It was natural for him to be so enraged since Fracton¡¯s betrayal was the main reason so many of his knight comrades had gotten injured. ¡¸SHUT UP, PLEBEIAN! I¡¯m a count, a count!! My life¡¯s value is far higher than that of a lowly plebeian like you!¡¹ Good grief! How unsightly! This vulgar bastard is a lost cause, huh! I guess I should just destroy a country where this kind of worthless trash can throw their weight around as they please. ¡¸Aren¡¯t you the one who scorns me as an incompetent apostate? Since you hate me so much, why do you want to pull me to your side?¡¹ Yeah, his hatred toward my trash gift alone had made it impossible for him to recruit me. ¡¸S-Such trivial worries can easily be crushed by my lord! You can have all the money and women that you want!¡¹ ¡¸Is that how you recruited those idiot knights?¡¹ The idiot knights Arnold had tied up trembled like newborn lambs when I glanced toward them. Idiot! These trash knights are truly trash beyond help. ¡¸Soon, His Highness GIlbert will take the throne. At that time¨D¡¹ I approached the trash and grabbed his face before he could finish. ¡¸Can you hear me now? I can guess what kind of sh*t you¡¯re up to. And I don¡¯t care whoever takes the throne. Why? Because for me, the result will be the same since whoever it is will be the same trash like you guys.¡¹ ¡¸DON¡¯T GROUP ROSE-SAMA WITH THOSE TRASHES!¡¹ Unable to hold back her anger, Anna shouted at me. It seemed after getting and wearing her clothes back, she had returned to being an easily irritable woman. Though, when I saw the expressions of the other knights on Rose¡¯s side, they pretty much agreed with Anna. The only one who didn¡¯t show a reaction was Arnold; he looked like a bystander overlooking an interesting spectacle. "" ¡¸Yeah, of course, she¡¯s included. Let me explain in a simpler way. All royalties and nobilities are parasites who sip the blood of their people.¡¹ First, they grant grace for a reason that can¡¯t be understood. They persecute anyone who doesn¡¯t have their grace. I mean, they are the ones who raised this trash called Fracton after all. They are nothing more than harmful parasites for this kingdom. ¡¸HOW DARE YOU!!¡¹ Along with an enraged Anna, the other knights of Rose¡¯s group touched the hilts of their swords, ready to charge at me any moment. This was the essence of these people. They used force as soon as they saw someone who disagreed with their view. They believed that anyone with a different view than them should just shut up. This was the main reason I hated them to the bone. ¡¸Hou, are you going to attack me? If you want to do this, come at me! I¡¯m ready. Let¡¯s duke it out and see who going to stand as the final victor.¡¹ I let go of my hand from Fracton¡¯s face and spread my arms as I faced them, Fafnir assumed a stance while letting out a growl. Astaroth heaved a deep sigh and cracked his knuckles. He glared at the knight with an expression akin to the one a predator had when glaring at their prey. Our opponent was the Amelia kingdom, a powerhouse. They also had legendary heroes with them. However, these people were different from that greenhorn Sword Emperor and his haughty attendant. The old me would have hesitated to attack them, but that wasn¡¯t the case for the current me. I absolutely wouldn¡¯t back down from this. No matter how much more powerful the opponent is, if they dare to bear their fangs toward me, I shall thoroughly destroy them! ¡¸Please stop this foolishness at once!¡¹ Hearing the owner of this bell-like voice, Anna and the knights straightened themself at once. Even Arnold bowed to her. ¡¸Ho! So the boss has decided to make her appearance, huh! So? What are you going to do? Are you going to sentence me a death penalty for insulting you?¡¹ That¡¯s what they always did since time immemorial, after all. They murdered numerous lives for worthless, abstract reasons called lineage. They were pieces of trash who insulted the weight of a life. Even the discrimination that happened due to the gifts was created on purpose. The aim was to make it easier to classify whether someone was worthless or not. Honestly speaking, the dissatisfied citizens should turn their dissatisfaction toward the royalty and nobles, instead of the statesman. This condition wouldn¡¯t change as long as the royalty were still in their position. ¡¸As if I¡¯m gonna do that. I¡¯m just really happy.¡¹ ¡¸Hah? Are you sure that there¡¯s nothing wrong with your head?¡¹ I mean, what in the hell is this woman talking about? ¡¸This impo¨D¡¹ Anna glared at me, but just before she could finish her curse, ¡¸I SAID STOP!!¡¹ Anna flinched when she heard the usually soft-spoken Rose shout at her. ¡¸This is the first time.¡¹ ¡¸Hah?¡¹ ¡¸This is the first time I met someone in this kingdom with the same view as me.¡¹ ¡¸Didn¡¯t you hear me!? I said that you people, the royalty and the nobility, are the poison that¡¯s slowly killing this kingdom, you know?¡¹ ¡¸That¡¯s why I said that we have the same opinion. This kingdom has been corrupted from the inside. Even though problems such as crime, plague, or poverty have been running rampant in the many parts of this kingdom, the government is busy trying to gather more profit for itself instead of thinking about a solution. If thing stays as they are, it¡¯s only matter of time before this kingdom collapses.¡¹ ¡¸Indeed. But, so what? Do you think a good and healthy government alone is enough to solve the problem? It¡¯s nothing more than a stop-gap measure, you know?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, of course, I know about that. This is still a concept and my own idea, but we can solve that by allowing commoners to take a post in the government office one at a time, right?¡¹ How surprising! The governing of people for the people, aka democracy, should be an alien concept in this world. I mean, even I would¡¯ve never arrived at such a concept without the numerous books I read in that dungeon. Uhm, this little girl has piqued my interest. ¡¸Where did that idea come from?¡¹ ¡¸It¡¯s written in the book containing tales from another world, which I got from my uncle who worked as a hunter back then.¡¹ ¡¸Tales from another world?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, it¡¯s a book that has a different concept from ours called Kagaku. The book is about a world dominated by rules. In that world, there¡¯s no concept of pedigree. Everyone can make their own decisions and walk the path they choose.¡¹ The ¡°Kagaku¡± Rose mentioned most probably referred to ¡ºScience¡». There was no doubt about it! After all, that word often appeared in another otherworldly book that I found in the labyrinth. Since that was the case, it was definitely a book from another world. Naturally, since Rose said that this book¡¯s title contained ¡°Tales,¡± it was a completely different book that the one I read. ¡¸Since they are tales, you should¡¯ve realized that it¡¯s only a pipe dream, not a realistic concept, right?¡¹ Although, I had become fed up with the atrocious acts committed in that other world that I read about inside the book. A coin always has two sides. When I considered that the book Rose read only contained tales, I could assume that it only contained the pros, forgetting about the cons. ¡¸I¡¯ve been told that repeatedly. Nevertheless, I want to make that dream come true in this world.¡¹ Rose closed her eyes and placed her hands on her chest. This princess is not your run-of-the-mill princess. I mean, no matter how beautiful those tales are, no normal person would try to realize them in reality. Moreover, the thing she has to give up in return for realizing that dream is her own position as royalty. That kind of thought process is abnormal. No wonder the nobles are trying to kick her out of this kingdom. ¡¸You are a real madman.¡¹ ¡¸How dare you¨D¡¹ Honestly, I was dumbfounded at how simple-minded Anna was. ¡¸Anna.¡¹ As soon as Rose scolded her, Anna shut up. Then, Rose¡¯s face became expressionless, and she turned toward Fracton, ¡¸Fracton and the knights who helped him in this case, I¡¯ll report your betrayal to His Majesty, the king, my father. Especially the worst part that you colluded with the empire. Don¡¯t expect that you can escape from capital punishment.¡¹ She was sentencing them to ruins. ¡¸IT WON¡¯T HAPPEN! I¡¯m sure that His Highness Gilbe¨D¡¹ ¡¸Do you think my little brother is the kind of person who will risk his position and life to save someone colluding with the empire?¡¹ Fracton finally realized that he had already gone past the point of no return. He trembled non-stop as the color drained from his face. Rose sent a sidelong glance at the trembling figure of that idiot, then¡­ ¡¸On this occasion, I, the first princess of the Amelia kingdom, Rosemary Loto Amelia, appoint Kai Heineman as my royal guard.¡¹ Rose suddenly declared that in a bold voice. Royal guard, huh! I knew that being chosen as a royal guard was the best honor for those who walked on the path of the sword in this Amelia kingdom. If I was not wrong, it was the title of the best knight, and only those who had the right to inherit the throne could bestow this title. Royal guards were those who protected the candidates for the king¡¯s position, the symbol of power and authority. Rose¡¯s act of appointing me, an incompetent despised by everyone, as her royal guard was a crazy act. Yeah, this person is a madman after all. ¡¸W-W-Wait a minute! He¡¯s an incompetent apostate, you know! If you appoint him as your royal guard, you¡¯ll¨D¡¹ Just as I expected, the one to object first was Anna. ¡¸Be quiet! Let me ask you, Anna, who do you think is more appropriate to become a royal guard then?¡¹ Rose shut Anna again before the latter could finish her sentence with a question of her own. ¡¸S-Shouldn¡¯t you choose from the royal knights in the royal palace to adhere to tradition and formality? At least, that¡¯s how it has always be done so far.¡¹ ¡¸Fracton, the first on the list of that royal palace authority is the one who betrayed us in this journey! Allow me to add that the one who almost r*ped you a while ago was a knight in his employ. In short, they are no different than the extension of the royal guards of my little brother. That¡¯s why there¡¯s no way I can bring myself to entrust my life to them.¡¹ ¡¸But still, it doesn¡¯t mean that you have to appoint the apostate as your royal guard¡­¡¹ Anna muttered while chewing her lips. ¡¸Apostate? What kind of nonsense are you spouting? Didn¡¯t you see that Kai¡¯s sword art is far superior to the Sword Emperor¡¯s? It has reached a level that we¡ªwho pretend to be loved and gifted with talent¡ªcan never hope to reach in our entire life.¡¹ ¡¸That¡¯s¨D¡¹ ¡¸This might sound harsh, but if I were a god, I would bless him with far more overwhelming talent than you. If there¡¯s an almighty god, he is surely blessed by one.¡¹ ¡¸!!?¡¹ No one was more blessed than me by god. Maybe, because Rose has pointed this out, but Anna was finally at a loss for words. For the being called humans, there is no greater shock than when their sense of value gets flat-out rejected. Act 1-28.2: It Turned Into Something Ridiculous, Huh? But, that was that. I mean, I had finally managed to clear that dungeon after a long time. And just when I was going to depart for a world tour, the first thing awaiting me was something akin to house arrest. ¡¸Why do you think I¡¯ll agree with you appointing me as your knight at your own convenience without even asking me? I don¡¯t have any intention to accept that.¡¹ The knights of Rose¡¯s group heaved sighs of relief. ¡¸No, you¡¯ll definitely become my royal guard!¡¹ I had never expected this woman to be so overbearing. Well, I had realized her stubborn nature after seeing her actions a while ago. ¡¸A royal guard is the face of the throne, right?¡¹ ¡¸Yes, to be exact, the vase of the flower arrangement.¡¹ ¡¸Then, doesn¡¯t that mean you need a more appropriate vase so that the flower can shine even brighter? Moreover, the vase you choose is a failed product like me. I¡¯m far from being qualified to serve as your vase. Sorry, but choose another.¡¹ ¡¸There¡¯s no better person than you!¡¹ ¡¸Ain¡¯t suited for that. How about those heroes of the kingdom? They seem to be quite powerful, and in terms of popularity, choosing them is a far better choice than getting me. Isn¡¯t that right?¡¹ ¡¸The hero is our main force in the war against the demon king army. If I play it wrong and appoint him as my royal guard, a civil war will break out in the Amelia kingdom. And above all else, I don¡¯t trust them either.¡¹ ¡¸Then, how about appointing the kingdom¡¯s knight leader-dono over there when the king retires from his position? His strength, personality, and competence have been proved right.¡¹ ¡¸A royal guard only serves one king in their entire life. Even if His Majesty The King retires, Arnold will still be his royal guard.¡¹ ¡¸Then choose from your subordinates. Don¡¯t involve me in this mess.¡¹ ¡¸Royal guard is the title bestowed to the strongest knight. Each candidate needs someone with absolute power to protect themself. Unfortunately, none of my subordinates have the qualification for that, at least for now.¡¹ ¡¸¡­¡¹ When Rose¡¯s knights heard this bold statement, frustration appeared on their faces. ¡¸That¡¯s why I want you as my royal guard!¡¹ Rose declared so after looking around at her subordinates. ¡¸That¡¯s your own reason. I¡¯ve no reason to abide by that. Choose another person.¡¹ ¡¸No, no one is more qualified to be my royal guard aside from you.¡¹ ¡¸And I refuse.¡¹ ¡¸Are you sure?¡¹ Rose asked me with a smile. For some reason, that smile sent a chill running down my spine. ¡¸What do you mean?¡¹ I had no choice but to ask her. ¡¸If you refuse, I have no choice but to appoint Rena Groat as my royal guard.¡¹ ¡¸Hah? She¡¯s just an amateur without combat experience!¡¹ The matter today was as clear as the day. The opponent was a piece of trash, albeit a cunning one. This was different from exterminating a monster. Her attack was something that couldn¡¯t be blocked with a sword. Rose had to have realized that this royal guard position had the worst compatibility with the air-headed Rena. ¡¸But still, she¡¯s a sword saint. In terms of sword arts alone, not even the hero can hope to beat her. And above all else, it would also mean that the sword saint¡¯s gift holder, who had saved the kingdom from peril in the past, will become my royal guard. This matter will drive a wedge in the kingdom. The other candidates to the throne will have to do something to keep the sword saint in check.¡¹ ¡¸What about Rena¡¯s will in this matter?¡¹ No matter how soft-hearted that girl was, she shouldn¡¯t be so stupid as to get herself involved with this extremely troublesome and trashy system to decide the next king. ¡¸She¡¯ll happily agree if I¡¯m the one who asks her. She already said that after all.¡¹ THAT DUMB GIRL! Well, it¡¯s one of her troublesome traits that she can¡¯t refuse a request from those she regards as her friends. ¡¸What will happen to her if she becomes the royal guard?¡¹ ¡¸In this kingdom, the Hero and the Sword Saint hold extreme significance in the war against the Demon King Army. The Logistics department is more important, but¨D¡¹ ¡¸Enough. I understand already. In short, the danger Rena will face will increase if she becomes the royal guard, right?¡¹ ¡¸Yes.¡¹ It was just as Rose had said. That idiot called Gilbert was a cunning man; he was someone who had sold his sister to the empire after all. It was clear that he would try every opportunity to get rid of his sister even if Rena became her royal guard. Besides, I had clearly remembered something after my old memories returned. I would never be able to see the girl called Rena to suffer. Nevertheless, it would be a mistake if Rose expected the current me to succumb to such a threat. ¡¸Is that¡­ a threat?¡¹ I released my anger as I asked Rose. That alone was enough to make the knights around us, who were not directly exposed to my anger, fall on their rear. Anna trembled non-stop as the colour drained from her face. The only ones who stayed calm were Arnold and Rose, who I directly expressed my anger at. ¡¸My deepest apologies if the way I say it looks like I¡¯m threatening you. But, what I¡¯m asking you is to make a contract of equality with me.¡¹ ¡¸Contract? Where¡¯s the equality when you robbed me of my choice?¡¹ She¡¯s way too arrogant. Well, she¡¯s royalty after all. Expecting her to not do that is a pipe dream. The Kai Heineman who met her long ago lacked life experience. I guess I can¡¯t always rely on the impression of the old me. ¡¸I robbed you of your choice. In exchange, I will entrust my will to you. How does that sound?¡¹ ¡¸Hah? What did you say?¡¹ ¡¸Use this.¡¹ Rose searched her skirt pocket, took out a ring with a golden gem embedded on it, and gave it to me. I immediately used appraisal on the ring. ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D ¡ï¡¾Slavery Ring¡¿: The wearer of the golden ring can enslave the wearer of the red ring. But, it won¡¯t work if the ¡¾Magical Power¡¿ wearer of the golden ring is far lower than the ¡¾Magic Resistance¡¿ of the wearer of the red ring. ?Item Rank: Intermediate ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D A ring that robs the will of the other party, huh! The red ring is already on her left index finger. This means that Rose is completely at my mercy. She doesn¡¯t even hesitate to offer her life to realize her ideal, huh! She may have a self-sacrificing spirit, but this woman still doesn¡¯t understand. She may be prepared to give her life to realize her ideal, she may be prepared to give her everything, but she will never realize her ideal as long as she relies on such a dubious item. Moreover, her way of making an equivalent exchange with me is way beyond reckless. ¡¸This slavery ring has been handed down for generations in our royal family. It¡¯s a means to prevent betrayal when there¡¯s more than one royalty. The way to use it is¨D¡¹ ¡¸No need to explain! I get the gist of the way to use this ring. That aside, what are you going to do if I use this ring to manipulate you from behind the scenes and wreck this kingdom?¡¹ I stopped Rose, who was about to explain the way to use the ring in public. Then, I asked her another question with a half-dumbfounded voice. "" ¡¸You¡¯re not the kind of person who will do such a thing.¡¹ She confidently replied with a baseless answer. ¡¸You fool! Humans are an existence filled with greed. The thing you seek is nothing more than a mere childish fantasy.¡¹ I had realized that things were getting more and more ridiculous. By now, I could see that this dumb woman was similar to the Sword Emperor, a greenhorn. However, in her case, she would die if she followed her naivety. Her political opponent was extremely cunning and unforgiving. Normally, she had to concoct a plan to trap her political opponent and drive them into ruin. At least, she had to think of a countermeasure against traps, but the current her was far too naive to think that far ahead. If she doesn¡¯t have a proper countermeasure against an experienced opponent, she needs to at least think about a method to protect herself from that idiot called Gilbert. But, since Arnold isn¡¯t Rose¡¯s bodyguard, that is pretty much a pipe dream. The moment Arnold leaves her side, this woman will become as defenceless as a newborn lamb. This may be why she offered me an equivalent contract. ¡¸My deepest apologies for using Rena to force you, but¨D¡¹ ¡¸Enough.¡¹ I heaved a deep, really deep sigh for the first time in thousands of years(from my perspective) and crushed the golden ring in my hand. ¡¸W-What¨D¨D¡¹ Rose was about to ask me something with a ghastly face when I also crushed the red ring on her left index finger. Then, I turned around to face Arnold, who had seen our conversation while crossing his arms. ¡¸Al, you¡¯re still the temporary bodyguard of this tomboy, right?¡¹ ¡¸Apparently.¡¹ Arnold replied while shrugging. ¡¸Then give some scolding to this dumb girl. The matter about the royal guard can wait after that.¡¹ If things stayed as they were, this dumb girl would try to do something really dangerous. With that personality, I could see that she really was the friend of Keith and Rena. That was why I thought of planting some sense of crisis in this dumbass at the very least. Anyhow, I have nothing to do for now. I might as well involve myself in this farce until Rose finds a royal guard who can protect her. ¡¸Yeah, let¡¯s do as you say.¡¹ Arnold seized Rose¡¯s small hand and pulled her toward the tent. ¡¸A-Arnold, I¡¯ve yet to finish my conversa¨D¡¹ ¡¸It¡¯s finished, Princess.¡¹ ¡¸What do yo¨D¡¹ ¡¸Forget that. Let¡¯s slowly talk about the speech and conduct you used a while ago.¡¹ Arnold pulled Rose into the tent as he cut off her speech with an easy-to-understand smile on his face. ¡¸Master, you ended up getting involved in an extremely troublesome matter.¡¹ Astaroth made a dumbfounded remark. ¡¸Leave me alone.¡¹ I shrugged as I walked into the forest to recall the battamans. Volume 1 - CH 29 Act 1-29: I Only Do What I Want to Do We delivered Fracton and his cronies to the closest city, Barse. None of them showed any resistance since they had accepted their fate at this point. Currently, we¡¯re having an early dinner inside an inn. ¡¸U~h, the dinner Master makes is more delicious¡­¡¹ I patted Faf, who dejectedly ate the meals, on the head. ¡¸You mustn¡¯t be picky about food, you know! You have to eat all of it to show your gratitude to the person who cooks for us. And, make sure to chew your food properly.¡¹ I coaxed Faf in a gentle tone. ¡¸Yes, nodesu!¡¹ Faf cheerfully raised the fork in her hand and started eating with gusto. I wanted to warn her for being picky, but Faf was a glutton. She would be happy as long as she could eat. ¡¸You two really get along like a pair of siblings, don¡¯t you?¡¹ Rose, who sat in front of us, expressed her honest impression of our interaction. In my opinion, though, we are more like a father and daughter pair. I mean, I¡¯ve personally trained Faf from square one; she never knew about human society. By the way, although Rose had received some severe scolding from Arnold, instead of being in a bad mood, she was as lively as before. On the other hand, Rose¡¯s escort knights looked like they were about to face the end of the world. I had then stated my conditions to move together with Rose¡¯s group. First, never try to pry too much about me and my group. Second, never try to interfere with us unless it¡¯s an order for us. Third, I¡¯ll only be Rose¡¯s acting royal guard. In short, I¡¯m only a temporary royal guard and will resign as soon as I find a suitable replacement. Since then, Rose had strictly followed my first and second conditions. ¡¸Are you sure about that? She has become an extremely timid person, you know!¡¹ The knight called Anna seemed extremely downhearted after Rose denied her. She was now eating alone, separated from everyone. Honestly, I couldn¡¯t care less about God¡¯s blessing, but well, it was just a trivial matter. I did understand her suffering though. ¡¸Don¡¯t worry! I know Anna. She¡¯s not the kind of girl who will be broken by a trivial matter like this. I mean, this is just like how we used to quarrel a long time ago. It¡¯ll just take a bit longer this time for her to bounce back.¡¹ I see now! So that¡¯s the reason Arnold and the other knights don¡¯t seem to bother with this matter. ¡¸I see! So? Do you have something to talk to me about?¡¹ As long as it wasn¡¯t requested, to prevent the other knights from nurturing a grudge against me, we never ate with Rose. Having a meal together with Faf or the other happy monsters from the subjugation picture book felt much better. Kyuubi and Fen could release their killing intent if Rose¡¯s knights showed their hostility toward me. Therefore, I asked them to live in the subjugation picture book for the time being. Though I invited Asta to join us for dinner, he refused; he felt like he wouldn¡¯t be able to control his killing intent on seeing Rose¡¯s knights. Ah, Asta is none other than Astaroth. I shortened his name since it was long like Fafnir. ¡¸You¡¯re my royal guard, right?¡¹ Rose tried to confirm again with a wide grin. ¡¸Temporary royal guard! Don¡¯t forget about the ¡°Temporary¡± part. This will continue only until I find a more suitable royal guard for you.¡¹ ¡¸Yeah! You¡¯re my ¡°temporary¡± royal guard until you find a more suitable replacement for you.¡¹ Rose cheerfully spoke while nodding with a satisfied expression. Did she really understand that? I felt endless anxiety about that stupid grin on her face, but my agenda had already been decided. Find a suitable candidate to become Rose¡¯s royal guard, then dump my duty on them. After that, I could get Rose to dismiss me from my post. ¡¸So?¡¹ I urged Rose to continue since I knew that her question was only the preamble. Rose coughed once to clear her throat, then looked at me with a serious expression. ¡¸Since you have become my royal guard, I have to tell you something.¡¹ ¡¸What is it? Don¡¯t beat around the bush! Make it short and easy to understand.¡¹ Rose shrugged with a smile. Is this girl becoming more and more unrestrained around me? ¡¸This is still a rumour, but I think the competition for the throne might start soon.¡¹ Competition for the throne, huh! If I¡¯m not wrong, it¡¯s a competition in a certain subject held by the Amelia kingdom¡¯s government for the princes and princesses to decide the next ruler. Hump, I guess I get the gist of the situation. ¡¸Is that why you were almost sold to the empire during this journey?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah! It seems the people from Gilbert¡¯s faction did this since they feel anxious about the possibility of me appointing Rena as my royal guard.¡¹ ¡¸So they¡¯re afraid of the Rosemary faction¡¯s growth because of the addition of the sword saint gift holder. Is that it?¡¹ ¡¸No, forget about the Sword saint¡¯s gift. Rena herself should be the biggest threat for them. Right now, she¡¯s extremely popular amongst the kingdom¡¯s big-shots and high-rank nobles.¡¹ Rena is extremely popular amongst the kingdom¡¯s nobles, huh! Nothing can be done now since she¡¯s way too different compared to the her in the young Kai Heineman¡¯s memories. I mean, she¡¯s more like the representative of commoners than the past me. However, if Rena is really popular amongst the high-ranking nobles, that would explain everything. ¡¸I see now! So the most dangerous factor is ¡°Rena¡± herself, not her gift!¡¹ ¡¸Maybe.¡¹ Just as I thought that Rose looked away. Rose did say before that she was Rena¡¯s best friend. She had also never lied to the past Kai Heineman. Even though I had felt some uneasiness when I had heard that she wanted to appoint Rena as her royal guard, considering the nature of the majority of nobles in this kingdom, Rose might have done so to protect Rena. Since Rose is treated as a dangerous object in this kingdom by that idiot Gilbert, Rena won¡¯t be safe as long as Rose is still in this kingdom. This is no mere speculation as Rose getting along really well with Rena seems to be common knowledge in the royal capital. I mean, the faster Rose appoints Rena as her royal guard, the safer Rena will be. At the same time, this would decrease the chances of another ambush like this one happening at Rose. In short, by appointing me as her royal guard, Rose can at least keep the opposite faction¡¯s plan to assassinate Rena at bay. And it will continue as long as I stay by Rose¡¯s side as her royal guard. The effect has been at least doubled since the gift of the person she chose, me, is literally at the bottom of the barrel. ¡¸Do you know the true mastermind behind the incident in the forest, who gave the orders to Fracton?¡¹ Rose bit her lips and shook her head in frustration. ¡¸Fracton is the culprit now. Let¡¯s keep aside the matter of the competition for the throne. Fracton most probably knows next to nothing about important information. The chances of using him to prove Gilbert and the other nobles¡¯ involvement in this plan are next to none.¡¹ As I had expected, the answer was negative. ¡¸Right.¡¹ Even though they were a joke, they were trash who had managed to negotiate with the empire; they were just one step away from successfully selling Rose to the empire. Rose had survived this crisis by sheer luck. I mean, there were simply too many coincidences in that incident. In short, those pieces of trash were cunning foxes. They were not foolish enough to leave any evidence that could be traced to them. ¡¸Anyhow, there¡¯s no need to do anything as long as the competition for the throne hasn¡¯t started, right?¡¹ ¡¸Exactly! Exactly! My current focus is to increase my influence before the competition starts.¡¹ ¡¸Understood.¡¹ Since Rose¡¯s peaceful means to increase her sphere of influence was offering cooperation to the merchants or nobles, she kept reminding me that the time wasn¡¯t ripe yet. ¡¸Then, I guess it¡¯s time to go back.¡¹ I carried Faf, who had already dozed off after she had her fill with food, toward our room, ¡¸Kai!¡¹ I looked around from over my shoulder toward the speaker. ¡¸Uhm? What is it?¡¹ Rose had stood up. She bowed to me, then¡­ ¡¸Thank you for accepting to be my royal guard.¡¹ She spoke a sentence that I thought would never come out from the mouth of a royalty. I went toward my room, laid Faf in the bed, and patted her small head. Faf fell asleep as soon as I did that. After that, I went toward a small, deserted plaza behind the inn. I wanted to have some time alone for myself. I was no longer a youngster who had no idea about right or left. I should¡¯ve refused Rose and stopped her from appointing me as her royal guard no matter what kind of reason she used, especially since it involved an extremely troublesome situation called competition for the throne. No matter how dangerous or immature Rose was, the current me shouldn¡¯t have agreed to help her that easily. Yet, I had accepted her offer to become her royal guard, albeit with some conditions attached to it. No matter how much I think about it, it was a strange turn of events for the current me. The same happened with Rena¡¯s matter. If Rena¡¯s life was in danger, the problem could be solved with ease as long as Rena was sent to a foreign country along with Rose and the nobles who get along with Rena. The current me should be able to do at least that much, yet¡­ The reason I didn¡¯t do all of that was most likely that¡­ ¡¸I have a lot of attachment to that girl. Is that it?¡¹ This was most likely what the past Kai Heineman felt. Although his feelings had changed, I had properly received his memories. I thought that my current actions were due to a pure and strong impulse born from my wealth of experience and memories. Assisting Rose in achieving her goal might be the future the past Kai Heineman wished for. It¡¯s like I¡¯m doing my homework right now. Well, anyhow, I¡¯m Kai Heineman. That will never change. ¡¸I have nothing to do anyway. Let¡¯s just get along with this farce until I find a suitable royal guard candidate for Rose.¡¹ When I repeated my promise to her, I could easily understand more about myself. I was a selfish person. Now that I understood this, the rest was like walking in a park. ¡ºMaster!¡» Suddenly, I felt a small mass appear on top of my head. When I caught this mass, I found a young, adorable wolf puppy looking at me with big-round puppy eyes and swinging his tail. ¡¸Uhm, bored already, Fen?¡¹ I asked him while patting his head. ¡¸Hubby!¡¹ A beautiful, silver-haired fox woman appeared before me and put me in her embrace. The slimes also surrounded my feet. ¡¸Sorry to make you guys worry about me.¡¹ Yeah! Even if I¡¯ve regained my old memories, I¡¯m still me. I shall live my life in this world along with these fellows. Anyone who dares to block my path will meet their doom. That¡¯s all there is to it. ===Act 1 Fin=== Volume 1 - CH 30.1 Act 1-30.1: Kai¡¯s Upper Floor Fun Daily Life TN: Up to 30.4 is SS === ¨D¨D 6433 years after the start of the game. Thunderbolts rained incessantly in the Thunderbolt zone. Even a simple walk in there was enough to instantly lead anyone without thunder resistance to death. I finally acquired ¡¾Thunder Assimilation¡¿ after being exposed to thunderbolts for so many years. This has allowed me to safely explore the zone. Currently, I¡¯m pushing through my way forward since the zone is a literal wasteland. Amidst the thunderbolt rain, several thunderbirds that were swooping down from behind me burst into flames with a slash from my flame sword. They disappeared into black ashes. ¡¸Uhm, another box again, huh!¡¹ I heaved a deep sigh when I found two metal boxes hidden in the shadow of a rock. It seems as if this seemingly luxurious box was intentionally left in this dungeon. The boxes usually contain various kinds of weapons with special effects, convenient items, and healing items called potions. Some of these items are cut above the rest. I tried to open the metal box with the tip of my flame sword. ¡ºGIGIGIGYAGYAAAA!!¡» The metal box suddenly opened on its own, and its giant mouth pounced at me. ¡¸Troublesome!¡¹ My flame sword bisected that mouth with one slash. Yes! Sometimes, a metal box¡¯s lid could suddenly turn into a giant mouth, like this. Although you can call it a trap, it¡¯s a useless piece of trash since it doesn¡¯t even try to hide its monstrous presence. Good grief! If it really wants to eat me, it should at least try to hide its presence and aim for a surprise attack. Only an idiot would fall for such a blatantly laid trap. I opened the other treasure box, which apparently was the real treasure box, while clicking my lips in annoyance at the stupid box I had killed a few seconds ago. The other box contained a glove. ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D ¡ïThunder Beast¡¯s Glove: Enables its user to control and create a thunder beast by using mana in the atmosphere. ?Rank: Advanced ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D A glove that can create a thunder beast, huh! Literally a useless item for a swordsman like me. Let¡¯s just keep this item in my item box. ¡¸This huge zone is finally about to come to an end.¡¹ I¡¯ve been walking in this zone for the last hundred years, seeing the same scenery every day. I would¡¯ve been grateful if I could meet a strong enemy here. However, this zone was filled with only small fries. Thus, the thought that I¡¯m about to reach the end of this boring zone brings me sheer delight. Suddenly, I saw a huge waterfall far away. That seems to be the end. When I arrived there, I saw a giant column surrounded by waterfalls. I spotted shadows of numerous giant fishes or reptile-like creatures wriggling under the column, at the bottom of the waterfall. Hou, how kind of them! They even prepared a fairly powerful opponent at the bottom of the waterfall. Interesting! This arrangement of the enemy is really interesting! Unable to hold back my excitement, I quickly crossed over the stone bridge connecting the zone and the giant column. There, I met a giant tiger clad in thunder, solemnly standing as if it were waiting for my arrival. Does that mean I have to beat this guy first? ¡ºUpper floor final trial! Defeat the ¡¾Thunder Tiger King¡¿! Begin!¡» The usual inorganic female voice resounded in my head. Well, let¡¯s see whether this tiger is a worthy opponent or not¡­ But well, I guess I asked too much. This opponent is a small fry no matter how I look at it. These fishes or reptiles below this column are far more powerful than this small fry. It¡¯s decided. The tiger clad in thunder rushed toward me. It tried to sink its sharp fangs into my neck. ¡¸¡¾Kairyu Kenjutsu; One Sword Style¡¿¡¢1st Form¨DDeadline¡¹ The ¡¾Thunder Tiger King¡¿ turned into ashes as soon as I said those words of power. Soon, I walked toward the edge of the giant column to enjoy the main dishes of this trial. ¡ºConfirming the subjugation of the ¡¾Thunder Tiger King¡¿!¡» The moment the inorganic female voice resounded in my head to confirm the subjugation, I jumped down toward the bottom of the waterfall. ¡ºEh? H-HAAAAAAAAAAH!? W-Wait a minuteeeeeeeee!? Are you insane!?¡» I sensed that I had heard a woman scream during the fall. However, it was instantly replaced with strong killing intent. My soul, which sought a deadly battle, was burning. The creature squirming in the basin under the waterfall had a strength overwhelming that small fry called ¡¾Thunder Tiger King¡¿. I recall that I had brushed against death so many times during that battle. When I only had one last cup worth of elixir left in my item box, I finally managed to kill the last monster inside the basin under the waterfall. After I drank the last cup of my elixir, I climbed up the giant column. ¡ºY-You¡¯ve cleared the last trial of the upper floor. C-Confirming the subjugation of the ¡¾Thunder Tiger King¡¿ along with the fulfilment of a super rare condition. You have acquired special clear privilege.¡» A long, narrow metal box appeared at the centre of the column along with the announcement of the inorganic female voice in my head. Though, she was stuttering for some reason. Hou, it seems killing that weak tiger was enough for me to fulfil the special clear condition. Well, it makes me wonder why I got this for killing such a small fry. Upon opening the metal box, I saw a weapon in a form I had never seen before. ¡¸Is this¡­ a sword?¡¹ It¡¯s a sword, maybe. When I tried to swing the weapon, I was really surprised. It felt like this sword was far more suited for my sword style. Therefore, I immediately used appraisal on it. ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D ¡ïRaikiri: A nihontou! A sword from another world that is said to be able to cut the Thunder God or thunder. ?Rank: Legend ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D So it¡¯s a sword from another world, huh! This sword feels comfortable in my hand. Well, that weak tiger turned out to be pretty useful! I spoke to myself with a satisfied voice. I returned Raikiri into its sheath and strapped it on my hips, then resumed the exploration. Volume 1 - CH 30.2 Act 1-30.2: Self-Proclaimed Immortal Divine Beast ¨D65000 years after the start of the game. Even though I managed to clear a hundred floors in the last ten thousand years, my clearing speed had become far slower than before. Before, I could say that the reason for this was that I took my sweet time collecting monsters into my subjugation picture book from the 1st floor to the 600th floor. All I did after that was advance without any need to retrace my steps. Capturing the floors wasn¡¯t a problem. The reason for this ten-thousand-year-long delay in clearing another hundred floors was just that this dungeon is too fu*king huge. Keeping this aside, I just arrived on the 700th floor with Faf. The 700th floor was a bright red ground with no vegetation in sight. Its sky was dyed red like the color of blood. A giant red bird was enshrined in the center of this seemingly never-ending red scenery. ¡ºHou! A face I¡¯ve never seen before. You managed to reach this floor, huh! Nameless One, it seems something has happened outside. Since that¡¯s the case¡­¡» That strange bird suddenly started talking to himself, lost in his own world. Crap! I can¡¯t measure this strange bird¡¯s strength. Rather, what¡¯s the difference between this strange bird and the other birds on this floor? But then, this might be due to the effect of the ¡¾Glove of Sealing God¡¿. I mean, I¡¯m always having a hard time properly measuring my opponents¡¯ strength nowadays. ¡¸U~hn, Faf, what do you think about this fellow?¡¹ ¡¸He seems like he would be delicious if we grill him, nodesu!¡¹ Faf said with saliva dripping down from the tips of her lips. Her reaction never betrays my expectations. "" Yes. Faf is a glutton, and her favorite meat happens to be chicken meat. But, what I wanted to hear wasn¡¯t that. ¡¸Faf, you have to remember that you¡¯re a girl. Always eating meat isn¡¯t good for your body. Especially, if you try to eat that suspicious-looking, low-quality product bird before us, you might get a stomach ache, you know.¡¹ ¡¸U~h, but it looks so delicious, nodesu.¡¹ Faf had a dejected look on her face as she put her index finger on her lips. ¡¸I will cook a nice meal for you once we get back to the upper ground, so please be patient for now.¡¹ I gently reminded her while patting her head. ¡¸Yes, nodesu!¡¹ Faf cheerfully replied while pushing up her right fist. Yup, good girl. ¡ºL-Low quality product you say!¡» ¡¸Yeah well, it¡¯s just a figure of speech. I mean, it¡¯ll take a long time to explain the details.¡¹ I tried to pacify that noisy strange bird while cleaning my ear with my left pinky finger. However, the bird frowned instead. ¡ºUNFORGIVABLE! Such disrespect to this divine bird, the Phoenix, is simply UNFORGIVABLE!¡» The strange bird flapped its wings and flew out from his shrine. ¡ºHa~h, another one, huh! Poor thing! Trial: Defeat ¡¾Phoenix¡¿! Begin!¡» It was the usual female voice in my head. However, she didn¡¯t speak in her usual inorganic voice; for some reason, her voice was filled with pity. ¡¸Leave it to Faf, nodesu!¡¹ Faf wiped the drool on her lips, then knocked her knuckles together. Faf-san, hello Faf-san, your heart¡¯s voice just leaked out, you know. Do you really want to eat that strange bird? ¡¸No, leave him to me.¡¹ ¡¸E~h, nodesu!¡¹ After hearing Faf¡¯s dissatisfied voice, I offered something she really wanted right now. ¡¸Be patient! We¡¯re going to have a lot of grilled chicken tonight.¡¹ ¡¸Uuh, understood, nodesu.¡¹ Even with my assurance, Faf still chewed her thumb regretfully. ¡ºDON¡¯T LOOK DOWN ON MEEEEEEE!!¡» The strange bird let out an angry roar toward heaven. The next moment, a pillar of fire fell toward us from above. Faf erased that fire pillar with a casual sweep of her hand as if she were swatting an annoying bug. As for me, since I had the heat assimilation skill, the fire pillar got absorbed into my body. ¡ºWhat the!? My fla¨D¡» Ignoring his speech, I bisected the strange bird with Raikiri. I thought that I had cleared the trial by bisecting the strange bird, but the usual announcement of the completion of my trial didn¡¯t resound this time. ¡ºKUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! It¡¯s futile! Absolutely futile!!¡» The strange bird¡¯s figure was restored into his previous, uninjured state as he let out a deafening laugh. ¡¸Uhm, that slash should¡¯ve bisected him. Why does he seem to be okay?¡¹ I mean, one would definitely die when someone cuts one in half. ¡ºIT¡¯S FUTILE! I¡¯m immortal, undying!! I¡¯m an immortal divine bird!! As if the likes of you¨D¡» I tried to burn his head and limbs to ashes with Raikiri¡¯s thunder. ¡¸It seems he¡¯s the real deal. Now then, let¡¯s test your endurance.¡¹ ¡ºYOU BA*TARD! How dare you interru¨D¡» This time, I butchered his entire body. The next moment, a blazing pillar of fire arose from his butchered body parts, and the strange bird became whole again. ¡ºStop attacking me when I¡¯m still talking!¡» He got away from me as soon as his body rose into the sky again, glaring at me with undisguised bloodlust in his eyes. ¡ºWELL WHATEVER! How¡¯s that! Do you understand my power now! I¡¯m immortal! I¡¯m an immortal divine bird who governs rebirth and will be reborn no matter how many times you kill me!¡» In short, that strange bird¡¯s proud speech that had a hint of sarcasm indicated he was an immortal. Although I had met several beings who could resurrect after their death, this was the first time I met a being who could resurrect infinitely. ¡¸KUHAHAHAHAHA!¡¹ I unintentionally let out a delightful laugh. THIS IS IT! YOU¡¯RE THE BEST, STRANGE BIRD! If you¡¯re telling the truth, it means that I can¡¯t win against you with a normal, frontal attack! Naturally, I can probably win with ease if I use that skill, but it has been more than ten thousand years since I met an opponent who I couldn¡¯t defeat with brute force. ¡ºDo you understand now that you cannot defeat this immortal me?¡» The strange bird proudly declared as if to dispel his irritation. ¡¸GREAT! You are the best!¡¹ ¡ºPoor bird¡­¡» Thus, I started slaughtering the strange bird with the greatest delight I had ever felt while hearing a woman¡¯s voice muttering something in my head. Five hours later. I had chopped that strange bird until he became nothing more than the finest pieces of meat. ¡ºConfirming the subjugation of the Phoenix. You have cleared the trial.¡» The female voice resounding in my head sounded rather slovenly this time. ¡¸Eh?¡¹ No, what the heck is this? He didn¡¯t even last for a quarter of a day. I mean, is that all you got after all that bragging about immortal this, immortal that. At a time like this, you should show your godd*mn guts, shi*ty bird! No matter how much I shouted in my heart, the transparent board that appeared before my eyes betrayed my last expectations. ¡ºThe Phoenix¡¯s soul has appeared. Do you want to capture it with your subjugation picture book?¡» DA*MIT! That fu*king big-mouthed, gutless strange bird was lying to me! Immortal, my as*s! Since he claimed to be immortal, he should¡¯ve at least preserved for ten more years before giving up like a sissy! My resentment toward that gutless bird was as big as I expected. That strange bird, if I didn¡¯t beat his rotten guts, he would keep acting like a spoiled kid inside the subjugation picture book. I captured the Phoenix¡¯s soul with the subjugation picture book. ¡¸Master, Faf is famished.¡¹ Faf¡¯s pouting voice brought me out of my train of thoughts. ¡¸Ah, sorry! I¡¯ll immediately prepare the food. Today¡¯s dinner will be your favorite grilled and skewered chicken.¡¹ ¡¸Ya~y, nanodesu!¡¹ Faf happily jumped with a delighted look on her face. ¡¸Sure enough, Faf¡¯s stomach can¡¯t endure ten years of hunger.¡¹ Thus, we returned to the surface while talking to each other. Volume 1 - CH 30.3 Act 1-30.3: Faf¡¯s Daily Life Faf is a dragon, nanodesu. But, she isn¡¯t just your ordinary dragon. She possesses divinity, which makes her a Dragon God. So, why was someone of my status inside this cold labyrinth? Faf had already forgotten about the reason, nodesu. Maybe, someone asked Faf to safeguard this dungeon a really long, long, long time ago, nodesu. Although she forgot the reason, she remembered that ¡°someone¡± told her that it¡¯s an extremely important duty, nodesu. Thus, protecting this dungeon mattered the most to Faf, nodesu. In that way, Faf had been waiting for a challenger to come, nodesu. And, that moment finally arrived one day, nodesu. It was the moment when Faf met Master, nodesu! A single swing of Master¡¯s sword melted the extremely durable wall behind Faf, nodesu. This place was protected by a special barrier that couldn¡¯t be destroyed by a half-hearted attack, nodesu. Faf had been really scared of Master at that time, but she suddenly remembered the words told by the ¡°someone,¡± who asked her to protect this place, nodesu. Someone will come to release you someday. When that time comes, you must follow that person. That was why Faf wanted to follow Master. Thus, she made her wish. After that, my cohabitation with Master began. We ate together! We explored the dungeon together! We trained martial arts together! We read books together! "" And we slept together, nodesu! Especially¨D ¡¸Master, Faf, delicious, nodesu!¡¹ The meal Master cooks are so delicious that Faf always makes an entranced face while eating the meal, nodesu. ¡¸I see. Thank goodness!¡¹ Master always gently pats Faf¡¯s head, and Faf unintentionally shuts her eyes since she feels really comfortable. After finishing breakfast and leaving the house with Master, Faf saw Girimekhala kneeling along with a few of his subordinates outside Master¡¯s house, nodesu. Since these subordinates¡¯ faces seem unfamiliar, they might be the newcomers, nodesu. ¡ºOur Supreme Ruler, they are my new subordinates.¡» Seeing Girimekhala¡¯s subordinates nervously, Master gave his usual praise and encouragement, nodesu. ¡¸Yeah, I appreciate your effort!¡¹ ¡ºThank you for your blessings!¡» The subordinates squeezed out those words, their faces filled with tears and their bodies trembling in joy, nodesu. For Girimekhala and the others, Master isn¡¯t just their Master; he¡¯s the object of their faith. He¡¯s like a god to them. Thus, Master¡¯s words are equal to a divine revelation to them, nodesu. And, Faf also feels proud when she sees how they honour Faf¡¯s most beloved master. Today, too, Faf will explore the dungeon with Master. The thing Faf loves the most is exploring the dungeon with Master. Because Faf is the only one he allows to go along with him whenever he explores the dungeon. Faf followed Master, and we arrived on the 750th floor, nodesu. The 750th floor was a giant marshland with nothing but a salamander waiting in the middle of the floor. That salamander had an extremely terrifying regeneration. It didn¡¯t die no matter how many times it got cut down. Although Master said that it was an extremely troublesome opponent, he didn¡¯t realize that when he said those words, the tips of his lips had formed a grin. When Master finally defeated that salamander, he muttered in a small voice. ¡¸I see. It ended already¡­¡¹ When Faf saw Master¡¯s ephemeral profile and the melancholic look on his face, Faf¡¯s chest tightened. She embraced Master as if she¡¯d never let him go, nodesu. ¡¸Is something the matter, Faf?¡¹ When Faf timidly raised her face, she saw Master patting Faf¡¯s head with the usual smile on his face, nodesu. ¡¸It¡¯s nothing, nodesu.¡¹ Feeling relieved, Faf buried her face in Master¡¯s chest, nodesu. ¡¸Shall we go back to the¡ª Uhm, what in the heck is that?¡¹ As Matter patted Faf¡¯s head, he suddenly saw countless lumps of jiggly liquid come out from the salamander¡¯s corpse. ¡¸Are they slimes?¡¹ The slimes swarmed around the bewildered Master. ¡¸Get away, nodesu!¡¹ Master is under attack. Faf was about to leap. The impatience in her heart made her feel like it would tear her heart off, ¡¸It¡¯s okay, Faf. These fellows aren¡¯t hostile.¡¹ Master raised his hand to stop Faf, then patted the slimes who were clinging on his feet, nodesu. The slimes were happily jiggling, clearly delighted by Master¡¯s pats. ¡¸Did you guys, by chance, get trapped inside that monster?¡¹ Master pondered the matter when he saw all the slimes jiggling together. ¡¸You¡¯re already free. You may live as you like from now on.¡¹ He said to them as if he were rejecting them, then turned around to return to the surface, nodesu. However, the slimes followed Master back to the surface, nodesu. Then, they became members of the subjugation picture book before I realized it, nodesu. At first, those slimes looked like they wanted to repay the debt of gratitude toward Master, nodesu. But, in the end, they became completely enticed by him, nodesu. I mean, Master wasn¡¯t just super strong, nodesu. There was something else besides his strength that made everyone in the subjugation picture him looooooooooooooooooooove him very much, nodesu! However, aside from happiness, there was a hint of anxiety in my heart. For some reason, Faf couldn¡¯t forget the melancholic look on Master¡¯s face back then, nodesu. Someday, Master might be gone. Faf couldn¡¯t help but keep thinking about that matter lately, nodesu. That¡¯s why, when Master patted Faf¡¯s head before we went to sleep as he did every day, Faf decided to ask him, nodesu. ¡¸Master?¡¹ ¡¸Uhm? Is something the matter?¡¹ ¡¸You¡¯ll never leave Faf, right?¡¹ Master seemed slightly taken aback when he heard this question. But that surprise only lasted for a moment and was replaced with his usual smile. ¡¸Yeah, I¡¯ll never leave your side.¡¹ He declared so as if he had realized the implication behind my question, nodesu. Faf, who felt really relaxed and freed from anxiety, could finally close her eyes, nodesu. She entered the dreamland soon after that, nodesu. Please, may this happiness last forever¡­ Volume 1 - CH 30.4 Act 1-30.4: The Subjugation Picture Book¡¯s Banquet ¡ºYOU LOT, READY!¡» ¡ºGI GA(HA)!¡» The citizens of the picture book simultaneously punched with their right hands at Nemea¡¯s command. This morning training was the mandatory daily training for all the folks inside the picture book. Nemea followed his lord¡¯s instruction and taught martial arts to all the picture book¡¯s folks in rotation. Nemea was the beast god, the beast who had gained divinity. He had reached his place amongst the gods after defeating the infamous evil god. Then, he had taken the name of the king of divine beasts, Nemea, because he took pride in being the strongest martial artist amongst the gods. But then, he had been slapped right on the face, and he realized that he was nothing more than a frog in the well. Keeping aside his monstrously powerful lord, Nemea couldn¡¯t help but feel dejected upon finding that he couldn¡¯t even beat his lord¡¯s subordinate, the dragon god Fafnir. Even now, the number of his lord¡¯s subordinates that could beat him kept increasing in number. Naturally, Nemea had no intention of falling behind anyone in martial arts, except for his lord. However, it was a completely different story when they fought for real. The extremely nonsensical ability of his lord to collect any and every mythical monster or god to serve him was only the tip of the iceberg. Nemea¡¯s abilities had evolved even further after the contact with his lord¡¯s soul by using the mysterious picture book as the intermediate. He felt as if his newly gained power was a gift from his lord. Originally, ¡¾Gods¡¯ Ordeal¡¿ was a place that served as the greatest trial for a god to become a great god. Anyone who came to take the test was unimaginably strong. Being qualified to take the test itself was enough proof of being a strongman. The problem was that could an already unimaginably strongman gain even more power and evolve into an even more powerful existence? Maybe, no one would expect that such a feat was possible. Thus, Nemea had always wondered just what kind of existence his lord was? The lord had never told them the truth and just said something that could only be regarded as a joke by all the folks inside the picture book; he said that he was a human. Nevertheless, Nemea had never heard about a nameless god with such a nonsensical power, even by gods¡¯ standards. Still, he knew some people who didn¡¯t care about his lord¡¯s identity. For example, the people currently offering their prayers in front of his lord¡¯s house. ¡º¡­ OO, Our supreme ruler!£¡ Forgive us, the weak and lowly bugs! Forgive us, the stupid bugs! Forgive us, the incompetent bugs! We, the bugs, have the honour to receive your patronage and live in the land you rule! We, the bugs, will destroy every foolish mob who dares to disturb you, our supreme ruler! ¡­¡» Girimekhala was an evil god. His subordinates mainly included evil gods or other wicked beings. The scene of a god, albeit an evil one, offering prayers was comical. But, Nemea knew that they were dead serious with their prayers. His lord was their faith. He knew that his lord was the most sacred existence for Girimekhala and his group. Therefore, they offered such ambiguous yet heartfelt prayers every morning in front of his lord¡¯s house. Opposing them were the dragons. Leading them was a giant, golden dragon with seven heads standing in front of his lord¡¯s house. ¡ºSHUT UP FOR A MINUTE WILL YA! WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF PRAYING!¡» Girimekhala¡¯s three eyes glared at the golden dragon, who led the dragons, while still maintaining his praying posture. ¡ºYe are the ones who need to shut up! You being so noisy in the morning is disturbing our supreme ruler!¡» "" The golden dragon with seven heads, Ladon, fired back at Girimekhala. ¡ºDisturbing you saaay! Are you mocking our faith!?¡» ¡ºShowing respects to our supreme ruler is enough, but one must know their limits!¡» It was a quarrel between two great factions. Nemea didn¡¯t really care about it. However, he knew that things were about to turn into a brawl, which would disturb his lord¡¯s morning. ¡ºStop it! You¡¯re in front of Our Supreme Ruler¡¯s presence, you know!¡» Maybe because he realized this after hearing Nemea¡¯s calm voice, but Girimekhala immediately left for his world, leaving the dragons sprawling here. Nemea was puzzled that the Girimekhala faction and the dragons were never tired of their useless quarrels. Nevertheless, he knew that they were not actually on bad terms. The reason for their quarrel was nothing more than the difference between faith or loyalty they showed to his lord. Although most of the folks in the picture book, Nemea included, were like them, the two factions stood out in this regard. Ladon and the dragons revered the supreme ruler, their lord who possessed a special title called ¡ºDragon Slayer¡», by offering meat and fruit they frequently harvested in their world inside the picture book. Moreover, there was another reason for Ladon and the dragons¡¯ zealous loyalty. ¡¸Good morning.¡¹ ¡¸Good morning, nodesu!¡¹ ¡ºGood morning~.¡» Nemea¡¯s lord, Fafnir, and Fenrir came out from the house. ¡ºEVERYONE, ATTENTION!¡» The picture book¡¯s folks, who had been immersing in their morning training, straightened their backs at once upon hearing Nemea¡¯s command. They cupped their hands together and bowed toward the house. Ladon and the other dragons also straightened themselves and bowed toward the house. ¡ºOur supreme ruler, this is the meat and fruit harvested from the picture book. Please take our offerings.¡» Ladon respectfully spoke as he put down mountains of food ingredients on the floor. ¡¸Thanks a lot. Faf won¡¯t be able to eat all of it. Since that¡¯s the case, let¡¯s have a banquet today. I remember that I received some delicious cider from Shuten a while ago.¡¹ Shuten was a fierce god who governed liquor. Although they were rather moody and workaholic, the liquor they made was the best in the world. ¡¸Banquet, nodesu! It¡¯s a banquet, nodesu! Ladon, thank you very much, nodesu!¡¹ When Fafnir hugged Ladon, Nemea saw that the dragons¡¯ expressions turned into that of a grandfather spoiling their grandchildren. Fafnir was the other reason the dragons showed their loyalty every day. The dragons were head over heels for Fafnir; they used every chance to make her happy. Nemea¡¯s lord then turned his face toward the entrance of the house, toward the silver-haired woman who let out a yawn as she came out from the house. ¡¸Kyuubi, you can cook, right? Give me a hand.¡¹ He ordered the silver-haired woman. ¡¸My pleasure!¡¹ Kyuubi closed in toward Nemea¡¯s lord at once and put him into her embrace with an extremely delightful expression. She was really happy that she had the chance to be of some help to her lord. Kyuubi and Fenrir were amongst the recent additions to the picture book. They often went out to explore the dungeon along with Nemea¡¯s lord. They were close enough with the lord to intrude and sleep in his house. ¡¸Tell Girimekhala and the others too. Well then, prepare for the banquet, everyone!¡¹ Everyone let out a cry of joy upon hearing their lord¡¯s order and went off to prepare the banquet. Nemea could only look at that seemingly impossible spectacle with a dumbfounded expression. The ones gathered here were mythical beings or gods, who were normally in conflict with each other. Due to their uselessly high pride, it was impossible to see them moving together at once in one command. It was impossible for other great gods to do the same thing as his lord. ¡ºI really have no idea what is inside the head of my lord.¡» Although he once again realized the greatness of his lord, Nemea quickly moved around to help with the preparation of the banquet. Volume 1 - CH 30.5 ¡ïCharacter Introduction(Up to the end of Act 1) ¡ïCharacters Related to Fortress City Lamour ?Kai Heineman: The protagonist. He was treated coldly by his surrounding after his gift, ¡¾The Most Incompetent in This World¡¿ was revealed during divine oracle in his 13th birthday. At first, he was a kind hearted youth but, as a result of his 100k years training in a certain suspicious dungeon, he became a genuine monster with few screw loose in his head and overwhelmingly lack of common sense who would bring a storm and chaos in the world. ?Rena Groat: Kai¡¯s childhood friend, an adorable girl with shoulder length red hair. She was forced to live in the royal capital by the government of Amelia kingdom after they knew that her gift was Sword Saint. Rosemary BFF. ?Lyla Hellner: The only daughter of the biggest sword dojo in Lamour, Kai¡¯s childhoodfriend. She used to be Kai¡¯s fiancee but, their engagement got cancelled after it was revealed that Kai¡¯s gift was ¡¾The Most Incompetent in This World¡¿. A beautiful girl with long, wavy blonde hair. ?Roman Heineman: A pretty boy from branch family, Kai¡¯s cousin. He has a huge crush toward Lyla, and always had a sense of rivalry with Kai since the later was Lyla¡¯s fiancee, it didn¡¯t change even after their engagement got cancelled. Spear King¡¯s gift holder. ?Keith Steinberg: Tall boy, Kai¡¯s childhoodfriend. Archmage¡¯s gift holder. One of few people who didn¡¯t treat Kai coldly even after he knew that Kai received trash gift. Same as Rena, he was also forced to live in royal capital by the goverment. ?Riku: The hope of Heineman-style sword art. His previously kind attitude toward Kai had a 180 turn after he knew Kai¡¯s gift was trash gift. ?Shiga: A tall and bald man with ripped chin, assistant instructor. His previously kind attitude toward Kai had a 180 turn after he knew Kai¡¯s gift was trash gift. ?Elm Heineman: Kai¡¯s grandfather. Sword Saint¡¯s gift holder, he fought against four great demon king in the past as the member of hero¡¯s party. ¡ïCharacter Related to Amelia Kingdom ?Rosemary Loto Amelia: Amelia kingdom¡¯s 1st princess. Pink-haired beauty. She was almost sold to the empire by her own little brother, Gilbert, but the plan was twathed by kai¡¯s interference. She appointed Kai as her royal guard. ?Anna: Rose¡¯s escort knight. She had been served Rose since they¡¯re still small children, Rose¡¯s childhoodfriend. Albeit she saved Kai from the unreasonable bullying of veteran knights, one part of her still call Kai incompetent mainly due to the later gift.One of the few people who actually speak up for Kai. ?Fracton Sarmaj: The perpetrator who almost sold Rose to the empire. His plan was crushed due Kai¡¯s interference, and then arrested. ?Gilbert Loto Amelia: 1st prince. Hostile toward Rose, and the one who approved the plan to sell Rose to the empire. ?Arnold: Knight captain of Amelia kingdom. He was the royal guard of the current king, and also one of the top swordsman amognst the kingdom knight. Despite being a trash gift holder, he managed to climbing the rank to his current position with his efforts. Both his martial arts prowess and personality was befitting a great man. ¡ïGlitnir Empire ?Signiel Gastrea: One of the six general of the empire. A genius who succedeed the ¡¾Sword Emperor¡¿ title in his young age from the former sword emperor, Ashburn Gastrea. Treated like greenhorn by Kai who already became a monster after he left the dungeon. ?Enzu: One of the six general of the empire. The leader of the empire¡¯s summoner unit, and the holder of the ¡¾Supreme Summoner¡¿ title. Though he could summon the spirit king; Ifrit, the latter was overwhelmed by Girimekhala who was summoned by Kai, in the end, he was beheaded by Kai for overstepping his boundary as a human. ¡ïKai¡¯s Direct Kin ?Fafnir: Kai¡¯s first kin, Golden Dragon God. She had the appearance of a young girl of the first half of their teen, she was also a child inside. Always showing withdrawal symptoms whenever her master left her side. ?Astaroth: The Last Boss of Gods¡¯ Ordeal(Lol). Chicken Majin who automatically became Kai¡¯s kin after surrendering before even fighting the latter. Really strong¡­ maybe. Volume 2 - CH 1 Act 2-1: Hunter Registration We ended up staying in this Barse city for a while due to Fracton and his knights¡¯ treason. Since I had a lot of spare time in my hand, I naturally visited the hunter guild. To live in this world, money was indispensable. And the quickest way to earn money was becoming a hunter and completing quests. Acquiring a hunter¡¯s qualification was a must for me as I wanted to venture around the world. Moreover, one of my strongest obsessions before that dungeon had swallowed me was to become a hunter. Therefore, I decided to take this chance to register as one. This city, Barse, is one of the five biggest cities in the Amelia kingdom. The reason is the den of monsters called the sea forest of Silke located near it. This sea forest of Silke, which is spread in the southern side of the Silke great forest, is a dense forest that we had passed by before arriving in this city that is devoid of monsters. Hunters around the world visit this city to meet high-level monsters in this sea forest of Silke. In short, this place is the greatest hunting ground for hunters. After walking along the street toward the center of Barse city, I entered a certain four-story building. Yes, this place is the hunter guild. Upon entering the building, I found out that the left half of the building had a bar, and the right half had a bulletin board, where the officials placed quests. I went straight toward the counter manned by a blonde girl who had tied her hair in a ponytail. ¡¸I want to become a hunter. It should be possible, right?¡¹ I asked straightaway without beating around the bush. The woman sent a rather irritated look at me for a while, but then¡­ ¡¸You have to pay 10000 oars as the registration fee.¡¹ Her expression was instantly replaced with a business smile. Ten thousand oars. If my memories serve me right, the average monthly income of a normal family is around 8000 oars. I had received 100k oars from my grandfather as my activity fund in the royal capital instead of a farewell gift. Money was more useful than a useless item after all. This money was kept in the item box. I clearly remember it since I had sorted my item box at a regular interval after receiving a perfect memory. Thus, I knew where I had placed my bag of money inside my item box. When I grabbed into my item box and took out the bag¨D ¡¸Is that an item box?¡¹ The blonde receptionist gasped. This made me recall that the item box was a rare skill. I had been forced to become a royal guard due to my carelessness once. If people knew I could use an item box, I would stand out. ¡¸No, you¡¯re mistaken. This bag¡­ is always strapped on my belt.¡¹ ¡¸B-But, there was nothing here a while ag¨D¡¹ ¡¸Are you sure that you didn¡¯t just fail to see it? I have no such skill. You¡¯ll know about this as soon as you examine me. I mean, I lack any merit that can be hidden. Am I wrong?¡¹ ¡¸That might be true, but still¡­¡¹ Yup, she at least started to believe my BS. Yeah, obedient people are the best after all. ¡¸This is 10000 oars for my registration fee. Please take it.¡¹ ¡¸Yes, I¡¯ve confirmed that the amount is exactly 10000 oars. Well, we¡¯ll start with examining your stats and gift.¡¹ In front of me was the same type of crystal that I had touched when I had received my gift in the temple. Gift was a falsehood that made many people put restraints upon themselves. Valid measurement aside, I preferred to just announce the truth about me being ¡°incompetent¡± rather than participating in this troublesome farce. The problem was the result of the measurements after the crystal scanned my stats and gift. The gap between weak and strong in this world was like the difference between heaven and earth. After the memories of me who had cleared the dungeon merged with the restored memories of me before I had entered the dungeon, I realized that my full strength, unsuppressed by the ¡¾Glove of Sealing God¡¿, belonged to the top class in this world. I had realized this matter after deep contemplation when I gave some pointers to that greenhorn sword emperor. No matter how much talent he had, that Ashburn shouldn¡¯t have given the Sword Emperor title to a swordsman with mediocre, albeit immature, abilities. That was why although I had a hard time believing it, I felt that the current sword emperor, that greenhorn, was amongst the strongest in this world. Nevertheless, it didn¡¯t mean that this world had only small fries. I mean, there was the legendary hero, the four great demon kings, and the strongest species in this world; the dragons, along with many other strong beings. That was how it was supposed to be. Since I lacked much information about this world, it was best not to stand out. That being said, it was still unclear how much the average of 100 in my stats would mean in this world. Rather, I didn¡¯t even know whether the result of their appraisal would be the same as mine. I mean, that self-proclaimed spirit king¡¯s evil spirit did say that I was quite powerful with stats averaging 100. Since that¡¯s the case, to keep the consistency between my fake stats and my gift, maybe it¡¯s better if I lower my stats even further. Now then, let¡¯s see what will happen if I lower my stats to around the first half of a teen with the help of the ¡¾Glove of Sealing God¡¿. Those numbers shouldn¡¯t cause disparities for a rookie hunter. Yeah, let¡¯s go with that. After adjusting the average of my stats to 12 with the ¡¾Glove of Sealing God¡¿, I touched the appraisal crystal. ¡¸T-The most incompetent in this world?¡¹ The shrill voice of the blonde receptionist resounded in the entire guild. ¡¸AH!¡¹ The blonde receptionist snapped out and shut her mouth in hurry. After looking around, she realized that she had become the center of attention of the entire hunters in the guild. They were curious about her statement. Those hunters started whispering amongst themselves. It was obvious what they were talking about. ¡¸M-my apologies!¡¹ I was about to tell the blonde receptionist, who bowed in hurry for her blunder, that it didn¡¯t really matter, but¡­ ¡¸OI, LISTEN! This brat¡¯s gift is ¡¾The most incompetent in this world¡¿!¡¹ A blonde man with bad eyes approached me. After he glanced into the crystal from behind me, he shouted. When the other hunters heard this, they jeered at me. The blonde man had worn red and white warrior clothes. He was carrying a greatsword on his back. Appearance-wise, he seemed to be the same as me, a swordsman. ¡¸Wait a minute, Raiga-kun!!¡¹ Although the receptionist glared at the man, I waved my right hand toward her. ¡¸It¡¯s okay. I don¡¯t mind even if others know it.¡¹ The me before I got trapped in that dungeon would have been shocked by this matter. However, I had spent 100k years in that dungeon. I wasn¡¯t so petty as to care about this youngster¡¯s joke. ¡¸Raiga-kun, I¡¯ll definitely report your deed today to the branch chief!¡¹ ¡¸Wooah! Good grief, you¡¯re way too diligent in doing your job, Mia-chan. Why are you siding with this apostate?¡¹ The man returned to his comrade with a sullen expression. I see now. This youngster called Raiga might have a crush on Miss Mia. So this is the love between youngsters, huh! Yup, definitely not interesting at all. Honestly, I don¡¯t care about his attempt to woo Miss Mia. Anyhow, thanks to the youngster called Raiga, the hunters in the guild completely treated me as incompetent. Yup, this might be a good thing. I mean, I could use this opportunity to announce my gift and let the others realize what kind of a person Rose had chosen as her royal guard. That way, I could use the surroundings in my favor. ¡¸My deepest apologies for blurting out your secret.¡¹ Therefore, when Mia bowed and repeatedly apologized for her error, I gave her a thumbs-up with a triumphant expression. ¡¸It¡¯s okay. Rather, I prefer if you let more people know about it.¡¹ Due to my unexpected reaction, Mia was dumbfounded for a while. ¡¸Are you by chance a masochist?¡¹ She ended up asking a question that would hurt my public image. Volume 2 - CH 2 Act 2-2: A Small Incident in the Alley My registration procedure of becoming a hunter smoothly advanced. The person in charge of the test instructed me to place my right hand on the pale-blue rectangular stone with a handprint on it. I placed my right palm on the handprint. Then, numerous green lines appeared on the stone. The person in charge touched the small red sphere beside the pale-blue stone and pressed her left palm on a piece of paper. One after another, letters and numbers started appearing on the paper. Hou, combining magic with appraisal, huh! Converting the thought with appraisal skill, then transcribing the result on paper with magic. They have developed quite an interesting tool, huh! Two people looked shocked when they saw the result written on the paper. They sent sidelong glances toward me with curious expressions. ¡¸L-Lie! Strength value 12¡­¡¹ Hearing Mia¡¯s squeezed voice, the people inside the guild raised a stir. It seemed the average value of my appraisal¡¯s result was equal to my strength value. Well, the result was unexpectedly the same as my appraisal. Well, I guess that result is just right. Nevertheless, what¡¯s up with this surprised look on everyone¡¯s face? Ah! It seems I messed up! My gift was ¡°the most incompetent in this world.¡± On top of that, I was nothing more than a newcomer, a rookie hunter. It was only natural for them to be this shocked if a newcomer¡¯s stat was already that high. In fact, the result of my first appraisal had been 0.1, more than hundreds of times lower than this value. Since that¡¯s the case, should I just set it back to 0.1 again? But wait, that sounds like a bad idea. Setting the value that low might automatically rob me of the right to become a hunter. Just to be safe, let¡¯s set it to 1 and ask the staff to appraise me again. I immediately lowered the average value of my stats to one. ¡¸Sorry, that result is a mistake. The truth is that I have an item that can boost my abilities.¡¹ I manifested an ordinary ring from my item box and set it on my left index finger, then I took off my left glove and showed my left index finger in front of everyone. ¡¸Please appraise me again.¡¹ I urged the staff member for another appraisal after taking the ring off my finger and putting on my glove again. ¡¸B-Boosting abilities¡­¡¹ Mia¡¯s lips twitched as she spoke. The fuss inside the guild became even louder than before. Just what in the hell is wrong with these people? ¡¸Quickly please. I¡¯m not as free as it seems.¡¹ ¡¸U-Understood.¡¹ The appraiser, a man clad in a black robe, immediately agreed and used appraisal on me again. He acknowledged that the average value of my stats was one. After that, I only needed to fill the necessary form and receive a brief explanation about hunters. Well, most of it was things I was already familiar with. The only thing I heard for the first time was the hunter class system. Hunters were divided into six class, £Å¡´Rookie¡µ, £Ä¡´Majority¡µ, £Ã¡´Veteran¡µ, £Â¡´Professional¡µ, £Á¡´Expert¡µ, £Ó¡´Superhuman¡µ. A hunter¡¯s evaluation points would increase with the number of monsters they killed every day or the number of commissions they cleared. When the evaluation points cross a minimum requirement, the hunter would receive a request from the guild to upgrade their class. Moreover, when it comes to raising the hunter class to C-class, Veteran, and above, one had to fulfill a special condition. Well, I asked the guild what was that special condition, but the guild didn¡¯t seem to have any intention to tell me about it. Information gathering was the most basic skill of a hunter after all. It seemed that factor was also one of the evaluation points for raising the hunter class. Although all those special requirements made it even more difficult for a hunter to raise their class beyond C-class, anyone who achieved that would receive many benefits. To be specific, the benefit involved discounts at those inns or shops in the entire country that had hunter guild signatures, free access to various public facilities, and even opening their own martial arts dojo. Moreover, a hunter with special achievements such as subjugating unique monsters, exploring ruins, finding new ingredients, and various others in different fields would receive awards, privileges, and special privileges. Well, all of those things were pretty much useless in my opinion though. Rather, the more privilege one received, the more obligation one had to take. That was why the E-class was already good enough for me. Nevertheless, that was a tempting offer. You can clear a quest just by selling the demon stone, the core of a monster, and exploring the unknown. The freedom to do almost anything was intriguing. Okay, let¡¯s find a suitable royal guard replacement for Rose as soon as possible, dump all the royal guard jobs to that replacement, and leave for a journey to explore the world as a hunter. When I received my card, Mia brought her face closer to my ears with a meek expression and whispered, £¨Kai-kun, I think you shouldn¡¯t show your ring in the public anymore.£© £¨Why though? It¡¯s not like all hunters around the world will do something as lowly as trying to steal it from me, right?£© Mia bit her lips as if she had a hard time telling me about the next part, but¡­ £¨Recently, there has been an influx of people registering as hunters to avoid being dispatched as soldiers in the war against the demon race, famine, and drought. So, the possibility of you being robbed of your ring is quite high.£© I see! She wants me to immediately realize the gravity of my current situation. Well, that¡¯s reality for ya. I had enough of that in my long hundred-thousand-year stay in that dungeon. That was why I had become aware of my current situation much before. £¨I¡¯ll keep your warning in mind.£© I thanked Mia for her warning, then left the hunter guild. Yup, it seems they really are tailing after me. But, they¡¯re way too obvious. Their tailing method is even lower than an amateur¡¯s. I mean, they didn¡¯t even try to hide their presence. Since that was the case, I decided to create a situation where I had no choice but to beat them. Therefore, I entered a dim, narrow alley. This place was spacious enough for me to go wild against them and teach a bitter lesson to those youngsters. This was the best stage for me to fight. ¡¸Do you need something from me?¡¹ The men with sturdy-looking armor surrounded me with grins plastered all over their faces. If this was the first time they had committed such a crime, they should¡¯ve looked a bit tenser. But, these people didn¡¯t look that way to me. In short, they were used to doing this to someone they considered a sitting duck like me. Yup, I guess a slightly extreme education is needed to fix their rotten personality. Eh, painful you say? Don¡¯t worry about it! They wouldn¡¯t die from this level of pain. I mean, someone was peeping at us, so I couldn¡¯t kill them even if I wanted to. ¡¸Now hand over the ring that can boost your abilities!¡¹ ¡¸Ah, you mean this!¡¹ I took out the ring from my right pocket and showed it to those men. ¡¸G-Give it to us!¡¹ When I waved the ring in front of him, the man with short black hair leaped at me with undisguised greed in his eyes. I moved my center of gravity a little to dodge his charge and tripped him with cropped black hair by his feet. The man turned a few times in the air before crashing back face-first on the ground. Then, I looked around at the men who had surrounded me while trampling on the back of the head of the man with cropped black hair. ¡¸Well then, youngsters, the ring you¡¯re looking for is right there. Do your best to snatch it from me.¡¹ I declared so with a big smile on my face. ¡¸Be careful! This guy has already activated his magic item¡¯s boost!¡¹ Everyone¡¯s expression finally changed from the easy-going one to a serious one. They drew their swords and pointed at me. ¡¸Na~y, my current stat is still one. It¡¯s definitely lower than yours. But, you know, martial arts isn¡¯t something as simple as the value of your physical abilities.¡¹ I slowly walked forward, closing in toward the man with cropped blond hair who stood in front of me. ¡¸Eh?¡¹ The next moment, the man was already thrown in the air with a dumbfounded expression. After landing on the ground head first, having failed to fix his landing posture, he passed out. ¡¸SHI*TY BRAAT¡ª¡¹ The man who stood behind me rushed in while swinging his sword, aiming for my left shoulder. I parried his sword with my left hand without even wasting my time to turn around. Closing in the distance between us, I hit him till he turned around like a spinning top. ¡¸HIIIII!?¡¹ When I flicked the jaw of the bald man who let out a scream, he immediately fainted with open eyes. Froth came out of his mouth. ¡¸W-WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!! You! Aren¡¯t you supposed to be an incompetent!!¡¹ Seeing how easily I dispatched the other three in mere seconds, the blue-haired man with an unshaved beard, who was apparently their leader, shouted and pointed his sword toward me. ¡¸Exactly! My gift is ¡¾The Most Incompetent in this World¡¿. There¡¯s no mistake in that regard.Now then, come at me, youngster! I¡¯ll fix that rotten guts of yours.¡¹ Naturally, I easily knocked out the blue-haired man with an unshaved beard when he mindlessly charged toward me. Volume 2 - CH 3 Act 2-3: Monster-like Lad I¡¯m Ilsa Harnisch, a B-class hunter whose activity is based around Barse! I was in the middle of enjoying my cold ale like usual after finishing my daily monster subjugation quests when I heard the shrill voice of the guild¡¯s receptionist, Mia, resound in the entire guild. It seems Mia accidentally made a huge blunder by blurting out the gift of the young man who had come here today to become a hunter. If my ears aren¡¯t wrong, that youth¡¯s gift is ¡¾The Most Incompetent in this World¡¿. He is truly an unfortunate one. He had my sympathy, but that didn¡¯t change the fact that hunter is a merit-based profession. Aside from certain exceptions, success in this profession was entirely dependent on your gift. That¡¯s why a hunter with a useless gift would have a hard time raising their class. Soon, another turmoil exploded inside the guild when the youth revealed that he had an item that could boost his abilities. To be honest, I had never heard of such an unconventional item. By my lowest estimations, that item should be, at the very least, a national class treasure. Naturally, the hunters who happened to be present in the guild at that time had started discussing the youth amongst themselves. Sixty percent of their conversation was talking about the effects of the item or obtaining it later; the remaining forty percent was extreme jealousy toward the newcomer who had such a powerful item. Some of the hunters discussing the latter didn¡¯t even try to hide the greed in their eyes. ¡¸I guess I have to deal with those greedy ba*tards.¡¹ I muttered to myself. Just as I expected, the moment that youth left the hunter guild, Mia rushed toward me, asking for my help; she couldn¡¯t help but worry about that youth. Mia is a girl with a strong sense of responsibility. If the youth got ambushed after he left the hunter guild, she might blame herself for accidentally disclosing the youth¡¯s gift in public. Since she took care of me every day, I agreed to her request without a second thought. After that, I immediately left the guild. And it happened exactly as Mia had expected. A while after I started tailing the youth from afar while erasing my presence, I discovered some scumbags after that youth. Maybe because the situation in this kingdom has become unstable in recent years, the number of scumbags who choose to become hunters is on the rise. Maybe because he wanted to take a shortcut, the youth entered a deserted alley. Like I had expected, those scumbags surrounded the youth as soon as he entered the deserted alley. I was about to jump to save him when suddenly, a fantastical sight unfolded in front of me. That youth beat those scumbags in an extremely overwhelming way. ¡¸W-What the¡­¡¹ I barely managed to squeeze those words out of my throat. ¡¸Is that¡­ martial arts?¡¹ I mean it looks like a martial arts movement. But, it¡¯s way too different from the martial arts that I have seen so far. It¡¯s a completely unpredictable move. The youth itself isn¡¯t that fast, yet before I noticed, those scumbags were either flying in the air or down on their knees. Rather than calling the move martial arts, calling it magic is more appropriate due to how mysterious the youth¡¯s movement was. I also noticed another fact: I can never hope to beat that youth in my entire life. Moreover¨D ¡¸He must¡¯ve discovered my presence too, right?¡¹ My gift is ¡¾Agent¡¿. It¡¯s a gift geared for information gathering. It¡¯s a special, advanced gift with many useful skills such as canceling dungeon traps or opening locks. The main characteristic of my gift is a special ability called concealment; as the name suggests, it hides my presence. Yet, that youth seemingly glanced right at my hiding place randomly as if he were telling me, ¡°Don¡¯t think that you can hide from me.¡±. I had already invoked my concealment skill. The youth most likely has something akin to sixth sense to be able to see through my skill. It¡¯s the kind of sense that is awakened by someone who has gone through a hellish battlefield beyond my imagination. Such a skill is something only those top-class warriors who have survived numerous battlefields possess. No matter how you looked at him, the youth didn¡¯t seem like a powerless rookie hunter or an incompetent who has never wandered between life and death in a battle. Maybe, that youth never had an item that boosted his abilities from the very beginning. Rather, it was the opposite. With such god-like martial arts, the fact that his strength value was still ¡°1¡± is rather unnatural. His first appraisal result that indicated his average strength value as ¡°12,¡± equivalent to that of a D-class hunter, was more credible seeing the way he fights. Yet, in the second appraisal, that value changed to ¡°1¡±. In short, the youth can adjust his strength value at will. I have no idea whether it¡¯s because of the effect of an item or an ability, but I have no doubts that this youth¡¯s gift isn¡¯t something as simple as ¡ºIncompetent¡». It¡¯s something more aberrant. ¡¸A monster has slipped into a boring, everyday life, huh.¡¹ Interesting! This is way too interesting to be ignored! If I manage to recruit that youth, finding the ¡ºAncient Temple¡» deep in the Sea Forest of Silke might not be a pipe dream. Investigating the ancient temple is the biggest wish of (treasure) hunters such as me and many others. I¡¯ve already fulfilled the requirement to raise my hunter class to A-class. The only thing left is to complete the special condition, but I have already cleared that by reporting the information I found about this ancient temple. With that achievement, my path of becoming an A-class hunter is already guaranteed. Considering that this youth doesn¡¯t seem to have any intention to hide his capabilities, it¡¯s only a matter of time before the people around him notice his capabilities. When that time comes, I¡¯m sure that everyone with enough sanity would arrive at the same conclusion as me. Hunter is a profession where one gains fame and wealth in proportion to their capabilities; it¡¯s a completely merit-based profession. Anyone can climb to a greater height as long as they have the capabilities, regardless of their gift. Only idiotic hunters born in this Amelia kingdom believe that the gift you¡¯re born with is everything. I have to make my move immediately since I know it would be too late if I wait for later. But since everyone is still under the impression that he¡¯s an incompetent, recruiting him into my party should be easier. ¡¸Well then, let¡¯s start with gathering the information about him first.¡¹ Only a greenhorn hunter would try to recruit someone into their party without knowing anything about him. Let¡¯s ask Mia about his basic information first. ¡¸Yup, I¡¯m so lucky today!¡¹ Unable to hold the anticipation in my chest anymore, I ran toward the guild as fast as I could. Volume 2 - CH 4 Act 2-4: Beast Girl Slave TN: Woops, my apologies for the delayed release, I forgot that today is the release day. === Now that I¡¯ve already become a hunter, my range of activity in this city during our stay has increased by leaps and bounds. Although Rose has asked me to not leave the inn, I have no intention to obey such an order. The reason is that aside from me, her temporary royal guard, Arnold stood by her side all time. I have never seen him fight for real, but my grandfather had acknowledged his swordcraft. That¡¯s why I¡¯ve no doubts about Arnold¡¯s swordcraft. This means that I don¡¯t need to be by Rose¡¯s side all day as long as Arnold still serves as her temporary bodyguard. That¡¯s the reason I¡¯m currently strolling around Barse city along with Faf, Asta, and Fen. By the way, I¡¯ve allowed Fen to tag along since he was too bored after staying inside the picture book for a while. However, he¡¯s under the condition that he should never leave my side; that¡¯s it. ¡¸There¡¯s a lot of food, nodessu!¡¹ Faf screamed with sparkling eyes when she saw the food stalls along the road. ¡ºI want to eat too!¡» Fen, who rested atop Faf¡¯s head, raised his small, adorable paw while letting out a childish howl. Maybe because this was the first time Faf saw a lot of foods being sold in such a lively place, her tension was at max since a while ago. She ran around from one stall to another, buying food with the money I gave her. She stuffed the others¡¯ mouths with the food she had just bought. Yup! Seeing the content of my pouch dwindling at a rapid pace, I realized I had to think of a way to gain money. I still had countless loot from that easy dungeon. However, after the farce in the alley, if people knew that an incompetent like me was selling dungeon treasures via proper routes, I would stand out in a bad way. If the ones who would come after me were people like the fallen hunters from the other day, I would have no problem. However, I don¡¯t think those greedy ba*tards hiding in this kingdom would just watch me sell dungeon treasure in silence. In the worst case, it might turn into an all-out war against the Amelia kingdom. Naturally, if that would happen, I would use all methods at my disposal to crush them to pieces till nothing would be left. After all, my goal is to live a leisurely slow life, not a tumultuous life filled with ups and downs. If I sold the dungeon treasures via the black market, there was a smaller chance for those greedy ba*tards of the Amelia kingdom to discover me. However, I had no idea where to find the black market. And finding reliable black market merchants during our limited time stay in Barse was close to impossible. That was why I excluded this plan of selling loot for now. The next option available to me was clearing monster subjugation quests like a proper hunter. However, we¡¯ve only stayed in this city for five days. That¡¯s far from enough to make a killing. Due to all this, I¡¯ve been wondering about what to do now¡­ As I thought about that, I noticed a large number of people gathering in front of a huge tent in the square. Then, the quarreling voices of a man and a woman reached my ears. ¡¸How dare you use violence on such young children. What do you think you¡¯re doing?¡¹ ¡¸Listen, Miss. This is my commodity. In short, a beast. It¡¯s only natural for me to train my beast, you know!¡¹ ¡¸BEAST? Are you kidding me! It¡¯s clearly a child of the beastman tribe!¡¹ ¡¸Indeed! But, you see, the one who acknowledges the beastman tribe as mindless beasts is your kingdom, ri~ght? Am I wrong?¡¹ That woman¡¯s voice sounded familiar. After pushing my way through the crowd and coming out in the front, I saw a seemingly pushover man with an effeminate voice and a red-haired woman clad in glistening white armor. Yup, it¡¯s Anna. Just what kind of a quarrel did she get into now? ¡¸You¡¯re wrong! Our kingdom never acknowledged the beastman tribe as mindless beasts! our kingdom advocates non-discrimination regardless of the distinction of one¡¯s gift!¡¹ ¡¸Wha~t is that I wonde~r? Distinction is already discrimination. Is your head alright?¡¹ I agreed with that pushover-like man. Since a long time ago, the Amelia kingdom government had always been hostile to and treated the majority of the tribes that didn¡¯t receive gifts, such as the beastman tribe, as apostates, like how most people in this kingdom treated me. Take that girl from the beastman tribe, for example, the matter of her being kidnapped in a chaotic situation in the middle of a battle by this kingdom and sold as a slave was an everyday occurrence. And the one who had made such plans was none other than the royalties and nobilities of Rose¡¯s kingdom. For that reason, by quarreling with that pushover-like man, Anna was barking at the wrong tree. Well, naturally, I also hated trash who used violence on such young children. ¡¸YOU, are you mocking me?¡¹ The moment Anna placed her hand on the hilt of her sword, the subordinates of the pushover-like man, the people wearing black clothes, stepped forward to protect their superior. Good grief! What a troublesome woman! But still, she couldn¡¯t just watch these children get abused, right? In my opinion, she¡¯s far better than those bystanders who¡¯re just standing there in silence. ¡¸Stop whatever you¡¯re about to do after this. You¡¯re in the wrong after all.¡¹ I entered the ring created by those unimportant bystanders and stopped Anna from acting recklessly. Then, I turned around to face that pushover-like man. ¡¸This woman is a bit ignorant about the way of the world. Please do forgive her.¡¹ I offered empty words of apology, just for formality¡¯s sake. ¡¸It seems a child who can be reasoned with has finally come out.¡¹ The pushover-like man heaved a sigh, then raised his right hand. The men in black clothes obediently retreated. Anna¡¯s armor had a crest engraved on it. So, it was obvious to everyone that she was related to the government. That was why even the slave trader was reluctant to quarrel with her for no reason. ¡¸KAI, HOW DA¨D!!¡¹ I ignored Anna¡¯s irritating ramblings and took out 80k oars, all the money I had in my pouch. I gave it to the pushover-like man. The pushover-like man frowned upon seeing the contents of my pouch. ¡¸Wha~t, only eighty thousand oars? It¡¯s far from enough to buy her, you kno~w!¡¹ And just as I had expected, that amount was far from enough to buy the beastman girl. ¡¸Then, how much is her price?¡¹ ¡¸Silver-haired beastman children are rare, and she¡¯s a girl on top of that. Her price is two million oars.¡¹ ¡¸Understood, that¡¯ll be my deposit. I¡¯ll definitely pay the rest. Till then, give hospitable treatment to this child.¡¹ ¡¸I¡¯ll take this deposit if you don¡¯t pay the rest within twenty days. Are you okay with that?¡¹ ¡¸No problem.¡¹ Whatever happened, we had no intention of staying in this city for a long time. It¡¯d be my loss if I couldn¡¯t buy the beastman girl during our stay in this city. ¡¸It¡¯s a deal then. Oka~y, now let¡¯s go. Give this child food and clothes! And treat her as our guest!¡¹ ¡¸Yes!¡¹ The men in black clothes moved at once and politely treated the beast girl as if she were a noble daughter. The girl looked back at us many times, and her figure soon vanished into the tent. ¡¸What¡¯s the meaning of this?¡¹ Faf let out a growl and Fen bared his fangs as soon as they saw Anna grab me by my collar. Asta, on the other hand, just heaved a deep, tired sigh. Well, she might¡¯ve wanted to tell me that I had stepped into another extremely troublesome matter. Nevertheless, I couldn¡¯t bring myself to get angry at Asta¡¯s dumbfounded reaction. ¡¸You seem to have yet to realize it. Don¡¯t you understand that I bought that child from those people?¡¹ ¡¸BOUGHT!? You dare to buy people with money?¡¹ ¡¸I do. That¡¯s the quickest and simplest solution after all.¡¹ ¡¸YOU, a proud royal knight, actually allowed human trading right before your eyes!!¡¹ Although Anna seemed like a noble daughter, it seems the way she treated the beast was different from the other nobles. Yet, she still called me apostate from time to time. The fact that she spoke ill of me yet came forward to protect that beast girl seemed to be contradictory actions. I wondered which one was her true self, but I had no leeway to investigate that just from her speech alone in this public place. ¡¸It¡¯s allowed. To be exact, the Amelia kingdom¡¯s government allows the slave trade. That¡¯s why there¡¯s no problem with me buying a slave.¡¹ ¡¸His majesty the king never allowed slave trade! It¡¯s just not completely banned!¡¹ ¡¸Fool, that¡¯s the same as calling it ¡®Legal!¡¯ And since it¡¯s legal, we¡¯d be investigated if we had taken that child by force. In the end, your actions will only endanger Rose¡¯s position. Understand now?¡¹ ¡¸That¡¯s¡­ troublesome indeed¡­¡¹ Even though she could only grit her teeth in frustration when she realized the implication of her action, Anna quietly muttered that. ¡¸That¡¯s why the only way, which is the fastest and easiest way, to protect that child is using this kingdom¡¯s rules, namely buying her. Understand now?¡¹ ¡¸¡­¡¹ After I said so, Anna finally withdrew, albeit reluctantly, and let go of my collar. ¡¸Since that¡¯s the case, we have to immediately go back to the inn we¡¯re staying at and think of the fastest method to raise funds.¡¹ ¡¸Understood.¡¹ Maybe she still had a hard time accepting this fact, but Anna quickly walked in silence. ¡¸It¡¯s time to go back.¡¹ "" I patted Fen, who was still growling at Anna from the top of Faf¡¯s head. Then, I urged both Faf and Asta to go back to our inn. Volume 2 - CH 5 Act 2-5: Fundraising Methods As expected, I couldn¡¯t keep this matter a secret to Rose. So, I consulted her and Arnold about his matter during dinner. Even at the best of times, Rose had her hands full with trying to keep her public image. I expected her to flip out in rage when we brought up the matter of me buying a beast girl slave. However¡­ ¡¸I agree with your action of buying that child. Right now, the royal capital is in chaos due to Lord Fracton case. The royal capital has sent us a message to stay in this city until the court¡¯s officers arrive here.¡¹ The Fracton case she was talking about was the matter of Fracton colluding with the Empire to sell Rose, the royalty who he should¡¯ve protected. If I were Rose¡¯s father, the first thing I would think about was ordering her to immediately return. However, her father had ordered her to wait in this city. I had never heard any rumors about the king neglecting Rose either. Moreover, Rose was the saint who would summon the hero. SHe was an indispensable presence in the war against the demon race. With all of those stacked factors, the chance for the king to abandon Rose was literally zero. Since that was the case, then¨D ¡¸It¡¯s to put some restraint on that idiot prince. Is that it?¡¹ ¡¸Yes. After all, when we return to the royal capital, Arnold would have to go back to protect my father. When that happens, there would be no one else to protect me. That¡¯s why my father ordered me to wait in this city until he puts some restraints on Gilbert¡¯s faction. I think that¡¯s what my father meant to say by ordering me to stand by in this city.¡¹ ¡¸So your life is in jeopardy even in the royal capital, huh. You¡¯re a princess, and yet, you¡¯re literally being besieged by enemies from all sides.¡¹ Rose might get assassinated as soon as she enters the royal capital. It¡¯s as if she isn¡¯t royalty at all. Arnold and Rose wryly smiled upon hearing my honest impressions. On the other hand, Anna was enraged. ¡¸Stop with such a disrespectful attitude toward Her Highness!¡¹ She stood up and yelled at me. ¡¸Kaykay, so? Do you have any ideas?¡¹ Naturally, Rose might be a royalty(?), but asking her for money was a big NONO. A royalty¡¯s money was the tax money paid by the citizens of this kingdom. If we used that money to buy a slave, and something went wrong, it might be seen as something endorsed by the royal family. This might even encourage slavery. It wasn¡¯t a choice for Rose to begin with. On the other hand, establishing a company and gaining profits in 20 days was an unrealistic goal. It was impossible for the current us. ¡¸Naturally, the most superb plan.¡¹ This lass¡¯s innocent smile looked like the smile Rena made whenever she thought of something foolish. Honestly, I couldn¡¯t help but worry about Rose¡¯s future. ¡¸As long as it¡¯s within my limit, can I do something to contribute?¡¹ Rose had the tendency to overestimate me. I wanted to avoid running out of time because of an overly grandiose plan that even I would find impossible to execute. ¡¸Yeah, it should be a simple matter for you.¡¹ ¡¸So, what is it?¡¹ ¡¸There¡¯s a sacred martial arts tournament being held in the city of Luserhall. As long as you keep advancing in that tournament, achieving that sum of money should be a simple matter!¡¹ Sure enough, if I¡¯m not wrong, the Sacred Martial Arts tournament was the Amelia kingdom¡¯s greatest martial arts tournament held once every four years. The prize for the winner of this tournament was a single generation noble title, knighthood, or the right to establish a dojo. Therefore, thousands of people participated in this tournament. Since my current strength is amongst the top in this world, she might be right about me easily advancing to the final. Nevertheless, it was still the Amelia kingdom¡¯s biggest tournament. If I advanced in that tournament, I would end up sticking out like a sore thumb. And that was the last thing I wanted. Therefore, it was the worst choice for me and an option I wanted to avoid. Moreover, the so-called tournament was nothing more than a play to me. I had no intention of losing in a battle of death. However, it would be a completely different story when I would have to fight in a match under the watch of a third party, called the referee. Depending on the rules of the match, the stronger contestant might lose. And most of all, I might get disqualified if I killed my opponent. In short, it wasn¡¯t as easy as she said. ¡¸I¡¯m bad with match-style tournaments. Considering that it¡¯s a play(match), you can¡¯t say that there¡¯s a sure way to win, you know! There are a lot of ways for the weak to beat the strong with the tournament¡¯s restrictions.¡¹ Anyhow, I had yet to figure out how much power I had to use against my opponents. If the tournament had a rule that forced me to unequip this ¡¾Glove of Sealing God¡¿, I would have a hard time controlling my strength. When that happens, I might end up swatting my opponent to death with a simple swing. ¡¸Well then, it¡¯s my turn to ask now. Do you have any other idea to get a lot of cash within a short amount of time?¡¹ ¡¸U~hm¡­ Nope!¡¹ I mean, the reason I was racking my brains like this was that I had no way to get a great amount of cash within a short time. ¡¸I guess we¡¯ll proceed with the tournament plan. Please don¡¯t worry about losing. Just participate in the tournament. In case you lose, I¡¯ll sell this for cash.¡¹ Rose placed a ring on top of the desk. ¡¸Let me borrow it for a bit.¡¹ I placed the ring on top of my right palm and used appraisal on it. ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D ¡ï¡¾Resurrection Ring¡¿: A ring that can resurrect its wearer from any mortal wound three times. ?Uses Remaining: 3/3 ?Item Rank: Advanced ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D Resurrection ring, huh. There is a limit to its instant recovery, but is this thing really that valuable? I mean, it has a similar effect to a three-times ultra recovery potion that can heal even fatal wounds. ¡¸That ring is a birthday present from my deceased uncle who used to be a hunter. Since he picked it up from a dungeon, it¡¯s not something I got from tax money.¡¹ ¡¸That¡¯s not the problem. I¡¯m asking: are you sure that you want to sell your uncle¡¯s memento?¡¹ I mean, even the stupid me understood why that uncle gave such a precious ring to Rose, his niece. That uncle of hers had predicted that Rose¡¯s life would be targeted by her own kin. That was why he obtained this ring and gave it to Rose. And yet, this stupid niece of his was actually about to trample on the feeling of her deceased uncle by selling this ring. ¡¸Of course! I mean, you won¡¯t lose in that tournament after all.¡¹ That expression! Rose is serious. Her trust in me had already reached an extremely dangerous level, not as dangerous as Girimekhala¡¯s though. ¡¸If you place such baseless confidence on me, I¡¯m going to feel troubled.¡¹ I stood up from my chair due to the indescribable rage swelling in my heart. ¡¸Then, let¡¯s head toward Rouzaharl with the first carriage tomorrow morning. Anna, immediately make arrangements for the food and coach!¡¹ Rose instructed Anna as fast as she could. ¡¸Yes!¡¹ Anna left the inn after giving Rose a knight-style salute with an obedient expression. ¡¸I¡¯ll go with Kai. Arnold, I¡¯ll leave the matter of Lord Fracton to you.¡¹ ¡¸Your wish is my command!¡¹ Arnold also stood up from his chair and placed his hand on his chest in a knight-style salute. Does this lass always do such sink or swim actions? If that¡¯s the case, I guess I can understand another reason her uncle gave her that precious ring. I had no intention to sell a memento from a deceased person, and something that was clearly given to keep someone safe on top of that. That was why even if I lost the match, I had no intention to sell that ring. However, I knew that winning the tournament was actually the safest choice. Anyhow, all I needed was to advance until the final. Well, I might be able to do something about it. As for what we¡¯ll do if I lose before the final, let¡¯s think about that matter later. ¡¸Good grief!¡¹ Heaving a sigh, I went toward my room on the 3rd floor of the inn to prepare dinner for Faf and Asta. Volume 2 - CH 6 Act 2-6: Indescribable Feeling(Side: Anna Graz) Anna Graz was strolling alone in Barse city. With dropped shoulders, she heaved a deep sigh as if to express her mood. The reason for her depression was Rose¡¯s statement; Rose said that the infamous incompetent, the biggest apostate in this world¡ªKai Heineman, had abilities far higher than her. At first, Anna couldn¡¯t stomach Rose¡¯s remark. However, the Graz family came from an old lineage of paladin families that had served the royalties of the Amelia kingdom for generations. Even though Anna¡¯s pedigree was the lowest amongst the other nobles with permanent pedigrees, she was allowed to serve Rose mainly due to the Graz¡¯s family reputation. Moreover, since they were close in age, Anna and Rose were raised as foster siblings. Although they quarreled almost every day, Anna had never felt so depressed like this before. The biggest factor contributing to her depression was the incompetent of the Heineman knight house, Kai Heineman. Kai Heineman¡¯s gift was ¡¾The Most Incompetent in this World¡¿. Gift was a special talent given by the Holy Warrior God, Ares, the chief god of the Amelia kingdom to mankind. For that reason, it was only natural for the quality of the gift to be judged as an advantage. If the quality of the gift was high, it could be interpreted that the owner of the gift was loved by Ares. On the contrary, the owner of a trash gift was considered someone hated by Ares. Such an evaluation was used for many aspects of one¡¯s life in the Amelia kingdom, such as marriage, relationships, and employment. Especially in the house where Anna came from, the Graz family, which was the paladin family. This teaching had been ingrained in Anna¡¯s mind in her childhood. According to the teaching of her family, ¡¾The Most Incompetent in this World¡¿ equaled to the person most hated by Ares. In short, it was an apostate born into this world without any advantage over others, the weakest human. Rose had a kind nature. She never mistreated even the apostates born with the trash gift and was willing to help him despite him being nothing more than a harmful insect to Rose. However, Rose¡¯s gift was the saint, a gift bestowed to those loved the most by Ares. Rose¡¯s existence was so sacred that Anna thought that even a contact with the apostate was a besmirch to Rose¡¯s very existence, an act that could invite God¡¯s wrath. And her job as a paladin was to prevent that. That was Anna¡¯s mission. Or that was how it was supposed to be. Yet, no matter how much she thought about it, Anna couldn¡¯t think of Kai Heineman as such a filthy existence. Naturally, the fact that he saved her from the disgusting knight who had almost r*ped her also supported that thought. However, she still couldn¡¯t forgive him for his disrespect and abusive speech toward Rose. Normally speaking, Kai Heineman should be someone Anna hated the most, even if that hatred was somewhat reduced since he had saved her. Yet, Anna strangely felt relieved just by staying by Kai¡¯s side. Yes, she felt relieved. And Anna couldn¡¯t forgive herself for feeling that way. After all, doing that might make it look like she also despised Rose, the person she served. That was why she always tried to avoid Kai now. She felt that there was no problem with that since Rose might be understanding. £¨Really! What I¡¯m doing right now¡­£© Anna didn¡¯t want to meet Kai. That¡¯s why she had gone on a stroll on Barse City¡¯s main street by herself. She felt miserable due to the incomprehensible, child-like emotions inside her. Suddenly, she heard a man¡¯s voice. ¡¸WALK QUICKLY!¡¹ ¡¸M-My apologies¡­¡¹ When she looked in the direction from where the voice came from, she saw a man in black clothes whipping a silver-haired beast girl. Yes, the beast girl was a member of the beastman tribe. That girl might have been kidnapped by shameless soldiers during the turmoil and sold as a slave. Anna hated slaves from the bottom of her heart. To be exact, she hated slavery; the concept of trafficking a being with wisdom like livestock disgusted her to the point of puking. And it wasn¡¯t just the slavery system. Anna felt that many things that were common sense in the Amelia kingdom were repulsive. That was why she was desperately trying to match the behavior of many people around her. However, her attempts ended up in failure. She still couldn¡¯t bring herself to get used to the repulsive common sense in the Amelia kingdom. It had reached the point where she felt like she was ill-suited to be a paladin. As a paladin, she felt that if she overlooked such a matter, it would come back and torment her later. Soon, Anna¡¯s stress had reached a critical point after quarreling with the slave trader and her hand already grabbed the hilt of her sword. Suddenly, Kai Heineman appeared and settled the matter with ease. Kai ended up promising to buy the silver-haired beastgirl slave for two million oars within twenty days. Anna saw Kai buy a slave. Seeing the person she hated doing something she hated should have made her hate him even more, but upon thinking carefully, she realized that it was the only choice they had. Rather, she felt that she should thank him for solving her problem without causing trouble for others. However, Anna¡¯s personality prevented her from doing that. The first time she had seen, she felt irritated just by seeing his pushover personality. But, ever since that fateful night, she realized that Kai¡¯s attitude and even his speech had turned 180 degrees. Now, he acted as if he was the one who owned the place. Contrary to her first impression of him, Anna realized that she never was irritated or felt any repulsive feelings toward the current him. It was as if the person called Anna had already become broken since what happened on that night. On the way back to the inn where Rose was waiting for them, Kai suddenly stopped for a moment and raised his face a bit as if he had recalled something. He then turned around toward Anna. ¡¸One more thing, Anna. Good job on trying to help that beastgirl.¡¹ He spoke while flashing his usual daring smile. Although it was the first time Kai called her by name instead of something like ¡°Dumb girl¡± or ¡°Red-haired,¡± and also the first time he praised her, Anna felt extremely delighted for some reason. ¡¸Hurry up! Rose-sama has been waiting for us!¡¹ Anna did her best to hold back from showing a sloven smile to Kai and quickly walked till she was ahead of him. Volume 2 - CH 7 Act 2-7: Tournament Participant¡¯s Registration City of armed struggle, Luserhall! Located in the south of Barse city, Luserhall was around a two-day journey away from the city via a carriage. If Barse was a paradise for hunters, Luserhall was the city of greatest armed struggle in the Amelia kingdom. This city had more than a hundred martial arts dojo and numerous famous arms stores lined up along its main street. It was like the city of dreams for every martial artist. That was Luserhall. ¡¸Yup, Luserhall¡¯s tournament is still the same as before. The number of participants is too overwhelming.¡¹ I expressed my nostalgia about the memory of the time when I last visited this city to see the tournament with my grandfather, ¡¸Kai, have you visited this city before?¡¹ Rose, who sat beside me, asked while looking at my face with an extremely curious expression. ¡¸Well, yeah.¡¹ Although, it did feel strange. After all, the last time I visited this city was a few years ago, but there were also more than a hundred thousand years of my experience in that easy dungeon in between that. ¡¸I¡¯ll leave for the time being to register for the tournament.¡¹ ¡¸Understood. Then, I¡¯ll be going to our inn along with Faf-chan.¡¹ ¡¸Faf wants to go with Master, nodesu!¡¹ I gently brushed Faf¡¯s head as I did usually to calm her and stop her from sticking to me. ¡¸Asta is waiting for us in the inn. That¡¯s why it¡¯s up to you to protect these two until they reach the inn.¡¹ I tried to plead to her to make her let go of me. ¡¸U~h, I understand, nodesu! Faf will do her best, nodessu!¡¹ Faf cheerfully raised her right fist. Great! Faf is always a good and obedient child. ¡¸Well then, see you later!¡¹ ¡¸Yes, leave the rest to me.¡¹ After Rose nodded and replied, I turned around and walked toward the receptionist¡¯s desk. As part of the registration, I informed the young, female receptionist about my gift, martial art school, and my name. According to Rose, if I stated any falsehood in this part, I would be disqualified later. So, I just stated the truth to avoid any future trouble. Well, the female receptionist did send a pitying look at me when I told her that my gift was ¡¾The Most Incompetent in this World¡¿. By the way, my martial art school was, of course, the ¡ºCommandment Sword Art¡» style. The Heineman sword art style wasn¡¯t my school anymore. I completed the registration procedure by paying thirty thousand oars from the money I borrowed from Rose. Then, the female receptionist gave me the tournament¡¯s pamphlet. I was about to head toward the inn where I was supposed to regroup with Asta and the others, but¡­ ¡¸OI, What are you doing here, incompetent?¡¹ Someone called me out with a hoarse voice. Upon turning around, I found out that this person was a burly, tall man with cropped hair and a cracked jaw. Several boys and girls followed him, looking at me with scornful expressions. Their faces seemed familiar to me. I mean, they were the assistant instructor and disciple of the Heineman-style dojo after all. Most likely, they had come to this city to participate in this tournament. After all, this was the biggest tournament in the kingdom. Just a young disciple winning until the final of the preliminaries was enough to acknowledge them as one of the strong youngsters, which also boosted the dojo¡¯s fame. It wouldn¡¯t be strange even if my hometown dojo also participated in this tournament. ¡¸As you already know, I¡¯m no longer part of the Heineman house. Therefore, whatever I do right now or in the future has nothing to do with you guys. Nor do you have the right to obstruct me. Isn¡¯t it?¡¹ ¡¸STOP JOKING AROUND! The fact that you were part of the Heineman house until just a while ago is already common knowledge. Even if you were banished from the house, most people have no idea about it. Are you trying to besmirch the Heineman sword art style by showing your sorry figure on the ring! LEAVE THIS CITY AT ONCE!¡¹ These noisy youngsters¡¯ ¡°chirps¡± are annoying for sure. Well, what should I do then? ¡¸It¡¯s okay, Shiga-sensei. We¡¯re also part of the Heineman-style. As long as we remain until the final of the preliminary, there¡¯s nothing that can besmirch our dojo¡¯s name. On the contrary, this guy will be known as the exiled incompetent of the Heineman-style.¡¹ The other disciples nodded upon hearing the handsome, blonde youth¡¯s proposal to assistant instructor Shiga. Come to think of it, this assistant instructor Shiga and the blonde youth Riku were the first ones who changed their attitude toward me as soon as they knew about my trash gift. Well, to the current me, it was nothing more than a trivial matter; their impression of me wasn¡¯t going to affect me one bit. ¡¸You¡¯re right, Riku. If it¡¯s you, I believe that you can advance until the final of the preliminary.¡¹ Assistant instructor Shiga nodded a few times while looking at Riku and then¡­ ¡¸Listen! Do your best to not besmirch the Heineman name!¡¹ He left after saying such a thorny parting remark. Those small flies finally left. I guess it¡¯s time for me to return to the inn. Just when I was about to walk away¨D ¡¸Hou!!¡¹ I felt a tingling sensation on my skin. This was killing intent. It was around the level of the weakest monster on the topmost floor of that super easy dungeon. In short, it was nothing more than a gentle breeze for me. ¡¸You¡¯re strong.¡¹ The person who released that killing intent lowered his gaze and walked until he arrived right in front of me. He was around two meters tall and had a muscular and extremely tempered body. He was a man with a wild look on his face. His hand looked as tough and rough as stone due to numerous calluses on its surface. He was a true martial artist who abused his body to its utmost limit. ¡¸I guess I am.¡¹ I was already familiar with this kind of coercion back in that dungeon. Especially when I had faced the boss of the 600th floor, the self-proclaimed king of divine beasts; Beastman Nemea, who was as belligerent as this guy. ¡¸What¡¯s your name?¡¹ ¡¸Kai Heineman.¡¹ ¡¸I¡¯m Zack. I¡¯m in block B. What about you?¡¹ Block B, is it? A~h, he¡¯s talking about the preliminary tournament¡¯s group, huh! I flipped the iron-made entry card that was given to all participants and saw ¡°D¡± written there. ¡¸It seems I¡¯m in block D.¡¹ ¡¸I see! Then, let¡¯s meet in the final.¡¹ He bumped his fists against each other while speaking with a belligerent smile. Yup, this battle junkie personality along with unshakeable confidence in his martial arts; he¡¯s definitely the spitting image of Nemea. Could they get along with each other? ¡¸Back at you.¡¹ ¡¸Well, it seems my judgment isn¡¯t wrong.¡¹ Zack vanished amongst the crowds of people after raising his right fist. I shrugged, then headed toward our inn to regroup with Rose and the others. Volume 2 - CH 8 Act 2-8: Sacred Martial Arts Tournament First Preliminary Round The first preliminary round started two days after the registration. It divided each of the A-G blocks into another ten smaller groups, every group consisting of around a hundred people. In this round, anyone who managed to plunder three red-armband worn on each participant¡¯s right arm earned the right to advance to the next round. The elimination system was simpler than I thought. When the gong resounded, I didn¡¯t move for a while. Although you could say that one of the reasons was that I was watching over the situation, something that could surprise me had happened. Someone let out a warcry but had yet to move. Someone recklessly swung their wooden sword while letting out a strange warcry, a warcry strange even to me who had heard all kinds of warcries in that dungeon. Someone was firing magic spells at their opponent. In short, the situation was chaotic. ¡¸It¡¯s as if this place is the debut match for those children who have just learned martial arts.¡¹ I tried to describe the indescribable spectacle before me, but I didn¡¯t think it was correct either. After all, even children might be able to show more discipline than these people. ¡¸FOUND HIM!¡¹ Suddenly, I found myself being surrounded by a trio. Although it might look easier for them to beat me, who was alone, they would only get one armband from me. Is there any other meaning for them to surround me in a 1 vs 3 match? Moreover, judging from their standards, I should seem the weakest amongst all these participants, right? Good grief! Even cowardice has its limit, you know! ¡¸You can¡¯t escape anymore!¡¹ The boy with shoulder-length hair pointed his wooden sword at me. His stance was, honestly, a mess. He didn¡¯t even adjust his center of gravity properly. He was like an amateur who had just started to swing his sword. Are all these people amateurs? Surely, my mind was more than a hundred and thousands of years old. But, I really had a hard time adjusting myself after getting back from that dungeon. Anyhow, I didn¡¯t feel like pointing my sword at these inexperienced children. Let¡¯s just get over with this boring game as soon as possible. ¡¸HERE I COME!¡¹ ¡¸NONSENSE, I¡¯M COMING FIRST!¡¹ I slowly walked toward the trio who still had the leeway to quarrel right in front of me. ¡¸WAH!?¡¹ I clapped my hands right in front of the trio¡¯s eyes and stole their red armbands during that momentary gap. Then, I stepped out from the round ring. ¡¸T-THAT INCOMPETENT ACTUALLY BAILED OUT!¡¹ ¡¸COWARD!¡¹ ¡¸Running away from the opponent in front of you with your tail between your legs. Shame on you!¡¹ I ignored those three funny clowns, who had yet to realize that they had already lost, and walked toward the official¡¯s tent in the corner of the match area. Then, I handed over the three armbands I took from those clowns. ¡¸Participant number 6032, Kai Heineman. These should be enough for me to advance to the next round, right?¡¹ I asked him to announce my advancement. ¡¸¡­¡¹ Upon hearing my question, the official got flustered for a moment. ¡¸You pass.¡¹ He snapped out right away and announced my advancement to the next round. Well, that¡¯s the end of this farce! Now, let¡¯s go back to the inn where Rose and the others are waiting for me. Volume 2 - CH 9 Act 2-9: Incompetent Expert(Side: Aaron) The first preliminary round of the D-block was about to begin. ¡¸Everyone is a small fry, huh!¡¹ My name is Aaron, the grandmaster of Kaien-style, the sword style which goes toe-to-toe with the Heineman-style in the Amelia kingdom. Right now, I¡¯m heaving a deep sigh while looking at the three youngsters belonging to my school¡¯s sword art-style charging toward their opponents while screaming like idiots. If it were only that, I wouldn¡¯t find a problem. At least, they should let their swords talk. However, whether it was due to cowardice or caution, they didn¡¯t charge toward their opponent at once. But the moment I thought so, the three of them surrounded their opponent, a petite youth. The first preliminary round is a round to test your tactics. In short, there¡¯s nothing wrong with ganging up against your opponent. However, the difference between the physiques of the two sides was too big. Moreover, the one the trio was ganging up against was that infamous Heineman-style¡¯s incompetent, Kai Heineman. I¡¯ve met the lad a few times when his grandfather, Elm, had taken him on a trip. In short, the young generation disciples of my school went as far as to gang up against the weakest opponent in the arena just for a single victory. It isn¡¯t a wrong tactic, but it¡¯s more of a problem with their disposition as warriors never bully the weak. Even though this sounds funny, those three actually didn¡¯t go as far as to attack at once; instead, they quarreled about who would fight the boy. This meant that the fight couldn¡¯t be regarded as three versus one. £¨It seems both Elm and I have a hard time regarding our successors.£© With such a situation, our school has lost in terms of gifts since they have the rumored spear king with them. However, ability-wise, that spear king lad is far too inexperienced to beat my personal disciple, Arnold. The moment I reminisced about that, IT happened. Kai Heineman slowly closed in toward the trio and clapped right in front of their face. He used the moment when the trio had yet to recover from their shocks to take their armbands and leave the arena. ¡¸W-WHAT happened just now?¡¹ My eyes almost popped out the moment I saw Kai Heineman¡¯s move. Not even the screams of my personal disciple could snap me out of my stupor. ¡¸W-What was that movement?¡¹ Finally, I managed to squeeze through my parched throat and ask this question. I also saw what my disciple had seen just now. It was a perfect movement, lacking any gap or opening. It was a movement only someone among my peers, those who have reached mastery in their styles, could perform. Even then, this movement was the best amongst the best. ¡¸Was that a coincidence?¡¹ ¡¸YOU FOOL!¡¹ There are no coincidences in martial arts. The moment Kai Heineman showed that movement, I confirmed that he¡¯s a person who stands on the same level as us, someone who has mastered his style. ¡¸But how? How can someone that young move like that?¡¹ When I heard this question from one of the assistant instructors, I heaved a sigh. ¡¸Kai Heineman. He¡¯s Elm¡¯s grandson.¡¹ I told him the facts. ¡¸W-WAIT A MINUTE! Kai Heineman¡¯s gift is supposed to be Incompetent, right?¡¹ ¡¸You lots, do you really think he is an incompetent after seeing THAT with your very eyes?¡¹ From my perspective, Kai wasn¡¯t that talented. When I had seen him last time, I wanted to recommend some other martial artist¡¯s path to him. ¡¸But still, is that the same Kai Heineman? What¡¯s the meaning of this?¡¹ ¡¸Maybe, Elm has been spreading false information all along.¡¹ I couldn¡¯t hold back my anger. Incompetent my ass! As if an incompetent could reach such a height at such a young age! It¡¯s definitely the result of personal training by his grandfather. He¡¯s a sword saint at a tender age along with his natural talent. Because that¡¯s the only possibility I can think of. The reason Elm spread false information might be to block his grandson from the scouts belonging to others¡¯ styles. But, that Elm fella, does he realize just how much his grandson has been scorned because of that? No, in the first place, is he someone capable of doing such cruel things? And then¨D ¡¸That bast*rd Elm wanted to separate a good seedling from bad seedlings, huh!¡¹ He had crushed such a talent for the sake of the continuation of his style, huh. He isn¡¯t allowed to use violence as a master swordsman. ¡¸But, I hear that Kai Heineman was kicked out from the Heineman family.¡¹ ¡¸Is Elm seriously letting go of such genius?¡¹ ¡¸Yes, the assistant instructor of the Heineman-style himself said that in Luserhall. Since he didn¡¯t seem to be lying when he said that, it¡¯s most likely the truth.¡¹ What kind of nonsense is this? Elm, of all people, kicking out such a talented youth? Or, did he simply fail to notice that talent since Kai Heineman is his grandson? No, someone who has crossed the deadline in many battles wouldn¡¯t miss such talent. Since that¡¯s the case, for what reason did Elm kick out such a genius from the Heineman family? This is the biggest mystery of this case! ¡¸Maybe, the rumor about his gift being incompetent is also a false rumor. But, there have been no movements indicating such an attempt. I mean, remember, Heineman-style¡¯s base is in Lamour, a place where your gift literally decides your life.¡¹ Sure enough, that explanation from one of my assistant instructors did make sense. God grants us only one gift. This is a well-known truth. But, even if for example, Kai Heineman had received two gifts from God, something that has never happened before, to be honest, that explanation would still lack the decisive factor to explain the height of the ability he showed us before. At the very least, that level of mastery makes me want to believe that he is a never-seen-before, a double gift holder, rather than an incompetent. ¡¸If that¡¯s really the case, then they¡¯re truly unsalvageable idiots.¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, indeed.¡¹ We have to meet Kai Heineman as soon as possible right after the end of this tournament. If we manage to rope such a talent into our school, the position of the next king¡¯s royal guard is practically guaranteed. And when that happens, it will once again prove that our Kaien style, which doesn¡¯t rely on gifts, is the right style. ¡¸Good grief! I can¡¯t help but look forward to his next match now.¡¹ Anyhow, I have a meeting that I can¡¯t miss in the neighboring city. But, in any case, this tournament is definitely the turning point for Kaien-style. I might be able to see the grand-final from a special VVIP box seat if I return as soon as I finish my business in the next city. Let¡¯s just endure this excitement until that time. ¡¸Let¡¯s get going!¡¹ I suppressed my excitement and urged my assistant instructors, who acted as my escorts, to leave the arena. Volume 2 - CH 10 Act 2-10: March Toward Despair 1[Side: Hook] A certain inn in Barse¡­ ¡¸F*CK THIS SH*T WINE!¡¹ D-rank hunter Raiga Easter slammed his wooden wine mug on the table. ¡¸So you thoroughly got chewed out by Mia-chan. And had to see your idol, Ilsa-san, give such high praise to Kai Heineman.¡¹ My name is Hook. I¡¯m Raiga¡¯s best friend, the brain, and the rear guard of the party. I said those words as I looked at Raiga, who angrily downed the wine in his wooden mug. Raiga was born and raised in Lamour, a city where a human¡¯s value was decided by their gift, a blessing given to them by God. From Raiga¡¯s perspective and considering his upbringing, Kai Heineman, whose gift was ¡¾The Most Incompetent in This World¡¿, wasn¡¯t even worth remembering. £¨If not for this trait of him, he¡¯s actually a really nice guy.£© I kept those words unsaid since the only thing I hate about Raiga is his view about gifts being absolute. Gift is indeed everything. But, just because someone¡¯s abilities are low, it doesn¡¯t mean that their personality is the worst too. ¡¸Mia-chan, get away from the incompetent!¡¹ ¡¸From a woman¡¯s perspective, it¡¯s not like she¡¯s on Kai Heineman¡¯s side. Rather, she has the right to give a sermon to you as the guild¡¯s receptionist. Anyhow, this case is entirely your fault. Your stock in her has taken a nosedive toward minus.¡¹ "" ¡¸S¡¯UT UP! WHAT DA YA KNOW ABOUT ME!¡¹ ¡¸Do you seriously want me to answer that?¡¹ ¡¸Of course.¡¹ Raiga always loses the sight around him whenever it comes to the matter of gifts. ¡¸Good grief! You better not mess up with Kai Heineman again in the future. Even that Ilsa-san wants to scout Kai Heineman to join her exploration team for exploring some ancient ruin.¡¹ ¡¸Ya know what she said when I asked her whether I could join her team or not? That woman said that I lack the qualifications to be a B-rank hunter!¡¹ ¡¸That just tells you how difficult the quest for B-rank is, right? Did you forget that we¡¯re still D-rank hunters?¡¹ ¡¸About to become C-rank! With my gift, climbing to A-rank in a flash isn¡¯t a pipe dream. And yet, that woman dared to say that I¡¯m weaker than that incompetent!¡¹ I don¡¯t think that everything is decided by the gift we¡¯re born with. In fact, there have been numerous masters who have left their names in history outside of their gifts¡¯ expertise. Since Ilsa Harnisch, a popular treasure hunter specializing in exploring ruins, has recognized Kai Heineman, she might¡¯ve judged that he has something that she needs for her exploration. However, Raiga had already blown his top at that time and couldn¡¯t bring himself to accept her explanation. Well then, what should I do now to calm him down? ¡¸Oi, Raiga, Hook! Someone told me to give this to you guys.¡¹ One of our comrades came to us and placed a pendant and a letter on top of the desk. ¡¸Do you know who that person was?¡¹ ¡¸I couldn¡¯t confirm their identity since they had covered their head with a hood. They just left these things and departed before I could ask their name.¡¹ That¡¯s way too suspicious. Maybe, we should just throw these things. ¡¸Raiga¨D¡¹ I called out to Raiga, but¡­ ¡¸Aah, I see! This seems to be the investigation about the ¡ºAncient Temple¡». The letter even says that they have placed their hope on Hook and Raiga out of all people in Barse.¡¹ This letter was obviously a provocation to stir up Raiga¡¯s uselessly high pride. ¡¸W-Wait, Raiga¨D¡¹ Although it might prove to be useless, I still called out to Raiga to calm him down. Later on, I realized that I should¡¯ve just torn down that letter and quarreled with Raiga than face the calamity and the regret that came out later. But, I was a moment too late. Raiga had already read that letter. ¡¸KUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!¡¹ Raiga let out a maniacal laugh. ¡¸Let¡¯s investigate the effect of this pendant. If the letter turns out to be right, we¡¯re going to depart for exploring the ¡ºAncient Temple¡» .¡¹ He spun the words that would send us straight into a nightmare later on. Volume 2 - CH 11 Act 2-11: The Other Party¡¯s Circumstances(Side:???) A blonde woman was staying in a dim room in an inn inside Barse. She donned on black attire, shut the book she was reading, kept it aside, then glanced toward the corner of the room. Suddenly, a man clad in black clothes appeared in front of that woman. The man knelt and respectfully reported to the blonde woman. ¡¸I have delivered the pendant as per your instruction.¡¹ ¡¸Thank you very much! Now, we just need to watch and pray so that those stupid clowns will dance on our palms.¡¹ The blonde woman spoke in soliloquy while pouring wine into the glass on top of the table. ¡¸¡­¡¹ The man in black clothes didn¡¯t reply to her; he just lowered his face and chewed his lips in frustration. The blonde woman squinted. Then, she stood from her chair and approached the man in black clothes. ¡¸Uhm, that look! Are you dissatisfied?¡¹ She asked the black clothed man while looking at his face. ¡¸There¡¯s no such thi¡ª¡¹ "" ¡¸I understand your feelings. You can¡¯t accept the fact that we gave our treasure to those filthy humans, right?¡¹ The man in black clothes didn¡¯t say anything for a while as if he were waiting for her to continue, but¡­ ¡¸I¡¯ve made no mistake in choosing you. However, no matter how much your logic accepts it, the same can¡¯t be said for your soul.¡¹ The next moment, she opened her mouth with a determined look on her face. ¡¸That¡¯s right. My soul can¡¯t accept this act. But, unless we do this, we will lose this war.¡¹ ¡¸You mean, the legendary hero¡­¡¹ ¡¸Yes, you¡¯ll understand why I¡¯m doing this once you see those people¡¯s battles. That¡¯s a monster born from the species called humans. I don¡¯t think anyone can beat the hero aside from His Majesty. As if that isn¡¯t enough¡­¡¹ ¡¸Hero¡¯s party, huh.¡¹ The blonde woman nodded upon hearing the man in black clothes¡¯ reply. ¡¸Strength-wise, His Majesty should be slightly stronger than the hero. But, both the sage and the paladin can¡¯t be underestimated either. If those two are added into the equation, His Majesty will lose for sure. Moreover, there are also the sword saint¡¯s, the archmage¡¯s, and the spear king¡¯s gift holders in the hero party. If we let them grow even stronger, we¡¯re gonna lose for sure.¡¹ ¡¸When that happens, the losers¡ªwe, the demon race¡ªwill get wiped out. ¡¹ ¡¸I agree with you. That¡¯s the reason I¡¯m willing to accomplish this job at all costs.¡¹ The man in black clothes replied with a serious look on his face and a bitter smile on his lips. ¡¸Is it about that oracle?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah! That oracle¡¯s ceremony exists in that ruin. We can most likely summon our god into this world by offering several humans as sacrifices according to the oracle. If that¡¯s true¨D¡¹ ¡¸We can crush that hero and his party for sure!¡¹ A strong, dark swirling emotion filled with all kinds of negative thoughts toward the human race could be seen in the eyes of the man in black clothes. ¡¸Those heroes might be monsters, but that¡¯s only inside our diminutive rules. They are no match for our god.¡¹ The man in black clothes shrugged upon hearing the blonde woman¡¯s voice, which was filled with a rare passion. ¡¸But, no matter how much we have been cornered, it looks really pathetic that we have to go as far as to rely on the God who is only mentioned in fairy tales.¡¹ She heaved a sigh as she muttered those words in a tired voice. ¡¸I feel the same, But, we have no way to survive aside from relying on that god in the fairy tales. This is literally a desperate plan. And that¡¯s even more reason for us to ensure that this plan works.¡¹ ¡¸What if those fellows fail?¡¹ ¡¸Naturally, we will retrieve the pendant and look for the next stupid clown. Leave that matter to me. I¡¯ll start right away.¡¹ ¡¸Understood.¡¹ The man in black clothes then stood back, placed his right fist on his ch*st, and left the room. ¡¸Asch-sama, I will definitely grant your wish!¡¹ The blonde woman, who was left alone in the room, muttered those words with a determined expression. Volume 2 - CH 12 Act 2-12: Speculation of Teacher and Disciple ¡¸THAT B*STARD!¡¹ Shiga, the assistant instructor of the Heineman-style dojo, angrily kicked up the wooden chair in his room. Three of the disciples he had taught had gotten eliminated in the first preliminary round. The trio had surrounded Kai Heineman to give him a beating, but their target left the arena as soon as the trio surrounded him. Normally, Kai Heineman should¡¯ve been scared shitless of the trio and received a beating. Unexpectedly, not only did Kai Heineman qualify the round, but three of Shiga¡¯s disciples even got eliminated. While this had happened, Shiga had been watching Riku, the disciple he had placed his hopes in and whose match schedule had overlapped with Kai¡¯s. Thus, he didn¡¯t get to see what had happened in Kai¡¯s match. ¡¸THAT F*CKING INCOMPETENT! Just what kind of shady means he used to pass the first preliminary?¡¹ Kai Heineman was well known in Lamour as the weakest incompetent. No matter how much Shiga pondered this question, he just couldn¡¯t picture the scene of Kai passing the first preliminary round. Thus, it left only one possibility in his mind. Kai Heineman had cheated using an item. Shiga knew that Kai¡¯s mother was an elite hunter. Thus, he assumed that she, who doted on her son, must¡¯ve left something for Kai Heineman that would protect him when she was away. However, a victory in this tournament was worth the value of the item she had left for her son considering the bleak future of her son, who was granted a trash gift. Naturally, Shiga had raised a complaint to the referee immediately after hearing the result of the match. But, the other side was unwilling to listen to him. ¡¸Shiga-sensei, we were defeated by underhanded means!¡¹ Shiga¡¯s female disciple who got eliminated said so while loudly crying. ¡¸THAT INCOMPETENT APOSTATE! He dared to sully our efforts!¡¹ ¡¸UNFORGIVABLE! Let¡¯s beat him to death!¡¹ One of Shiga¡¯s disciples clasped his wooden sword and walked toward the entrance of the room with bulging blue veins on his forehead; the other two disciples followed suit. Just when they were about to cross the entrance, ¡¸Stop right there.¡¹ Riku, the handsome, blond disciple of Shiga, stopped them. ¡¸Don¡¯t try to stop us, Riku! This is the problem of distinction of our Heineman-style!¡¹ One of the disciples squeezed his voice and shouted at Riku with bloodshot eyes. ¡¸That¡¯s right! This is our problem, not yours!¡¹ The female disciple added with a shrill voice. Although this female disciple always acted affectionately toward Riku, her current temperament was the exact opposite today. That showed just how much they felt humiliated after finding out that they had been beaten by the one they called incompetent. ¡¸¨D¡¹ Shiga opened his mouth to reprimand his disciples, but¡­ ¡¸Then, I¡¯ll beat that apostate in the second preliminary round. I¡¯ll thoroughly beat him in front of the crowd. And after I win, I¡¯ll reveal the fact that he is cheating to completely crush him. As long as we show to everyone watching the tournament that he is, in fact, a weak incompetent, even the management won¡¯t have any choice other than to acknowledge the fact that the incompetent is cheating, right?¡¹ Shiga couldn¡¯t help but agree. His disciple was right. As long as Riku beat up the incompetent apostate called Kai Heineman in front of the spectators, the public would have no choice but to agree with them. With the audience on the side of Shiga¡¯s group, the tournament¡¯s management would have no choice but to acknowledge that Kai Heineman was cheating during the first preliminary round. At least, beating Kai till he was half-dead was much better than leaving him to become a bigger threat later in the future. ¡¸You¡¯re right. I agree with Riku.¡¹ ¡¸SENSEI!¡¹ One of Shiga¡¯s disciples tried to appeal in a loud voice to change Shiga¡¯s mind, but¡­ ¡¸If you guys rampage outside of the tournament, your actions will only besmirch the Heineman-style¡¯s reputation. You might even get punished for that. And I don¡¯t want to impose such danger on talented youths like you just for that incompetent.¡¹ Shiga stopped them with such insincere words unbefitting of a teacher. Even Riku, the disciple he favored the most, was nothing more than a way for him to raise his position in the Heineman-style dojo. This was especially true for the trio, whose talent in swords was far below that of Riku. Although he could use them as his handpieces, Shiga absolutely couldn¡¯t let them become a hindrance for his future. And he planned to make them understand that. ¡¸Sensei¡­¡¹ However, his performance managed to bring out the sympathy of his students. ¡¸Well then, Riku, can I leave this matter of the second preliminary round to you?¡¹ ¡¸Leave it to me. I¡¯ll definitely pay back everyone¡¯s humiliation to him, double. I¡¯m gonna beat him no matter how much he cries and apologizes.¡¹ The sadistic smile on Riku¡¯s face convinced everyone that he was going to beat Kai until the latter couldn¡¯t recover as a swordsman anymore. Although they couldn¡¯t do that before, thanks to the influence of Kai¡¯s grandfather, Elm, there was nothing to stop them in this city. Currently, an intense competition was happening in the Heineman-style dojo for the position of the next grandmaster. The competition was between the branch family faction, who endorsed the spear king¡¯s gift holder, Roman, and the main family faction, where Elm and Kai came from. The branch family faction was in the lead since no one had a better gift than Roman¡¯s spear king. As long as Shiga, who also belonged to the branch family faction, could uncover the foul means Kai Heineman, who was renowned as the stain of the main family, used in this tournament in front of so many people, he would inflict a decisive blow to the main family. On the other hand, he could also preserve the honor of the Heineman-style since the one who was going to beat Kai was Riku, who came from the same style. Yes, it was just like killing two birds with one stone. If everything went smoothly, a position would be prepared for Shiga when he would bring back the news of their victory to the branch family. ¡¸I¡¯m looking forward to your performance then!¡¹ When Shiga came closer and tapped Riku¡¯s shoulder, his expression was filled with worldly desire. Volume 2 - CH 13 Act 2-13: Gong for The Final Preliminary Round of D-Block In the second preliminary round too, I managed to snatch enough armbands to receive the qualification for the next round. Most importantly, I advanced to the final preliminary round without being too conspicuous. After that, the Heineman-style instructor raised a fuss about me being a cheater, but the tournament committee flat out rejected his plea without a second thought of further investigation. Well, the reason for that might simply be the huge number of participants in the first preliminary round, which resulted in dozens of similar complaints. Maybe because Rose herself had expected that, her only reply when I told her about this matter was, ¡°I see. So that happened, huh!¡±. These days, Faf¡¯s mood frequently worsened since I often went out by myself for a while. However, perhaps due to her perseverance, Rose could suppress Faf¡¯s withdrawal syndrome by patting the latter¡¯s head. ¡¸You¡¯ll get three million oars as long as you win this. So you don¡¯t need to worry about that money exceeding the amount you need.¡¹ ¡¸Indeed!¡¹ Anyhow, I guessed I should just abstain or lose on purpose after the final and return to Barse as soon as possible. ¡¸Oi, Kai! Uhm¡­¡¹ Although Anna was facing another direction when I looked at her, her hands were nervously fidgeting. ¡¸What¡¯s the matter?¡¹ This woman had mellowed a lot after that incident with the beast girl slave. ¡¸Godspeed!¡¹ A tinge of rosy color appeared on her cheeks when she said those words of encouragement. ¡¸Even Anna has mellowed a lot, huh.¡¹ Rose nodded with a satisfied expression as she said those words. ¡¸R-Rose-sama! It¡¯s not like I¡¯ve me¨D¡¹ Anna tried to refute Rose¡¯s remark with a beef-red face, but¡­ ¡¸Then, please do your best. Anna and Faf-chan will be cheering for you from the audience seats.¡¹ Rose ignored her and went to cheer me on. By the way, after finishing his business, Asta had gone back to his room to read the books I had lent to him. I had noticed this peculiarity just recently, but apparently, he¡¯s an extremely avid reader. He gets completely absorbed in reading the books I lend to him that I had found in the labyrinth, so absorbed that he forgets everything. If this continues to happen, I guess I¡¯d have no choice but to drag him out by force to bathe him with warm sunlight. I mean, even the inn¡¯s proprietress was starting to worry about him always locking himself in his room. Good grief! My direct kin ended up being a pampered dragon and a shut-in majin. Do they think I¡¯m their mother? ¡¸Faf, I¡¯ll leave them to you!¡¹ I said to Faf, who was clinging to me and rubbing her cheeks on me. ¡¸Leave it to Faf, nodesu!¡¹ Faf let go of me and spoke while raising her right fist in the air. After parting ways with the others, I went toward the arena for the finals of the preliminary round. The participants of the final preliminary round for the D-block stepped on the round stage in the middle of the venue. A blond woman who acted as the emcee of this round also stepped on the stage after all the thirty participants had gathered there. She then spoke in a strangely slow voice. ¡¸Ladies and gentlemen, all the thirty participants of the D-block¡¯s final preliminary round have gathered here. From these thirty, only four will advance to the next round. The rule is simple. Everyone who gets knocked out or stepped out of the stage will get eliminated. In sho~rt, the last four who beat the hell out of the other twenty-six will advance to the next round.¡¹ She went as far as saying, ¡°Beat the hell out of.¡± What a wild big sis! ¡¸Moreover, every person you beat will add 50k oars to the total prize you will get. That¡¯s why even if you get eliminated in this round, you can still receive a lot of money by defeating a lot of opponents on the stage. Not a bad idea to keep your purse filled, right.¡¹ I see! This match format tended to cause a disadvantage to anyone who made the first move due to the number of participants. Since the match wouldn¡¯t be interesting if all participants just glared at each other. Thus, the tournament¡¯s committee had prepared delicious bait for them, the consolation money. ¡¸Well then, let¡¯s start with a simple introduction for every participant.¡¹ The female emcee introduced us one by one in an extremely cheerful voice. The one being introduced had to raise their hands. ¡¸Next is from the Heineman-style sword art, Riku Salvatore. Heineman-style is the sword art dojo of the Sword Saint Elm-sama, who was also a member of the previous Hero-sama¡¯s party, and he slew one of the four demon kings in the past. Now, what kind of a superior sword art Riku is going to show us today? please look forward to his performance!!!¡¹ The handsome blond youth raised his hands with a gentle smile. It was followed by a loud cheer from the audience. As expected of my grandfather¡¯s dojo. Its popularity is second to none in the Amelia kingdom. Nevertheless, Riku, huh. Maybe because it was bad timing, but I never got the chance to see Riku swinging his sword before I got trapped in that dungeon. So I never had a virtual match with him back then. Although I have prepared some countermeasures to fight this youth due to the above circumstances, talent-wise, he might be the same as that greenhorn sword emperor, a youth loved by the Sword God. ¡¸Lastly, Kai Heineman from the Commandement sword art. He¡­ seems to be related with the Heineman-style. And let¡¯s see, he is¡­ EH? The holder of the gift, the most incompetent in this world?¡¹ Just like what had happened in Barse¡¯s hunter guild, this emcee ended up blurting out my introduction. The arena fell into silence for a while, then exploded into an even greater uproar than before. Yup, this is what I wanted, the information that I was an incompetent spreading wide and far. This would make it easier for me to step back after I find a more suitable royal guard for Rose. Then, I could finally start my pleasure trip around the world. However, it isn¡¯t that just anyone can become a royal guard; they need to have a good personality. And no matter how talented they are, greenhorns like Riku and co. are out of the question. Well, I might only incite their wrath if I offer that position to them though. Currently, the best candidate for me was that youngster with a feral-like air, Zack, or someone around his level. A glance was enough to confirm that Zack fulfilled the requirements I needed regarding strength and experience. After the end of this tournament, I¡¯m gonna apply for a match against him with the condition of him becoming royal guard if he loses. Provoking a battle junkie like him is too easy after all. ¡¸Oi, Emcee, is it your job to speak ill of others? if that¡¯s the case, quickly get the hell out of this place!!!¡¹ A man wearing a red bandana on his head and exuding the air of a swordsman shouted at the female emcee. ¡¸Agreed. I was also irked by her statement.¡¹ The man with slit eyes and dressed in a black robe also agreed with the bandana man. According to the emcee¡¯s introduction a while ago, this bandana man was Bri, and the slit-eyed man who was clad in a black robe was Sigma. ¡¸M-My apologies!!¡¹ As a result of their statements, the blond emcee repeatedly apologized. ¡¸The Emcee only stated a fact. She did nothing wrong! How can you blame her for that!!¡¹ When Riku raised his voice, criticizing Bri and Sigma, the entire arena agreed with him. It was only natural! This was the Amelia kingdom, after all, a place where the value of your existence is decided by your gift. But then, the place as extreme as my birthplace, Lamour, is rare. ¡¸Cough, this is a place where you speak with your cane or sword, not with your mouth. If you want to argue with your mouth, get out of this place and line up in front of a government building to become a civil official. Ignorant young master.¡¹ ¡¸GH!¡¹ As if to answer Riku¡¯s outburst, the slit-eyed man clad in black robe; Sigma, simply shut Riku. He mocked the latter till he couldn¡¯t talk back. ¡¸Y-YOU BASTARD!!¡¹ Riku¡¯s face turned as red as tomatoes due to his rage. "" ¡¸Sorry! It¡¯s really my fault! Please allow me to use this occasion to offer my words of apology! So, both of you, please stop your quarrel!!¡¹ The female emcee repeatedly bowed and apologized in a voice that was already on the verge of crying. ¡¸Good grief! Please start the match already! I hate this battle with mouths the most.¡¹ Well, there was no need for her to apologize since this development was what I had been waiting for. After that, I just needed to win without standing out and push the role of the royal guard to Zack. If it was him, I knew that he should be able to do a proper job as a royal guard. I mean, I didn¡¯t want to get myself involved in bigger trouble than this mess of throne succession. ¡¸Y-Yes! W-well then, everyone. Are you ready! D-block, final preliminary round¡­ BEGIN!!! ¡¹ The gong of the D-block¡¯s final preliminary round resounded as soon as the female emcee¡¯s cry ended. Volume 2 - CH 14 Act 2-14: A Painful Correction for The Youth¡¯s Misunderstanding Three swordsmen surrounded me. They might¡¯ve thought I was easy prey after hearing about my gift being ¡°incompetent.¡± In short, they wanted to earn some pocket money while getting rid of the weak nuisance, namely me, from the arena at the same time. What a simple development! The place where I stood was right at the edge of the circular arena, my back being side-by-side with the outside of the arena. In this place, I should be able to win without being too conspicuous. ¡¸KIEEEEEEEEEE!!¡¹ A short-haired man rushed toward me with a strange scream. I tripped his feet while brushing off his wooden sword from overhead with my right hand. I let the momentum carry him outside of the arena, disqualifying him. Yup, one down. ¡¸KAAAAAAAAAA~~~~N!!¡¹ A long-haired man unleashed a big swing to my side. I stepped into his range, took another step, and at the same time, knocked him back with the heel of my right foot. Then, I grabbed him by his head and pushed him out of the arena with my right hand. ¡¸UOOO!?¡¹ The long-haired man dove out of the arena head-first while letting out a disarrayed scream. ¡¸T-THIS DAMN BRAT!¡¹ Lastly, a black-haired man around 1.9 meters tall unleashed a lunge as he let out a warcry. Are these fellows incapable of unleashing their attacks unless they let out strange screams? I dodged his lunge and wasted no time pushing his back in the direction of his lunge, outside of the arena. And just like that, the black-haired man met the same fate as the previous two, falling outside the area while letting out a strange scream. ¡¸THIS GUY IS THE INCOMPETENT!!¡¹ Suddenly, one of the participants shouted that in an enraged voice. Using this opportunity, a few other participants also surrounded me, pointing their wooden poles or wooden swords toward me. Riku stepped out amidst them, pushing aside the other participants. ¡¸THIS COWARD! How dare you not use a sword despite being a swordsman! You even pushed your opponents outside of the arena by taking advantage of their slips! Just how cowardly are you going to be!¡¹ He screamed like an idiot while pointing his wooden sword toward me. The audience members also let out voices of approval toward Riku¡¯s claim. It looked like Riku wanted to use me to do some sort of publicity stunt. Though, Riku was a novice. To me, this claim of his made him look no different from a greenhorn. Seriously, is Heineman-style really going to be fine with such an idiot being one of its students? ¡¸YOU FOOL! Have you still not noticed it even after seeing that move?¡¹ Bri, who stood far away from us, readied his sword toward me, his face twitching when he heard Riku¡¯s claim. Sigma also pointed his cane toward me, not letting his guard down even after Riku¡¯s claim. Seeing the seemingly excessive vigilance Bri and Sigma showed toward me, the other participants exchanged glances. Then, they took some distance away from me too. ¡¸YOU FILTHY INCOMPETENT B*STARD! I¡¯m gonna beat that rotten guts of yours!¡¹ The audience became more and more heated as Riku¡¯s voice became louder and braver. Finally, the audience started chanting his name. Honestly, I was really surprised upon finding that Riku was talented at agitating his opponent. It was the kind of talent that I lacked. However, this wasn¡¯t the place where you brainwash someone to become your faithful follower; nor was this the plaza in front of the royal capital where you could convey the message from the kingdom to the citizens. This was a match venue, a place where your sword talked more than your mouth. Well, I guess the duty to give a painful reminder to the ignorant youth was mine as the elder who had lived far longer than him(in the dungeon). ¡¸I told you just a while ago, right? We¡¯re swordsmen once we hold swords. And as a swordsman, we talk with our swords, not our mouths.¡¹ ¡¸THIS INCOMPETENT APOSTATE!! How dare you make such cheeky remarks!¡¹ After saying that, Riku closed in the distance between us with a rush that could only be described as a clumsy move. Then, he swung his sword, aiming toward my head. Against such crude tactics, which were slow on top of that, all I needed was to seize his wooden sword with my left hand. ¡¸NA! L-let go of my sword!¡¹ I caught Riku¡¯s right punch with my right hand. Then, I twisted his hand while unleashing a kick toward his abdomen, making him fall on his knees. As he knelt, Riku let out a painful wile. He vomited on the floor of the arena. I seized his collar with my right hand and pulled him closer. ¡¸Now listen to me. This is going to be the last time I tell you this. We¡¯re swordsmen once we hold swords. And a sword is a killing tool, not a children¡¯s toy. You better stop being a swordsman with such a half-hearted resolution.¡¹ After whispering that warning in his ears, I let go of his collar and threw his wooden sword, which I had grabbed with my left hand, back to him. The entire stadium fell silent. The owner of the wooden sword, Riku, didn¡¯t catch his sword and let it fall on the arena¡¯s ground. Then¡­ ¡¸I changed my mind. I guess I¡¯ll play along with your little games.¡¹ I walked toward the other participants while speaking those words. Volume 2 - CH 15 Act 2-15: MONSTER(Side: Bri Stamp) ¡¸INCOMPETENT BA*STARD!!¡¹ A huge, bear-like man spouted those words as he closed in on Kai Heineman, but he was easily thrown back by a seemingly simple swing of Kai¡¯s wooden sword. The swing sent the bear-like man rolling out of the arena. ¡¸S-SURROUND HIM!!¡¹ Although several people leaped out to surround Kai upon hearing that loud order, Kai destroyed the formation far too easily with a single step. ¡¸B-BE CAREFUL! He might be using magic or something!¡¹ Magic, THAT? You¡¯re absolutely wrong, idiots! It just looks like magic in the eyes of those rookies since they can¡¯t recognize such a terrifying level of mastery that it looks natural. In fact, even I could just barely perceive his mastery. That showed just how terrifying was the ability of the youth that those rookies called incompetent. Then, they tried to use ranged attacks after realizing close combat had failed. However, when I looked at Sigma, who stood beside me, I found that he was drenched in a cold sweat as he looked at Kai. It seemed he also didn¡¯t wish to make his move for now. ¡¸Fireball!¡¹ The magician-like man clad in a navy-colored robe shot a fireball. However, Kai didn¡¯t dodge the incoming fireball. He simply waved his wooden sword toward the fireball. For some reason, I caught a glimpse of that fireball getting entwined with his wooden sword, then returning to its caster. The returned fireball shot forth with an even greater speed and collided with the caster. When the fireball hit him, the caster fell back and passed out. ¡¸M-MONSTE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~R!!¡¹ To be honest, this was the first time I had witnessed such a haphazard way of avoiding a magic spell. Not even my master could do that. There was no doubt about it. HE is a master, maybe even stronger than my master, who already has monster-like strength. After seeing that scene, Sigma also lost his chance to fire his prided magic spell. I don¡¯t think I can beat that monster either. It¡¯s already a hopeless situation where managing to graze that monster alone would place you amongst the strongest swordsmen of this era. That¡¯s just how much the gap of strength is between that monster and me. What should I do now? Is there really no way to win against that monster with frontal tactics? Should I cooperate with Sigma? Nope, that¡¯s impossible! How can such a makeshift team beat that monster? We will become the prey of that monster once we take the initiative to attack him. As if I have fallen into a bottomless well, I can¡¯t move even a single step from my spot while that seemingly impossible delusion sprouts within my heart. £¨Dammit!£© Merciless! He¡¯s way too merciless! Those greenhorn swordsmen and mages, who I had looked down on until now, had dared to plunge toward that monster! Yet, here I am, frozen on the spot, unable to make a move. My current situation is no different from that of the young master, who had been beaten first and was now trembling on the edge of the arena. That young master seems to be the type that has rarely suffered a defeat against an opponent from his generation. That might be the reason he had gotten overconfident of his abilities. Kai Heineman finally stopped moving for the first time ever since he beat that young master. Then, he approached the blonde, female emcee, who was watching the match in a daze since the start of the match. ¡¸It¡¯s finished. Now it¡¯s your job to announce the victors of this round.¡¹ At that moment, I also snapped out of my dazed state and realized that except for Kai, that young master called Riku, Sigma, and I, everyone else had already been thrown out of the arena. ¡¸E-EH! The victor of the D-block¡¯s final preliminary round are Kai Heineman, Riku Salvatore, Bri Stamp, and Sigma Rockwell!¡¹ The entire venue was enveloped in total silence after that announcement. Kai Heineman didn¡¯t even spare a glance at us; he simply descended from the arena and left. The silence was finally broken a while after Kai left the arena. A few moments later, a huge uproar took place amongst the crowd. ¡¸Bri, just who in the hell¡­¡¹ Sigma came and asked me that with a ghastly pale face. I also wanted to know the answer to that question the most. But, I guess it was natural for him to ask such a question since he felt the same way as me. ¡¸By the way, I can assure you of one thing. He¡¯s a far more powerful swordsman than my master.¡¹ ¡¸I agree with you about that. But, what shall we do now? Doesn¡¯t it mean that we¡¯ve already accomplished our duty?¡¹ ¡¸You¡¯re right! Anyway, I think we have to gather the information about him and establish a contact for now.¡¹ ¡¸But, I don¡¯t think the other organization will just fold their arms, waiti¨D¡¹ ¡¸It¡¯s okay. No one in this country will try to scout the gift holder of a trashy gift such as ¡¾The Most Incompetent in This World¡¿. It¡¯s just a matter of time for a foreign organization though.¡¹ ¡¸Agreed! Anyhow, I¡¯ll go and report this matter to the tower master and drop out from this tournament. We have to devise a plan as soon as possible.¡¹ ¡¸Roger that! I¡¯ll stay in this tournament and see the situation for now. Like hell I¡¯m gonna accept the fact that the reason I advanced was that I can¡¯t move due to fear. I¡¯m definitely not going to lose in a fight.¡¹ ¡¸Hahaha! How typical of you! I shall take my leave then.¡¹ After waving his right hand, Sigma descended from the arena and went toward the tent of the tournament committee. Yeah. Even if I try to scout that monster right now, I doubt he would be interested in joining the organization where a coward like me came from. I¡¯ve to show him my, Bri Stamp¡¯s, guts! ¡¸LET¡¯S DO THIS!! I¡¯ll show you that I can at least graze your clothes.¡¹ I know myself that it¡¯s an almost impossible feat, but I¡¯ll show that monster that I can accomplish it. I swore in the proud name of ¡¾Babel¡¿! Volume 2 - CH 16 Act 2-16: March Toward Despair 2[Side: Hook] The vicinity of the ancient temple! I grimaced while suppressing the pain in my stomach as a one-eyed giant passed by right before me, causing a small-scale quake. All the monsters that had appeared before me were disaster-class monsters that I only knew by name before. If they found us, D-rank hunters like me and my comrades would turn into mincemeat in just a moment. The pendant that the suspicious hooded man had given to us turned out to have a stealth effect. Moreover, its effect covered fixed areas. It was largely thanks to the stealth effect that my comrades and I could arrive in the vicinity of the ancient temple without any trouble. £¨Hey, Raiga, let¡¯s just go back. I¡¯m getting a really bad feeling about this.£© My instincts had been ringing nonstop since a while ago as if it were telling me to get away from this place as soon as possible. £¨The hell you¡¯re talking about after reaching this far! Just a bit more! The achievement that surpasses even A-rank hunters is right in front of us!£© Dammit! This bastard Raiga is ecstatic after arriving in front of a temple that no one has ever found before. There¡¯s almost nothing that can change his mind now. At this rate, I guess I have no choice but to satisfy Raiga¡¯s ego by praising him for this great discovery of the century after entering the temple, then return to the city immediately. To be honest, the difficulties of this quest are way beyond our rank. When we arrived in front of the temple¡¯s huge gate, the four of us pressed the door and pushed it open. ¡¸Let¡¯s get going!¡¹ Raiga entered the temple while saying that in an extremely spirited voice. The temple was spacious from the inside. The space was surrounded by stone walls made from black stones. Sphere-shaped structures were buried in the wall and released a pale light, illuminating the room and giving it an eerie look. Moreover, there was a blood-colored geometric pattern in the center of the room, drawn in a circle. There was a cylindrical structure right inside the circle. Embedded on the top side of that cylindrical structure was something resembling a red key. ¡¸Is this¡­ a key?¡¹ ¡¸OI, WAIT A MI¨D¡¹ I shouted for him to wait, but Raiga didn¡¯t lend an ear to my voice. He casually inspected the structure and even picked up the key. Why does this fu*king guy always act carefree even though I have repeatedly warned him to be careful with something like this! It seems like I need to have a proper talk with Raiga once we¡¯re done with this matter. If things stay as they are, one day, we might have to face an extremely dangerous situation due to this ba*tard¡¯s carelessness. I have to make him understand that he can¡¯t involve his comrades in an even more dangerous situation due to his carelessness. If he doesn¡¯t understand even after I tell him that, well, even though I¡¯ll feel bad for him as his best friend, I guess we¡¯ll have to part ways with him. ¡¸Since there¡¯s a key, there must be a keyhole too, right?¡¹ Raiga and my other comrades searched the entire room. Such a dungeon is usually accompanied by an extremely atrocious trap. Properly speaking, the person who should investigate this place should be an experienced hunter with a treasure-hunter-type gift instead of us, who have no such gifts. Besides, we can¡¯t explore an ancient temple this way. ¡¸I¡¯ve told you guys again and again: be careful!¡¹ Yet, none of them paid any mind to my warning after they had arrived this far. I guess I have no choice but to leave this matter to our luck. ¡¸OI! OVER HERE!?¡¹ When Raiga heard one of our comrades shout in an excited voice, he immediately rushed in. Then, he inserted the key into the keyhole with a trembling hand. When he twisted the key, part of the wall moved out, revealing a passage behind it. ¡¸WOOW! COOL!¡¹ Contrary to my comrades, who were cheering and hugging each other, my anxiety became bigger and bigger upon seeing that passage. How can it be? if it were really this simple, the passage should¡¯ve been left open from the very beginning. In short, the one who made this temple had no intention to hide anything inside this temple. £¨This is bad! We¡¯re walking into a trap here!£© My intuition was always spot on when it comes to this. That¡¯s why I¨D ¡¸Let¡¯s go back now! I have a really bad feeling about this entire situation.¡¹ My gift was ¡¾Stargazer¡¿. In short, it was something akin to prediction-making. That¡¯s why everyone would follow my intuition in a normal situation. However, right now, I had told my comrades to retreat when a vast amount of wealth was waiting right before us. ¡¸What are you talking about after we¡¯ve come this far, Hook-san?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, advancing is our only choice in this kind of situation!¡¹ Not good, huh! Seeing the resolute look in their eyes, I guess there really is nothing that can change their mind. Rather, they might become even more reckless without me. ¡¸I understand. But, we have to retreat when I feel that the situation is way too dangerous for us. Do you agree with that?¡¹ ¡¸But, if we return, our achievement¨D¡¹ ¡¸We¡¯ve already secured our achievement the moment we arrived in this temple! Are you referring to something else? Do you really think that a single hunter can do everything from discovering the temple until the investigation?¡¹ Raiga seemed like he had been chewing his molar for a while, but he still said, ¡¸Kaykay! We¡¯ll go back once you feel things have become way too dangerous. I promise.¡¹ That was the answer I wanted to hear the most. I was saved from the fact that he was obedient right now. ¡¸Then let¡¯s go. Don¡¯t act rashly again.¡¹ Everyone nodded at once. And so, we entered even deeper into the temple. Soon, we arrived at the end of the passage. That place was definitely a mountain of treasures. ¡¸We ain¡¯t¡­ dreaming, right?¡¹ ¡¸Yes, I pinched my arm, and it hurts. This is real.¡¹ Everyone was overjoyed upon seeing treasures such as gold and silver stacked like mountains. However, my instincts had yet to stop telling me to escape from this place. Rather, it had gone up and made me feel hallucinatory pain. ¡¸According to the law of this industry, the ownership goes to the one who finds it first. Thus, all of this is ours. Let¡¯s go back at once. Leave the rest to the real investigator! ¡¹ I urged everyone to get out of this place immediately. ¡¸Yeah. More than this is unnecessary.¡¹ Raiga and my other comrades all nodded, albeit with rather reluctant expressions. Great! We can finally get out of this creepy place. I heaved a deep sigh as if I had found a lantern in the darkest night. ¡¸Well then, let¡¯s go.¡¹ Just when we were about to leave that treasure warehouse filled with treasures¨D ¡¸There¡¯s nothing wrong with bringing back a little bit right?¡¹ ¡¸Heavens, just how much we can get from selling this!¡¹ When I turned around, I saw my other three comrades stuffing as much treasure as they could into their rucksacks. ¡ºNfuu, it¡¯s wonderful that you took the bait. Now we can open the gate.¡» Suddenly, a hoarse voice of a man resounded in my head. Then, a magic circle suddenly appeared in the middle of the room, rotating in its place. I felt my entire body go limp as soon as that man¡¯s voice resounded in my ears. ¡¸THROW THAT THING BACK TO ITS PLACE, AND ESCAPE FROM THIS PLACE NOW!!!¡¹ I seized Raiga, who was right beside me, from the nape of his neck and brought him out of the room as fast as possible. CRUNCH! A while later, a giant mouth appeared from the magic circle, which was rotating in the treasure room. The giant mouth swallowed two of my comrades, who were still in the room, and chewed them alive. I could only watch as that giant mouth ate my comrades alive while they were wailing in pain. ¡¸Uuh¡­ ¡¹ Raiga groaned upon seeing that. Our comrades were being eaten alive right in front of us. That realization sent a chill running down my spine. I quickly propped Raiga, who was still in a daze as if his vigor from a while ago were a lie, and ran toward the exit of the temple. ¡ºListe~n, you may escape! And then, extol the greatest fear. For the strong and beautiful Pazuzu-sama is gonna make a mess of this world after this!!!¡» The only thing that I clearly remembered from back then was the delighted, hoarse voice of the man from before. Volume 2 - CH 17 Act 2-17: March Toward Despair 3(Side:???) A tall, red-haired man with a blue beard walked out from the temple. The man had an extremely eccentric appearance with a mantle, red bikini brief, military cap, and face powder that had turned the color of his face to white.[TN: Just change the crown here with a military cap, and you got Pazuzu https://vsbattles.fandom.com/wiki/Deep_Sea_King] ¡ºBeast Warriors, come.¡» After the man snapped his finger, three disgusting figures of an eagle, a tiger, and a wolf, all clad in military uniforms with white and blue base colors, appeared in front of him, each kneeling on their knee. ¡º¡º¡ºPazuzu¡¯s three beast warriors on your command!¡»¡»¡» The three monsters with beast heads raise their heads to greet the man in the bikini brief. ¡ºThe rest of us are here too!¡» Following the three, numerous beast-headed ¡°people¡± dressed in butler outfits came out from the blood-soaked floor. Men with a dog head, a monkey head, a pig head, a cow head, a deer head, and a goat head, each with their unique traits, knelt in front of the man clad in the bikini brief. The face of the man in the bikini brief warped into a devil-like smile when he saw all the beast-headed monsters kneeling before him. ¡ºWe~ll then, time to enjoy this game! It seems we¡¯ve drawn the first baton. Now, let¡¯s turn this world upside down into a living hell in accordance with our pact!¡» He spread his arms and instructed the beast-headed men kneeling in front of him. ¡ºPazuzu-sama¡¯s wish is our command!¡» The wolf-headed man shouted first. The man in the bikini brief nodded with a satisfied look on his face and then added, ¡ºAnyhow, we¡¯re going to take down the nearby settlement.¡» He was looking around as he said those words. Then, he looked at the group of the one-eyed giants who were escaping from the man in the bikini brief, Pazuzu, and his subordinates, with a smug smile on his face. ¡ºLet¡¯s use those monster-cha~ns. Now, everyone, you have to slowly, bit by bit, drive those monsters toward human settlement.¡» Pazuzu ordered his subordinates. ¡ºGUGO!¡» The beasts placed their right fists on their chest and moved to execute their master¡¯s order. In this way, the banquet of hell began from a place far away from human inhabitants. Volume 2 - CH 18 Act 2-18: March Toward Despair 4(Side: Ilsa Harnisch) ¨D¨DHunter Guild House of Barse city. ¡¸With this, I¡¯ve completed all preparation¡¹ I, Ilsa Harsnisch ¨C a B-class hunter, smiled in satisfaction when I saw the mountain of items that I had prepared for exploration piling up on the table before me. All the members of the exploration had gathered here too. Everyone was above B-class, with two famous A-class hunters specializing in combat in Barse. I had tried to invite the S-class hunter who had made his base in Barse, Wolfman, to join our team too, but he had kindly refused my invitation. Well, it was natural. Wolfman was a lone wolf to begin with. I wasn¡¯t the only one; he never accepted a party invitation from anyone. But then, having him standing by in Barse might have its advantage since it means he would be available in case we mess up with our exploration and cause a monster stampede. ¡¸The only one left is¡­ him.¡¹ He¡¯s the most important person for this operation. According to my investigation, he¡¯s currently in Luserhall, participating in the sacred martial arts tournament that is held around this time of the year. This situation also works in my favor. He¡¯s the key player and an indispensable person for this exploration. Therefore, I have persuaded the other hunters to let him into the team as long as he wins at least third place in the sacred martial arts tournament. My comrades were confused at first, but they¡¯ve agreed to let him join the team as long as he fulfills that condition. The sacred martial arts tournament is a huge gathering of martial artists who take pride in their skills, the face to gain gold and glory from the kingdom itself. Being able to get third place in that tournament itself is enough proof of someone¡¯s strength. It¡¯s also a rare chance for the high-ranked hunters to scout talented fighters to join their team. Their intent is legible and rational. Naturally, I¡¯ve yet to try to talk to Kai Heineman and ask him to join our team, but I¡¯m definitely going to make him join our team at all costs. If needed, I will use my savings or precious items that I have diligently gathered over the years; I won¡¯t even hesitate to use my body. I¡¯m an amazoness after all. Unlike humans, only a small number of our tribe receive gifts. Thus, unlike the majority of this kingdom¡¯s citizens, I don¡¯t feel any apprehension about sharing a bed with him for a single night. Rather, it¡¯s the opposite. As an amazoness, I absolutely want to give birth to the child of a strong man such as Kai Heineman. Well, it would depend on the person himself, but I¡¯m quite confident of my appearance. ¡¸Are you sure that you will use such a method to invite him?¡¹ The receptionist, who was also my best friend, Mia, approached our table and asked that question with an anxious expression. ¡¸Well, if that really happens, the price would indeed be a bit too expensive, but we¡¯re going to risk our lives for this exploration. I don¡¯t want our team to die stupidly just because I¡¯m being stingy.¡¹ ¡¸No, I don¡¯t mean that. I mean, are you sure that your team can explore that place? Look, even if he does reach his way up within the big three, there should be a regulation for exploration, right?¡¹ According to this kingdom¡¯s common sense, there¡¯s no way that the gift holder of ¡¾The Most Incompetent in This World¡¿ would be able to reach third place in such a grand sacred martial arts tournament. Since Mia was a native of the Amelia kingdom, this was common sense for her. But, she thought that only because she had no idea just how powerful Kai Heineman is. ¡¸Uhm. Well, as long as he doesn¡¯t abandon the match in the middle as it might become too cumbersome for him, I think he might even become the champion, you know?¡¹ In fact, the regulation of the match is what I¡¯m most worried about right now. According to the information I¡¯ve received, Kai Heineman has been seen walking along with a pink-haired girl. If that¡¯s true, he might be currently being commissioned to escort a high-ranking noble girl. In fact, the reason he¡¯s participating in the sacred martial arts tournament itself is to allow the said girl to stroll around Luserhall. There¡¯s a high possibility that he isn¡¯t aiming for the championship. That was why I also assumed the case where he would abstain from the match in the middle. Well if that becomes the case, I would have no choice but to go looking for another person. ¡¸Abandoning the match since it¡¯s too cumbersome¡­ Do you really mean it?¡¹ ¡¸Forget that for now. How about we hit the bar after this? The truth is, I¡¯m ready to go to scout Kai Heineman as soon as we finish our preparations.¡¹ Since we have completed our preliminary preparations, all that¡¯s left is for me to head toward Luserhall to scout Kai Heineman. ¡¸Uhm, okay! Please wait for a while! It¡¯s about the end of business time.¡¹ Mia shrugged and replied with her usual smile. ¡¸Let¡¯s go together then.¡¹ Right at that moment, the door of the guild house was swung open, and two men tumbled into the guild house. Then¡­ ¡¸Y-You guys, that ruin¨D We went into that ruin! And then, we heard a voice, and our comrades were eaten!!¡¹ Among the two, the tall, blonde man with a pale face shouted those incomprehensible remarks. The blonde man was tattered, his body covered in mud. If I¡¯m not wrong, this team should have Hook and Raiga, rising stars amongst rookies. He had asked me to allow him to join our team, but the quest we¡¯re about to do is way beyond their current capabilities. So I had refused them this time, but I intend to let them in on the next quest. ¡¸I WANT TO SPEAK WITH THE GUILD MASTER! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!¡¹ The short-haired man next to the blonde man staggered as he shouted those words. Mia, who stood beside me, trembled nonstop after hearing that. ¡¸E-emergency? What happened?¡¹ Mia asked as the color drained from her face. ¡¸WE¡­ might have been set up by someone! That¡¯s why please call the guild master. Now! This is an emergency!¡¹ Hook grabbed Mia¡¯s hands as he spoke, his face a sobby mess. ¡¸U-Understood. Please calm yourself while I call the guild master!¡¹ After forcing the crying Hook to sit on the chair, Mia went into the staff-only part of the guild house. Volume 2 - CH 19 Act 2-19: March Toward Despair 5(Side: Ilsa Harnisch) The management of Barse¡¯s hunter guild listened to Hook¡¯s story. After Hook finished what he had to say, the leaders heaved deep sighs. ¡¸So, greenhorns like you guys managed to reach that ancient ruin by relying on a pendant a suspicious man gave to you¡­¡¹ A small, yet muscular man muttered while stroking his beard and sighing. His name was Ralph Excel, and he was the guild master of Barse city¡¯s hunter guild. ¡¸Moreover, to think that you were stupid enough to approach that mountain of gold.¡¹ Another man who was part of management groaned while covering his face with his right hand. His reaction was natural. If something was left in a dungeon or a ruin, it was for A REASON. But those things would normally not be left in a conspicuous place that could be found so easily. If a proper treasure hunter had gone to that ancient ruin, they wouldn¡¯t have taken any of the treasures left in an open place like that. ¡¸Nothing we say now will change the current situation. We have to think about what to do next.¡¹ Guild Master Ralph said so. ¡¸Who¡¯s the black-robed man who gave that pendant to Raiga?¡¹ The staff member with bobbed hair voiced the question that had appeared in everyone¡¯s mind. ¡¸Well, they might be someone from an underworld organization or the demon race. Both aren¡¯t decent, after all.¡¹ ¡¸Isn¡¯t their goal to summon that Pazuzu guy?¡¹ One of the management staff with a short mustache asked Ralph with a meek expression. ¡¸It should be. Whichever it is, they all seem dangerous to me. We can¡¯t let that suspicious person continue his dangerous activities anymore. Start searching for that suspicious person in Barse city immediately!¡¹ ¡¸Understood! Please give the instruction for all hunters to immediately track them!¡¹ ¡¸Yes!¡¹ The staff members of the hunter guild left the room as soon as the guild master gave them the instructions. ¡¸Well then, Guild Master, this is a grave situation. Shall we call C-class hunters and above to resolve this crisis?¡¹ Ralph nodded at the suggestion of one of the guild staff members. ¡¸Yeah. Let¡¯s call them. What about the disaster level? Shall we make this a city-level disaster?¡¹ ¡¸Yes. Although I don¡¯t think it¡¯s gonna be a big deal as Wolfman happens to be standing by too, please do, just in case.¡¹ Each management staff member gave their approval to the guild master¡¯s plan. As a side note, hunter disaster levels are separated into six stages. From the least dangerous to the most dangerous, they are¡ª 1st Stage: Serial Murderer-Level¨D A threat level where a few people might lose their lives. 2nd Stage: Restricted City-Level¨D A threat level that might cause partial destruction of the city. 3rd Stage: City-Level¨D A threat level that might cause total destruction of the city. 4th Stage: Region-Level¨D A threat level that might cause total destruction of several cities. 5th Stage: Country-Level¨D A threat level that might cause the downfall of a country. 6th Stage: Global-Level¨D A threat level that might threaten the entire world. The current threat level was still the 3rd stage, city-level, a threat that might bring the downfall of a city. In short, the situation of Barse city¡¯s hunter guild was serious. Suddenly, a staff member tumbled into the guild master¡¯s office. ¡¸B-B-BAD NEWS!¡¹ ¡¸What is it this time?¡¹ One of the management staff members asked with a frown, but the newcomer ignored them. He just looked at the guild master while pointing toward the easter gate direction with his right hand. ¡¸IT¡¯S A MONSTER STAMPEDE! There are monsters that inhabit the deepest region of the forest. Some never-seen-before monsters are also there in the stampede!¡¹ ¡¸W-WHAT?¡¹ All of the staff members stood up at once as they heard that shocking report. In the first place, one of the reasons the exploration of the temple hadn¡¯t advanced that much was the monster that lived deep in the forest. Moreover, the story about an exploration team composed of B-class adventurers being wiped out by the monsters in the deepest part of the forest was famous in Barse city. ¡¸Are you kidding me! Do you mean disaster-level monsters are coming out in swarms?¡¹ One of the B-class adventurers present in the meeting along with me shouted with disbelief. ¡¸RAISE THE ¡®DISASTER-LEVEL¡¯ TO ¡®REGION-LEVEL¡¯ AT ONCE! We¡¯re going to prioritize the evacuation of the citizens! Send someone to tell Wolfman about this situation and ask for his cooperation!¡¹ The guild master gave his order to raise the disaster level at once. ¡¸Wolfman has already left to fight the monsters! Amelia kingdom¡¯s knight leader, Arnold, is also cooperating with us!¡¹ Everyone heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing that report. The S-class hunter Wolfman was famous for his bravery. He had received harsh discrimination in this kingdom since he was born from a human and a beastman. However, he had overturned the prejudice with his unrivaled physical strength. He had saved many people from the crisis. As someone who is used to hearing his heroic legends ever since I was a rookie myself, I couldn¡¯t help but feel extremely relieved upon hearing that Wolfman was with us. Moreover, we even have the backing of the knight leader Arnold, who is famous for being the strongest swordsman in this kingdom. He is comparable to an S-class hunter. There is no greater fortune than having the two of them in this Barse city right now. ¡¸Yosh, now we¡¯ll split our personnel into three teams: subjugation team, refugee team, and investigation team! Only B-class hunters and above are eligible to join the subjugation team! Lastly, the first floor of this guild will become the emergency headquarters for this incident!¡¹ The limit imposed on the members of the subjugation team was natural since we would only create meaningless sacrifices if low-class hunters were to fight monsters that came out from the depth of the forest. ¡¸¡¸¡¸YES SIR!¡¹¡¹¡¹ The staff members replied by placing their right fists on their chests. ¡¸T-That sounds too much to be true though¡­¡¹ ¡¸STOP THE USELESS CHIT-CHAT, AND DO YOUR JOB! We¡¯re running out of time!¡¹ The guild master scolded the staff members who sounded like they were hesitating. The guild master wasn¡¯t the kind of man who would raise his voice at his subordinates like this in a normal situation. It showed that he was on the edge too. ¡¸I GOT A MESSAGE from knight leader Arnold! He said, ¡®Recall Princess Rosemary¡¯s royal guard, Kai Heineman, from Luserhall as soon as possible!¡¹ The room broke into turmoil the moment the messenger finished speaking. ¡¸ILSA! The one called Kai Heineman should be the newbie hunter who¡¯s attending the sacred martial arts tournament, right? Is he actually Princess Rose¡¯s royal guard?¡¹ An A-class hunter approached me and asked that question. ¡¸I-I also have no idea about that! This is the first time I¡¯m hearing about this matter!¡¹ Kai Heineman is Princess Rosemary¡¯s royal guard? Does that mean the pink-haired girl who goes along with Kai Heineman is Her Highness, Princess Rosemary? No, keeping that aside, a royalty¡¯s royal guard is akin to the strongest martial artist, and someone who has gained trust from the royalty on top of that. No matter how talented Kai Heineman is, it¡¯s way too reckless for Her Highness to choose someone hailed as incompetent to be her royal guard. This development is way beyond my expectations. ¡¸Forget that trivial matter! Is Kai Heineman really that strong?¡¹ ¡¸Far stronger than Knight Leader Arnold!¡¹ The room went into another uproar when everyone heard the messenger¡¯s immediate reply. ¡¸I agree with Arnold in this regard. Although I¡¯ve only seen him fight once, even I know that his strength is in a whole other dimension.¡¹ ¡¸B-But, his average stat value is 1.¡¹ Mia spoke with a rather impatient voice. It seems she feels some sort of attachment to Kai Heineman. Well, his weak appearance can invoke the motherly side of a woman to protect him. That might be why he could pluck Mia¡¯s heartstrings. ¡¸In my opinion, he has an item that can suppress his strength. I realized this after seeing him fight. It¡¯s abnormal for a master of martial arts like him to only have average stats of value 1. Knight Leader Arnold might have also arrived at the same conclusion as me.¡¹ ¡¸The grandson of Elm, is it?¡¹ The guild master, Ralph, shut his eyes and crossed his arms as he muttered those words. ¡¸Anyone acquainted with Kai Heineman, come forward!¡¹ Then, he stood from his seat and gave this order. ¡¸T-Then, I wi¨D¡¹ I couldn¡¯t finish my reply. ¡¸FOOL! You¡¯re part of the subjugation team. No matter how strong Kai Heineman is, if the city falls first, it¡¯s like putting the carriage before the horse!¡¹ ¡¸That¡¯s true, but who will go then? The people who know him are¨D¡¹ ¡¸PLEASE, Let us inform him!!¡¹ Raiga and Hook prostrated themselves on the floor as they begged us to allow them to do this job. ¡¸Uhm, you guys?¡¹ ¡¸I¡¯M DEFINITELY GOING TO CALL HIM BACK! My foolishness has caused my comrades¡¯ deaths! I-I¡­ I won¡¯t be able to forgive myself if I just tremble in fear without doing anything to amend for my foolishness!!¡¹ That¡¯s difficult. I mean, Kai Heineman¡¯s impression of Raiga is the worst. In the worst situation where Raiga fails to bring back Kai Heineman, even if he doesn¡¯t die, the citizens and the hunters will become victims. That¡¯s something everyone here wants to avoid at all costs. ¡¸As expected, Guild Master, let me¨D¡¹ ¡¸Good! I¡¯ll leave this matter to you guys. You¡¯ve to depart immediately!¡¹ Dammit! The Guild Master has no idea about the incident that happened between Kai Heineman and Raiga. Raiga had insulted Kai Heineman in public. And he didn¡¯t do that as a joke; it was a pure insult. You think Kai Heineman¡¯s gonna believe the words of someone who had insulted him like that! ¡¸RAIGA, HOOK, we place our hopes on you!¡¹ Guild Master spoke in a loud voice as he looked at them with an extremely serious expression. ¡¸Yes!¡¹ ¡¸Definitely!¡¹ Although their current condition could only be described as tattered and messy, they stood at once and left the room. Naturally, I could pretty much guess by looking at Guild Master¡¯s face that this would be the end of their careers as hunters. However, Barse¡¯s current fate depended on them. ¡¸Guild Master, just now¨D¡¹ ¡¸I know! Sorry! Mia, can you go along with them? Just in case!¡¹ ¡¸YES SIR!¡¹ As expected of Guild Master. He knows what I¡¯m worried about. Since that¡¯s the case, there¡¯s no need to worry about this matter. ¡¸I¡¯ll leave this matter to you, Mia!¡¹ ¡¸Yes!¡¹ Mia followed the two hunters who were leaving the room as if she were accepting her fate. ¡¸EVERYONE, PREPARE TO SORTIE NOW!¡¹ We left the room at once with the signal from Guild Master. Volume 2 - CH 20 Act 2-20: Secret Talk And Plan 1 ¨D¨DNothermost Mansion of Luserhall Below the mansion was a spacious and luxurious room. Ten men dressed in nobles¡¯ attires were drinking wine during the day as they sat around the table in the center of the room. They were the nobles from the faction of the first prince, Gilbert Loto Amelia; these were the people who had contacted the empire and even provided the funds to sell Rosemary, their princess, to the empire. The reason they had gathered in Luserhall was to observe the knight the Gilbert faction had nominated as he would participate in the sacred martial arts tournament. Moreover, they were also waiting for the good news from the empire. ¡¸I guess this confirms Lord Fracton¡¯s failure.¡¹ A man with a barrel-like figure didn¡¯t even try to hide his displeasure as he slammed the wooden mug containing cider onto the table. ¡¸No doubt about it. After all, someone witnessed Her Highness strolling in Luserhall.¡¹ A man with a well-built body and with neatly shaved blonde hair¡ªexcept for the top part of his head which was like that of a pineapple¡ªaffirmed so while crossing his arms. ¡¸Does that mean the empire betrayed us at the last moment? Even as a joke, we pushed this marriage plan forward without even asking for His Majesty¡¯s permission. So Lord Fracton¡¯s death penalty is pretty much confirmed. It¡¯d be the best if His Majesty doesn¡¯t suspect our involvement in this matter, but¡­¡¹ An abnormally thin noble murmured those words with a ghastly pale face. ¡¸D-DON¡¯T JOKE AROUND! I only agreed since you people said it¡¯ll be successful for sure!¡¹ ¡¸THE SAME FOR ME! I only lent my name since you said it was for Prince Gilbert!¡¹ The anxiety that they had been suppressing until now blew up at once since there were only nobles of the same faction in this room right now. ¡¸CALM DOWN! There¡¯s no evidence of our involvement since Lord Fracton has confessed that it was his own plan. Even His Majesty can¡¯t punish all of us here on baseless suspicions. Moreover, we¡¯ve prepared a perfect scapegoat. That¡¯s why we won¡¯t be punished for this!¡¹ The surrounding nobles regained their composure upon hearing the loud voice of the noble with a barrel-like body. ¡¸So? What is Princess Rose doing in Luserhall? Lord Lunpa, if it¡¯s you, you should be able to catch her, no?¡¹ He asked that question to the well-built noble with pineapple-like hair. ¡¸It¡¯s the incompetent.¡¹ Lunpa spat out the answer to the noble with a barrel-like body. ¡¸Eh?¡¹ ¡¸She¡¯s being escorted by the Sword Saint¡¯s disgrace, who is currently participating in the tournament.¡¹ Since the nobles here were too busy to save their asses after Fracton¡¯s failure, they had no chance to see the sacred martial arts tournament. ¡¸Sword Saint¡¯s disgrace? Ah! The pitiful child who received the joke-like gift, ¡¾The Most Incompetent in This World¡¿, huh!¡¹ The faces of the nobles around the table bloomed into smiles when they heard that. ¡¸So? How¡¯s the result of Her Highness¡¯s knight?¡¹ ¡¸No need to ask the result. He must be running with his tail between his legs, right?¡¹ ¡¸Nonono! I bet he has fainted while wetting his pants upon being exposed under the other martial arts dojo¡¯s pressure, right?¡¹ When Lunpa heard the noble with a barrel-like body, his expression turned into that of disgust. Then¡­ ¡¸The incompetent achieved perfect victory and passed the preliminary round.¡¹ He replied in a blunt voice. ¡¸Passed? IMPOSSIBLE! He is ¡¾The Most Incompetent in This World¡¿, right?¡¹ The nobles inside the room jumped from their chairs in shock. ¡¸In fact. I didn¡¯t see his fight with my own eyes. But, according to my knight, who saw the preliminary, Kai Heineman is by no means weak. He¡¯s way too powerful!¡¹ ¡¸THAT¡¯S IMPOSSIBLE! He must be cheating!¡¹ ¡¸YEAH! He must be using some underhanded means!¡¹ "" Lunpa nodded upon hearing the other nobles¡¯ claims of disbelief. ¡¸That¡¯s also my speculation. It must be some plan Princess Rose concocted. The assistant instructor of the Heineman-style had sent a protest to the tournament committee, saying that Kai Heineman must be cheating using some special item. But no evidence was found for his claim.¡¹ ¡¸HOW DARE he resort to cheating in this sacred martial arts tournament!¡¹ ¡¸Such a complaint should be processed immediately, right! Is the tournament management even doing their job properly?¡¹ Not a single noble in that room thought that Kai Heineman might have won with his own strength; everyone voiced their vilification toward him. Lunpa raised his hands, telling the swearing nobles to pipe down. ¡¸The candidate for His Highness Gilbert¡¯s escort knight is also participating in this tournament. I can¡¯t stomach the fact that our knight escort candidate lost against that princess knight candidate, even if the other party was cheating. It¡¯s like plastering mud on His Highness Gilbert¡¯s reputation. Thus, our only choice is to win!¡¹ ¡¸I agree with Lord Lunpa, but at this rate, that incompetent might advance to the final with his cheat item, right? Doesn¡¯t that mean our knight escort candidate might lose too if he meets that incompetent in the tournament?¡¹ ¡¸Humph! Regarding his cheat item, we just need to create a regulation to prevent the participants from bringing their possessions aside from those provided by the management of the tournament. Moreover, it¡¯s not like the knight candidate we raised with care will lose to that incompetent. There¡¯s no problem. We¡¯re in control of all situations!¡¹ Lunpa drank the cider in his wooden mug as his face warped into that of a devil. ¡¸I see! It turned out to be just needless anxiety, huh!¡¹ The noble with a pineapple-like hairdo heaved a sigh as he drank the cider in his wooden mug. The other nobles could finally heave sighs of relief. Then, they exchanged the story about the rumor of the incompetent swordsman and the escort knight¡¯s goal while enjoying their drink. Volume 2 - CH 21 Act 2-21: Tournament Final 1st Round After advancing to the tournament final, I received detailed rules from the tournament management. If a win came through foul play on the usual tournament rules, the reward would be confiscated. Therefore, all the prize money would be consolidated and distributed after the result of the match of each player was confirmed. In this situation, abstaining inside or outside of the match was allowed; it was also possible to receive the prize money one got until this round. However, this final round could be said as the flower of the tournament, its best part. None of the participants in the final round were willing to abstain. Thus, it became an unspoken rule that the participants of the final round mustn¡¯t abstain before the match. But, in the end, a participant could still abstain from the match right after the start of the match. Since abstaining by going out of the arena wasn¡¯t prohibited, the medical staff members were on standby outside the arena to prevent any accident. Well, I was bored to death since I had nothing to do until my turn. I did try to see the other participants of this final round, but, honestly, they were nothing but novices. The only one who piqued my interest was Zack Prower and the one called Bri. Unexpectedly, the first match was Zack vs Riku. Naturally, just like the difference between their martial arts style, there was a huge gap of power between Riku and Zack. It was just like the comparison between an adult and a child. I had thought that Riku would be abstaining right at the start of the match, but despite being bruised all over his body, he kept coming at Zack until losing his consciousness. Maybe, Riku had what it takes for him to carry martial arts-style pride. Well, Riku was still young. Whether he was going to fall or rise as a martial artist completely depended on himself. With this, Zack advanced to the second round of the final. Let¡¯s abstain from the match after I manage to rope in Zack into becoming Rose¡¯s royal guard. Now, I walked toward the match venue since my turn had come. Even now, I can still hear the spectators making distasteful remarks about me. They never get tired, huh! Right after the finals of the preliminary round, the assistant instructor Shiga had brought his disciple along with him to make a claim about me using underhanded means. Well, that might have been some form of their retaliation. They claimed that the incompetent me was advancing to the final round by using prohibited items during the matches. Thanks to that, the rumor about me spread around the city like wildfire and made the people aware of me. "" Due to that, maybe because the management of the tournament also couldn¡¯t ignore the problem anymore, another rule was added to their rules list: participants were banned from wearing accessories like bracelets or rings, and they had to wear the clothes provided by the tournament¡¯s management committee. To be honest, I don¡¯t care about such trivial matters, but Rose, who was getting irritated due to such a rule, was far more troublesome. I arrived at the venue, wearing the clothes designated by the management committee and put up in the locker room. I threw everything I was wearing before into my item box. ¡¸Hou, this is an item to restrict my ability, huh!¡¹ The clothes which I wore could randomly lower ¡¾Strength¡¿, ¡¾Stamina¡¿, and ¡¾Agility¡¿ to around 5-15 points. What a useless item! Such a restriction was useless for me. But, is it really okay for me to go out in the open without restricting my ability at all? I mean, I know that the gap between weak and strong in this world is severe. I trained myself to adjust my strength along the way to Luserhall so that even when I fight against a weak opponent, I wouldn¡¯t accidentally kill them. Rather, seeing that I¡¯m pretty much amongst the strongest in this world, it would be troublesome if I made a mistake in my judgment, like when I was about to kill Asta on the final floor of that dungeon. Anyhow, as the management went as far as to prepare these clothes, it seems they really don¡¯t want me to win this tournament! Originally, I was thinking about abstaining during the match, but I¡¯ve changed my mind now. I¡¯m gonna advance to the grand final and win this tournament. Let¡¯s show them what they don¡¯t want to see the most. The moment I stepped into the arena, which was surrounded by spectator seats, I could hear the loud jeering from the spectators. In stark contrast, those noisy spectators fell into silence when a man with spiky hair, who is most likely my opponent, entered the arena. Uhm, this spiky head fellow made me speechless for a different reason. I¡¯ve never seen any of his battles, but guessing from the medical staff members closing in toward the arena, I could pretty much guess that this fella¡¯s combat style should be quite violent. Uhm? They even replaced the original emcee, the blonde woman who had accidentally revealed my gift before, with a man in a black suit. I see! It seems everything is the arrangement of the tournament¡¯s management committee. ¡ºLADIES AND GENTLEMEN, introducing the contestants of the fifth match of the final round. From this side is ¡¾the most incompetent in this world¡¿¡¯s gift holder, Kai Heinemaaaaaaan! It¡¯s not the most incompetent in the world, it¡¯s the most incompetent in this world! There¡¯s a suspicion that he advanced to the final round by using a cheat item!!¡» An even louder jeering poured over me from the entire spectator seats. Since the new emcee went as far as to bash a participant at such a timing, it was gonna cause more problems in the distant future. I¡¯m pretty much sure that this arrangement might have something to do with the rivalry between Rose and that Prince Gil¡­ something. ¡¸But worry not! The management committee of the tournament isn¡¯t stupid. The attire worn by all the participants in the final round has been prepared by the management committee. NO ONE CAN CHEAT THEIR WAY THROUGH THE TOURNAMENT ANYMORE!¡¹ The spectators let out deafening cheers upon hearing that. The man in the black suit nodded with a satisfied expression, then he pointed at the spiky-haired man with his right hand. ¡¸Facing the incompetent is the man with a seventy percent destruction rate. A FLAME-TYPE GIFT HOLDER, the true crusher Dick Ba¡­lm. There is no doubt about his strength! We~ll then, let¡¯s see how he¡¯s gonna crush the cheating incompetent!¡¹ An even louder exclamation resounded in the venue when the spectators heard the emcee¡¯s introduction of that spiky head. So, crushing the opponent has been allowed by the emcee, huh! It seems these fellas are just prideless emcees. And the spectators actually approve of such an unreasonable event in this tournament. Honestly, these disgusting people belong to the type I hate the most. I walked to the center of the round arena. ¡¸Wow, this is the first time I met someone hated more than me.¡¹ The spiky head, Dick Balm, also stated his opinion as he approached me with a faint smile on his face. ¡¸Is that so? I guess this will become a nice experience.¡¹ ¡¸You¡­ aren¡¯t afraid of me?¡¹ Dick raised his eyebrows, asking that question while glaring at me. ¡¸Afraid of what?¡¹ ¡¸Afraid of me? I¡¯m far more powerful than you, you know?¡¹ ¡¸Uhm, I wonder about that. We won¡¯t know unless we try. But since you claimed so, I guess I can at least look forward to seeing your skill.¡¹ Although my instincts told me that Dick¡¯s strength was even less than that of a bug, I guessed I should set some expectations since the other party was a human. Anyhow, stats weren¡¯t everything for a warrior¡¯s strength, after all. As long as one¡¯s mastery surpassed a certain threshold, killing an overwhelmingly stronger monster, stats-wise, in that dungeon was easy-peasy. This was something I had realized when I was trapped inside that super easy secret dungeon. ¡¸YOU¡¯VE DONE IT NOW, SMALL FRY! Now, I¡¯m gonna make a blood festival of you! Oi, referee, give the signal quickly!!¡¹ The emcee in the black suit nodded, then descended from the arena. After that, the skinhead man wearing referee clothes walked up into the arena and crossed his arms. ¡¸FIGHT!¡¹ He swung his arms to the sides as he signaled the start of the match. ¡¸BURN TO ASHES, SMALL FRY TRASH!!¡¹ Flames wrapped Dick¡¯s arms and legs as he shouted and rushed toward me. I dodged his right-fist with ease, then stepped back to avoid his low kick with a paper-thin margin. I then stepped back a little bit further, just enough to barely dodge his flame-covered left backhand. This is beyond awful! His skill is even lower than that of the greenhorn Riku. Moreover, he lacks the most important factor for a martial artist, stamina. That short exchange was enough for me to see that this Dick had never trained properly. His attack couldn¡¯t even be called martial arts; it was just street performance. Even though it sounded unbelievable, if what that f*cking emcee had said was true, this retard¡¯s street performance had crippled many martial artists. ¡¸Dammit, why ain¡¯t you get hit?¡¹ Dick glared at me while breathing heavily. ¡¸Because the thing you¡¯re using isn¡¯t martial arts at all.¡¹ I pointed out the most obvious fact, which didn¡¯t have to be pointed out as it was laid bare for every martial artist to see. It didn¡¯t mean that I was looking down on Dick just because he used his natural gift to create a flame in the fight. If that gift was used with a proper martial arts¡¯ move set, that would¡¯ve been it. I would never approve of wildly swinging around those limbs while uselessly utilizing a gift like this retard before me as martial arts. ¡¸I AM the general instructor of the Wicked blazing horizon style!!¡¹ ¡¸Wicked bla¡­ what? Sorry, but I don¡¯t know a school with such a joke-like name. Let me make one thing clear: every single attack you used on me isn¡¯t martial art at all.¡¹ I declared so while walking toward him. ¡¸Don¡¯t joke around, I¡¯m¨D¡¹ I closed in at once with my original footwork and grabbed that retard¡¯s face with my left hand. I lifted him before he could even finish his sentence. ¡¸N-NHAAAAAA!?¡¹ When I put more power into my grip, it resulted in the retard screaming in pain. ¡¸GIGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! H-HOW CAN IT BE!!¡¹ Dick frantically rampaged, throwing his prided flames toward me. But, it was ineffective against me as I had flame assimilation. I ignored his attempt and kept increasing the strength of the grip of my left hand. I already had a clear grasp of this retard¡¯s power. His real strength was not that much different from that of those trashes of society who had tried to rob me after I had registered as a hunter. I wouldn¡¯t kill him even without ¡¾Glove of Sealing God¡¿; it was below me to bully the weak. ¡¸Worried, huh! Rest assured! I won¡¯t break your skull. Lately, I¡¯ve been training really hard to control my strength using animal skulls or nuts so that I won¡¯t make a mistake in controlling my strength.¡¹ I looked up toward the retard, who opened his mouth wide. ¡¸IHIIIIII!¡¹ The retard screamed like a girl, his face painted with fear. ¡¸Now, listen to me. In my eyes, what you were doing just now isn¡¯t martial arts. It¡¯s just a show of power that even an amateur like you can do. In short, it¡¯s just worthless violence. But crushing you with martial arts will only stain my pride. Using pure strength alone is enough to crush a piece of trash like you.¡¹ I pulled back my right elbow, ready to deliver my right fist. ¡¸W-Wa¨D¡¹ ¡¸I¡¯ll give you one last chance. Now use this last chance properly!¡¹ I punched his entire body as I whispered that remark. After I was done with him, I let go of Dick¡¯s body, which had already swelled up all over the place to the arena¡¯s floor. ¡¸Referee!¡¹ I looked at the referee, who was still flabbergasted, from the edge of my line of sight and called for his attention. ¡¸W-WINNER, KAI HEINEMAN!!¡¹ He raised his right arm toward me as he declared me as the winner. Yup, that¡¯s the end of this farce! Now I have no more reason to stay in this place. The entire venue was enveloped by silence even after I left the venue. Volume 2 - CH 22 Act 2-22: Strongest Transcendent in The History(Side: Millefeuille Renren Lorelei) Venue of the Sacred Martial Arts Tournament, the noble¡¯s visitor rooms. ¡¸Boring! So the next one to compete is Rose¡¯s favorite, right?¡¹ I, the second princess of the elf¡¯s country, Millefeuille Renren Lorelei, asked the elven butler beside me while yawning. ¡¸Yes, Milady! In this situation, the next one to compete is most likely him.¡¹ The old butler replied while placing his right hand on his chest. The international educational institute in which I had enrolled, ¡¾Babel(World Sorcery Institution)¡¿, was in the middle of summer vacation. Therefore, I had come incognito to the nearby Amelia kingdom, which also happened to be the motherland of my classmate Rosemarie. I had already heard from Rose before that this year was the year when a super big event called the Sacred Martial Arts tournament would be held here. That was why I wasn¡¯t surprised when I had unexpectedly seen Rose during one of my strolls in Luserhall. And when I ordered my butler to investigate Rose¡¯s suspicious behavior at that time, the result of the investigation came faster than my prediction. Namely, Rose¡¯s chosen swordsman was participating in the tournament. ¡¸So this is the Amelia kingdom¡¯s biggest tournament, huh! To be honest, Babel¡¯s sponsored tournament is on a whole nother level compared to this.¡¹ Elves were the tribe that received gifts on the same level as the human tribe. And my gift was ¡¾Interpreter¡¿. It was a special gift that allowed me to read and understand the truth. That gift allowed me to really enjoy martial arts tournaments. However, my impression of the final round turned for the worse. Though I had seen only a few matches, it was enough for me to say that the level of this tournament was too low. My impression even went down from worse to worst in the match of the candidate of Prince Gilbert¡¯s guardian knight. The opponent didn¡¯t even show his fighting spirit and got beaten up one-sidedly. Thus I concluded that this particular match was just a mere show. Prince Gilbert¡¯s faction might even have bribed the opponent to put on such a show. ¡¸Good grief, such a show is the worst.¡¹ I even wondered whether the guardian¡¯s candidate was happy with that kind of match. If I were in his place, I would rather die than endure that kind of shame. ¡¸It¡¯s about time.¡¹ The emcee wearing a black suit stepped up into the arena. Then, the moment I saw the black-haired youth who appeared from the passage¨D ¡¸!!?¡¹ An extremely horrible terror that I had never felt before assailed my body. All the hair on my body stood on end, followed by me feeling an extreme sense of vertigo. It caused me to fall on my knees and vomit on the spot. ¡¸M-MILADY?¡¹ My escort maid quickly made her move and patted my back. The butler fetched a cup of drinking water for me. ¡¸W-W-W-WHAT kind of a monster is thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!¡¹ This was the first time I had seen such a terrifying aura. And even though THAT had the shape of a human, the same couldn¡¯t be said for its content. It could only be described as something from a far higher dimension. Is he a spirit king? No! That¡¯s impossible. I¡¯ve met Jin, the wind spirit king who made a contract with my older sister before. This isn¡¯t something as LOWLY as spirit king! The difference between them could only be described as the difference between a bug and a mighty dragon, with the spirit king being the bug. £¨ROSE, just what in the hell did you make a contract with!!!£© A while later, I recovered a bit. I became strong enough to watch that monster, albeit while desperately suppressing the nausea that came from within my body. I heard that this monster was recognized as a human and seemed to be widely known as the incompetent, the gift holder of ¡¾The Most Incompetent in This World¡¿. The first thing I said upon hearing such ridiculous information was: ¡¸What kind of a fu*king joke is this?¡¹ I spoke as if there was a huge question mark above my head. During the match, I even caught a glimpse of that monster(transcendent)¡¯s wrath. And that wrath was directed at none other than the small fry called Di¡ªwhatever his name is¡ªwho became his opponent. Yet, why did that monster spare the life of the piece of trash who disrespected him? Is that benevolence? As if! There was no reason for him to show his benevolence to those blind people who couldn¡¯t see the truth. Then, it would only leave one possibility, ¡¸Is it for Rose?¡¹ The act of killing was banned in this tournament. Doing that would only disqualify him, and Rose, who had recommended him, would receive a penalty for that. Maybe he wanted to avoid that situation. Upon realizing that, I, who was desperately holding back the impulse to scratch my throat, shouted at the top of my lungs. ¡¸WHY WHY WHY WHY! WHY IS IT ALWAYS ROSE?¡¹ Yes, this was an unsightly display of jealousy. For us, the elves, a contract with such a paranormal being was treated as something sacred, and the status of the contractor became a symbol of status itself. Thus, the elves always looked for a paranormal being to contract with for their lifetime. That man was definitely the strongest transcendent in the long history of the elves. And as an elf, I had to make a contract with him. Yet, that transcendent had made a contract first with Rosemarie, with a human who he should hate. Everything felt unreasonably wrong about this situation. But then, such things did always happen around Rose. Even a spirit who I couldn¡¯t make a contract with due to bad affinity and which I had summoned during a lesson had instantly attached themself to Rose, who had happened to be watching this scene from some distance. ¡¸Milady, are you saying that this personage isn¡¯t¡­ a human?¡¹ ¡¸Stephen, does he look like a normal human tribesman in your eyes?¡¹ ¡¸Yes. I¡¯m¡­ ashamed to say that he looks like a normal human in my eyes.¡¹ I see! So Stephen doesn¡¯t feel the same nausea and extreme terror that I had felt right now. In short, Rosemarie with her human tribe perception, which was worse than Elves¡¯, wouldn¡¯t notice this fact too. Since that was the case, in Rose¡¯s eyes, this being is nothing more than an extremely powerful human. ¡¸STEPHEN, INVESTIGATE HIM THOROUGHLY!! Use all means we have!¡¹ ¡¸Understood.¡¹ Stephen left the room after replying with his right hand on his chest. I¡¯ll make a contract with him no matter what. I¡¯ll use all methods available to me. And as long as I make a contract with him, I, Millefeuille, will be known as the elf who contracted with the strongest transcendent in the elves¡¯ history. ¡¸Prepare yourself, Rose. I won¡¯t lose this time!¡¹ I made such a declaration. Volume 2 - CH 23 Act 2-23: Secret Talk And Plan 2 Venue of the Sacred Martial Arts Tournament, the Noble¡¯s Visitor Room. ¡¸Dick Balm¡­ lost?¡¹ One of the nobles and a member of the faction belonging to the Amelia kingdom¡¯s first prince, Gilbert, spoke with a shocked expression as if he couldn¡¯t believe what he had just seen. ¡¸OI, tournament committee chairman!! What¡¯s the meaning of this? ¡¹ The big shot of the Gilbert faction, the one with a barrel-like body¡ªMarquis Lunpa Barel¡ªseized the collar of the short-haired middle-aged man beside him, who was also shocked with his mouth wide open. Lunpa¡¯s question was about two things. The first was, of course, the matter of making it impossible for Kai Heineman to use the item that boosted his ability. If the source of his power was an item, this was an indispensable requirement. And the second thing was the enchanted clothes that put restrictions on its wearer; Lunpa had provided them. These clothes were an emergency cursed tool he had prepared to ensure the victory of their faction¡¯s holy knight who was participating in this tournament. The creator of these clothes was a former slave user whose gift was ¡¾Cursed Tool Creation¡¿. The cursed tool the person employed by Lunpa created could even reduce an active B-class hunter to a human as weak as women and children. Thus, its effect should¡¯ve been even more apparent for an incompetent like Kai Heineman. ¡¸We did everything as you ordered, Lord Lunpa!¡¹ The tournament committee chairman raised his voice as he replied to Lunpa. ¡¸And yet, that incompetent can easily lift Dick, whose weight is far above his own, with one hand. Does that mean he still has the item that raises his abilities?¡¹ Another noble muttered that remark. ¡¸THAT INCOMPETENT MUST BE CHEATING AGAIN!!¡¹ ¡¸UNFORGIVABLE! Tournament committee chairman, you should disqualify that coward immediately!!¡¹ One by one, the members of Gilbert¡¯s faction gave their approval. ¡¸In the first place, it¡¯s really strange that Dick Balm¡¯s flame doesn¡¯t work on that incompetent. This is not a matter of simple physical strength anymore. Is that Kai Heineman really what they said, an incompetent gift holder?¡¹ A man with pineapple-like hair denied the other nobles¡¯ claims while wiping beads of sweat on his forehead; he was speaking as if he were questioning himself. ¡¸What do you mean, Lord Ananas?¡¹(TL: Fun fact, ananas is the Latin name for pineapple.) Lunpa looked at the man with pineapple-like hair, Ananas, about the true meaning behind the latter¡¯s remark. ¡¸Even if I tell you, a civil official like you will never understand it. But to make the matter easier for you to understand, I¡¯ll put it simply as: his movement is that of a martial artist. Moreover, it¡¯s the movement of a veteran who has undergone hundreds of wars.¡¹ ¡¸That¡¯s why it must be the work of an ite¨D¡¹ ¡¸IT¡¯S NOT! It no longer matters whether he¡¯s using an item or not. His movement is ingrained in every fiber of his muscle, not something a mere incompetent without enough training can reproduce. And even though I feel bad to tell you about this, our guardian knight candidate is simply not his match. It¡¯s like comparing a baby and an expert in his prime. Our candidate can¡¯t win no matter what.¡¹ The noble room shook at once the moment Count Ananas gave his opinion. ¡¸Are you saying that my son is inferior to that incompetent?¡¹ Marquis Lunpa asked Count Ananas with a trembling voice. ¡¸Indeed! At least when it comes to martial arts.¡¹ ¡¸HOW CAN IT BE? That guy is just the descendant of an honorary knight. He has no noble blood flowing in his veins, unlike us! Moreover, he¡¯s the lowest of lowly pieces of trash and has been abandoned by the holy warrior god as his gift ¡¾The Most Incompetent in This World¡¿ suggests!¡¹ ¡¸Yes¡­ I can¡¯t deny that. But, his ability is real. There¡¯s no mistaking this.¡¹ Count Ananas stood up from his chair, then looked around at the nobles inside the room, one by one. ¡¸The situation has changed. Today, our Ananas house will officially withdraw our participation from this competition for the throne.¡¹ After placing his right hand on his chest and bowing to his colleagues, Count Ananas left the room. His swift and unprecedented action shook the noble room for the second time. It was only natural since Count Ananas¡¯s house was known as the first- or the second-strongest martial arts house in the Amelia kingdom. It had produced many famous warriors. His withdrawal from Gilbert¡¯s faction meant the faction had lost their greatest mental support. Especially after their plan to marry Princess Rosemarie to the third prince of the empire had ended up in huge failure. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before the other nobles would leave Gilbert¡¯s faction. ¡¸NOISY!! Calm down! There¡¯s no problem since that incompetent will definitely lose to Zack Prower in the next round!¡¹ Zack Prower was one of the strongest martial artists amongst the young fighters. The Gilbert faction had already sent someone to invite Zack to join their faction. And Lunpa felt that it was okay even if his son lost to Zach due to the latter¡¯s fame. ¡¸Tournament committee chairman, let¡¯s talk about the next match between that incompetent and Zack Prower.¡¹ ¡¸Haa¡­¡¹ Although the tournament committee chairman nodded, he was hesitating to do this inside. However, his situation was just as the saying went: ¡®unable to step back after going that far.¡¯ So he could only help them as much as he could. ¡¸Well then¨D¡¹ Lunpa started to speak as he averted his gaze from the incompetent, Kai Heineman. Volume 2 - CH 24 Act 2-24: Battle in the Wasteland in Front of Barse City¡¯s East Gate(Side: Ilsa Harnisch) The wasteland in front of Barse city¡¯s east gate! The battlefield was mainly changing around two people. One was a tall man with a wolf mask and body covered in wolf fur, Wolfman. His right fist was piercing through the head of a giant, twin-headed lizard. Wolfman cast away the corpse of the twin-headed lizard, which died instantly, without even bothering to check it. Then, he sprinted forward in a seemingly random yet coordinated movement across a great distance toward his next prey, a one-eyed giant, and shredded the latter¡¯s head with the sharp claws in his hands till it became nothing more than minced meat. The other one was a middle-aged, blue-haired man clad in pure white armor, the Amelia Kingdom¡¯s knight leader Arnold. Arnold was facing a house-sized ogre that was charging toward him with a war cry and small-scale tremors on the ground. The ogre swung its metal club toward his head. However, Knight Leader Arnold¡¯s great sword, which had already been dyed red, drew numerous red lines in the air. The next moment, the metal club that the ogre had swung down was cut to pieces and fell to the ground; it was followed by the decapitated corpse of its wielder. ¡¸Amazing!¡¹ I, Ilsa Harsnich (a B-class hunter), watched those spectacles in awe. Currently, these two men were killing the monsters of the deepest region of the forest with such ease. Each of those two monsters the two men faced was an extremely powerful monster that could only be defeated by a combat team. Yet, both men slaughtered those monsters with ease. ¡¸With those two around, maybe we¡¯ll be fine even without that rookie reinforcement.¡¹ One of my hunter comrades cracked a joke as he walked toward me. I felt the same. According to that Knight Leader Arnold, Kai Heineman was even more powerful than him. To be honest, the likes of me couldn¡¯t even see the bottom of the latter¡¯s ability since it was too profound. Anyhow, Wolfman and Arnold were in charge of beating the monsters from the deepest region of the forest, while the small fries were left to the hunters, who were in charge of the battle, including me. This tactic was working much better than our expectations, and we managed to protect Barse from the monsters. ¡¸DON¡¯T LOSE YOUR FOCUS! Our duty is to buy time till Kai Heineman arrives! You should take a break if you get exhausted.¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, yeah! You¡¯re as serious as always, Ilsa.¡¹ My comrade shrugged as he spoke, then ran toward a group of kobolds. ¡¸Well then, I can rest on my lapel too.¡¹ Despite what I said to my comrade, even I couldn¡¯t help but feel that we might get out of this situation as long as we had Knight Leader Arnold and Wolfman on our side. Yes, even without Kai Heineman¡¯s reinforcement. If only I had taken some time to think again about the reason those monsters from the deepest region of the forest had suddenly rushed out in a hurry, I would¡¯ve realized just how naive my expectations were. Yes. The true terror came just right when I thought that we had survived. Volume 2 - CH 25 Act 2-25: A Fact About A Chicken Majin That No One Cares About Asta didn¡¯t leave his room in the last few days. According to him, Majins could get their nutrients by absorbing the mana in the air, thus enabling them to survive without eating or drinking. Nevertheless, there was a limit to how long he wanted to shut himself in his room. I even went to ask the inn¡¯s proprietress and confirmed that Asta was still alive. So, I unlocked the door of his room and entered inside. Once inside, I saw his suit scattered on the floor of his room; the books I lent to him had been piled up on the table like a mountain. Then, I saw a tall and slender beauty wearing only her underwear sprawling face up in the bed without any cover. ¡¸He was a she, huh.¡¹ It was really obvious now with the pair of twin hills that stood proudly as if to emphasize this. Well, I used to feel rather disgusted due to his womanly face and shrill voice, but it turned out that he was a she all along. Well, that was a surprise, but still, a trivial matter, I guess. I walked around and opened the wooden windows as wide as possible. Then, I took the broom and wooden bucket in the corner of the room and struck the bottom of the bucket with the handle of the broom, again and again. ¡¸OI, time to wake up! It¡¯s already past morning!¡¹ Asta let out a big yawn and raised her upper half while looking around the room as the sunlight shone upon her. However, when her line of sight finally met mine, she was frozen. I turned away immediately. When Asta confirmed that she was half-naked, her face flushed due to embarrassment. She quickly wrapped her body in a blanket while screaming like a bird. Uhm, even though she was a majin, her reaction resembled that of my childhood friends. ¡¸P-Please leave my room!¡¹ ¡¸Only after you promise me to fix this bad habit of yours.¡¹ ¡¸I PROMISE!¡¹ ¡¸Okay! I¡¯ll place my trust in your words.¡¹ I guess I have no choice but to trust her promise. I would wake her up again if she goes back to her bad habits. Good grief! I really wish to have a proper person around me instead of these prodigal daughters. I heaved a sigh, left Asta¡¯s room, and went down to the first floor. Asta came down to the first floor when we were about to have breakfast in the dining room. She took the usual seat on my right, albeit with a slightly-rosy-colored cheek this time. ¡¸Let¡¯s pray.¡¹ Anna and Rose started their pre-meal prayers to God. How Amelian-like! Nevertheless, we didn¡¯t follow their example since we didn¡¯t believe in those gods. Faf waited for my permission as she stared at the meat on the plate before her, gulping her saliva. As for Asta, since she was waiting for me, she only glanced at me. She turned away when I looked at her. What a strange woman! ¡¸Well, let¡¯s start the meal.¡¹ After Rose and co. finished their prayers, her remark became the signal for us to start our meals. ¡¸Congratulations on your first victory, Kai. We have achieved our goal right now. Are you going to abstain from the next round and go back to Barse?¡¹ This unexpected proposal came from Rose after we finished our breakfast. I had no idea what made her suggest this, but I got this feeling that she wanted to leave this place as fast as possible. And guessing from her tone, the reason she said so was that staying here any longer would only harm her interest. ¡¸Uhm, I won¡¯t abstain till the end.¡¹ That was my original intention after I had fought against Dick Balm, but I changed my mind after seeing the attitude of the tournament officials. Now, I would participate till the end no matter how annoying it was. ¡¸But, I¡¯m also worried about the slave girl¡­¡¹ ¡¸Worry not! The deadline is still quite far. I¡¯ve even paid a deposit for them to treat her better. She¡¯ll at least receive the same treatment as a noble.¡¹ That shopkeeper was quite impartial when it came to business. Most of all, the person himself didn¡¯t seem to be the type of person who would lie to his customer as long as the latter asked properly. Thus, I was sure that the slave girl was receiving proper treatment right now. ¡¸But, you¡¯re not sure about that, right?¡¹ The lass asked while desperately gritting her teeth as if she didn¡¯t want to stay in this city any longer. ¡¸If he dares to break our agreement, I will make sure to hunt him down and everyone involved till the bitter end.¡¹ I would crush the organization and every single one of their personnel backing his store until nothing left. ¡¸CRUSH EM DOWN, NODESSU!!¡¹ I patted Faf, who raised her fork while yelling such dangerous words, and she squinted like a cat. ¡¸The¨D¡¹ Rose couldn¡¯t even speak one more word. ¡¸I¡¯ve finally found you, Rose.¡¹ A long-eared girl walked to our desk while raising her right arm. She was a petite girl around 14-15 years old, around the same age as Rose. Due to the remnant childish features on her face, she was more inclined to look cute rather than beautiful. Her silver hair had reached her back, which matched very well with her simple attire that was composed of a tunic and a short skirt that used white as its base color. £¨Tch!£© Oi, did Rose click her tongue just now? ¡¸Ara, is something the matter, Milfi?¡¹ Honestly, Rose¡¯s sugar-coated remark sent a chill running down into my spine. Faf sensed my unease and immediately clung to me. So, I brushed her head to ease my unease. ¡¸Naturally, it¡¯s to talk with that gentleman over there.¡¹ The silver-haired woman called Milfi replied to Rose, then raised the cuff of her skirt and bowed to me. ¡¸It¡¯s nice to meet you. My name is Millefeuille Renren Lorelei.¡¹ She introduced herself to me. ¡¸I¡¯m Kai Heineman. Rest assured, I¡¯m not gonna eat you.¡¹ She was trembling all over as she introduced herself to me. Her face was as white as a sheet of paper. I mean, my face hasn¡¯t been that bad since a long time ago. ¡¸N-NO, I-I¡¯m not scared at all!! I¡¯m just a little under the weather and nervous!¡¹ She was bluffing, but there was no need to point that out. ¡¸So? What¡¯s the matter? It¡¯s surely not as simple as just a ¡°greeting,¡± right?¡¹ I was the current-most infamous person in this city. Thus, she surely had no reason to greet me. Therefore, she had to have another reason for coming here. ¡¸Will you make a contract with me?¡¹ ¡¸Kai¨D¡¹ I placed my right forefinger on Rose¡¯s lips before she had the chance to continue her words. ¡¸Contract? What do you mean?¡¹ I decided to not beat around the bush and just asked Millefeuille for her reason to say such things. ¡¸I want you to grant a specific wish of mine in exchange for equal compensation from me.¡¹ Uh? I have no idea what this ¡°contract¡± she¡¯s talking about is, but I¡¯m sure that it isn¡¯t as simple as a contract written on a piece of paper. She may be referring to a magic contract. Come to think of it, one of the books about attribute magic in my collection did explain the matter about a contract between a human and a non-human being. Is she seriously referring to THAT contract? Does that mean this woman has mistaken me for a non-human being? Well, even if I were a hon-human being, making a contract with me, who can¡¯t use attribute magic, is impossible. ¡¸My bad, it¡¯s impossible.¡¹ ¡¸I see¡­¡¹ Millefeuille dropped her shoulders upon hearing my reply. Her face looked like she had just seen the end of the world. This woman was an elf. The elven country, Lorelei, was one of the places I wanted to visit before I had gotten swallowed into that dungeon. Even if it was a joke, Rose¡¯s acquaintance did have ¡°Lorelei¡± in her name. Thus, she was most likely a royalty. It was even more reason for me to avoid any contact with her at all costs to avoid any future trouble. ¡¸Don¡¯t be so sad. There are two reasons I can¡¯t make a contract with you. First, I can use only attribute-less magic due to my gift, ¡¾The Most Incompetent in This World¡¿. And second, I¡¯m a human.¡¹ ¡¸Human? You?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah! Girls?¡¹ I asked Faf and Asta, ¡¸Master is¡­ human, nodesu?¡¹ Why do you seem puzzled, Faf? Well, that should be enough proof, right? ¡¸Master, are you still insisting that you¡¯re a ¡°JUST¡± a human?¡¹ As for Asta, she straight out denied my humanity with a shocked expression. ¡¸Uhm, how do the others see me, I wonder?¡¹ ¡¸I can¡¯t see you as anything but a complete MONSTER from head to toe.¡¹ Both Faf and Millefeuille nodded in unison as if to agree with Asta. What in the hell is with these girls¡¯ sense of unity? ¡¸Kai¡¯s mother is my friend, and his father is a citizen of the Amelia kingdom. Kai is a human, no matter how you look at it you know.¡¹ So Rose is my mother¡¯s acquaintance, huh! That airhead mother of mine! She might have told Rose all about my past without a shred of hesitation. Naturally, she wouldn¡¯t have missed the embarrassing past of mine too. ¡¸You really are¡­ a human?¡¹ Millefeuille still asked me with a doubtful look on her face. ¡¸I¡¯ve told you that from the very beginning, right?¡¹ I gave an affirmation without a second thought. ¡¸I see¡­¡¹ She placed her hand on her chin as if she were pondering about something, but¡­ ¡¸I understand. Rose, this matter is way beyond the scope of what I can keep for myself. I have to consult this matter with Professor.¡¹ She informed Rose. ¡¸W-Wait a minute, Mi¨D¡¹ ¡¸Well then, see you again later, Kai-sama!¡¹ Millefeuille left the inn as suddenly as how she came, ignoring Rose, who had raised her right arm to stop her. Each of Millefeuille¡¯s steps was springy, the exact opposite of when she had just come here. Her wake left Rose in a dumbfounded state. I looked at Anna to give me some explanation about Rose and Millefeuille, but she just shrugged and shook her head to the sides with a bewildered expression. It seemed Anna had no idea about this as well. Since that was the case, I had no reason to keep thinking about this matter. The train of thought of these lasses in the springtime of their youth was too much for this old man after all. It was the only thought I understood from this series of events. ¡¸Well, I shall go back to my room. Anna, please take care of the rest.¡¹ I said to Anna while looking at Rose, who was grumbling on her own. ¡¸Yes. Leave it to me.¡¹ Anna gave a thumbs-up with a smile. This girl had become an obedient girl in the last few days. I mean, until just a few days ago, she used to avert her face with a displeased expression whenever she saw me. In short, this girl was just like Faf and Asta, an extremely shy person. I stood up from my seat and walked toward my room on the second floor. Volume 2 - CH 26 Act 2-26: The End of The Farce I arrived in the arena for my second match, against Zack Prower. After being through a strict check-up from several tournament committees, I had been forced to wear clothes that would limit my abilities and strength. Yup! It seems that the tournament committee would be under troublesome pressure if I win the tournament. I mean, why else would they force me to wear these clothes. As for my opponent, the wild-looking man with red hair¨DZack Prower¡ªhad already entered the arena amongst the deafening booing the audience directed toward me. He stood in the middle of the arena with a daring, battle-junkie-like smile on his face. I had seen Zack¡¯s previous match; it turned out he was quite an accomplished martial artist. You could say that he was rather similar to me, someone who has created their own martial art style. I¡¯m also looking forward to testing his abilities, but honestly, the explanation of the chairman of the tournament committee was like pouring cold water on my passion. ¡¸Oi chairman, you must be joking, right?¡¹ I could see blue veins bulging out from Zack¡¯s forehead as he asked the chairman of the tournament committee, a black-haired man. ¡¸Yeah, this is also a measure to prevent any kind of cheating from the incompetent!¡¹ The chairman exclaimed so without a shred of guilt. The content of his explanation was as follows: I wouldn¡¯t be allowed to hold a wooden sword to prevent me from cheating, and the referee could disqualify me the moment he judged that I was cheating. In short, my disqualification was guaranteed the moment they started the match. Well, in the end, such a tournament was nothing more than a means for me to gain money. I didn¡¯t care about such things, but apparently, they would confiscate my prize money too if I was disqualified. In short, to keep my prize money, the only choice I had was to lose on purpose against Zack. To be honest, I started to question the personality of the tournament committee members who thought about such f*cked rules. Only an idiot would feel delighted on being able to win such a f*cked up tournament. ¡¸ARE YOU F*CKING KIDDING ME! This is a match between us, martial artists! It ain¡¯t a place for you f*cking amateurs!¡¹ Despite trembling non-stop upon seeing Zack¡¯s enraged face, the chairman continued. ¡¸Well then, I¡¯ll leave the rest to you, Referee!¡¹ He went down as if he were escaping from the arena. After that, a haughty, bear-like referee stepped into the arena. ¡¸FIGHT!¡¹ The referee gave the signal to start the fight and moved to the side in a hurry. Since he didn¡¯t let go of his eyes on me, I honestly didn¡¯t feel like fighting at all. Zack glared toward the tent of the tournament committee for a while with a furious expression, then¡­ ¡¸I give up! I won¡¯t give a sh*t about this cr*p anymore! I SURRENDER!¡¹ He shook his head and went down from the arena. ¡¸KAI HEINEMAN, you were doing something suspicious just now!!¡¹ The referee suddenly shouted at me; he might have been flustered due to Zack¡¯s declaration of surrender. ¡¸I have not even moved an inch from this place, you know!¡¹ ¡¸NO! You definitely made a suspicious movement just now! With this, Kai Heineman is disqualified due to foul play!!¡¹ The clown called the referee declared so with an extremely loud voice, enough to resound in the entire venue. ¡¸I guess so.¡¹ I guessed I shouldn¡¯t waste my time in this farce anymore. There was still some time until the deadline for the payment of the slave. I decided to focus on gathering the amount of money I needed during that period. I turned around, and the referee raised his right hand toward Zack. However¡­ ¡¸GUGA!!¡¹ The next moment, the sorrowful wail of the referee resounded in the arena. When I looked back, the referee had already fallen back with a caved-in face and was twitching like a dead frog. ¡¸Look, I have attacked the referee. Now, I¡¯m disqualified too, right? Since both of us are disqualified, how about a little bout?¡¹ A bout, huh! ¡¸I don¡¯t mind.¡¹ I looked at the tent of the tournament¡¯s committee. "" ¡¸A-AS IF YOU¡¯RE ALLOWED TO DO THAT! Both of you are disqualified! Now, get out of here!¡¹ The chairman chased us out in a condescending attitude. ¡¸What do you think?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, let¡¯s change the place. It¡¯s not like this is the only place to fight in the world. Anyhow, these f*cking retards don¡¯t have the qualification to see our bout either. The match-fixing arranged by the tournament committee after this is already good enough for these boors.¡¹ Zack¡¯s complaints resounded loudly in the entire venue. Unlike mine, Zack¡¯s matches were really popular. His pure physical strength, which he had trained to the limit and used to overwhelm his opponent, had apparently charmed the audience. And Zack denouncing the tournament was a huge shock for the audience. I feel bad for the audience for doing this but¨D ¡¸I agree with you.¡¹ I looked at the spectators and agreed with Zack. Honestly speaking, martial arts were for struggling for life against another person. It wasn¡¯t a show, nor was it something that needed spectators. Moreover, the majority of the participants honestly lacked fighting spirit. People who enjoyed our battles as some game or rigged the matches wouldn¡¯t understand even if they saw our battle where we put our pride as a martial artist on the line. It was something akin to giving an expensive jewel to a pig. Thus, it was better to finish this before facing all of those troubles. I mean, all this commotion stemmed from the competition between that idiot prince and Rose. Since such a trivial matter didn¡¯t concern me in the least, I had no reason to regard a competent martial artist like Zack as one of these fools; nor did he need to receive some punishment. I took out a medium potion and walked toward the referee, who was still wailing in pain due to Zack¡¯s punch. Opening up the lip of the potion bottle, I poured its contents on the referee¡¯s face, restoring his wounded face at a rate visible to the naked eye. Such a grade of potion should be enough to restore even someone on the verge of death, and the ingredients one needed to make it weren¡¯t that rare either. That¡¯s why I judged that it was safe for me to use this potion here. Different from the healing slimes, this potion might leave scars, but this was good enough for this idiot. ¡¸Just what in the world is that nonsensical item? It can restore wound instantly?¡¹ ¡¸Let¡¯s go.¡¹ I was about to walk away without replying to Zack, who had asked me that question with a dumbfounded expression. However¡­ ¡¸There¡¯s no need for you to choose another place. This old man shall become the referee for you.¡¹ A white-haired old man whose eyes were covered by his bangs suddenly spoke up. The old man lightly jumped into the arena and declared so while touching his long, white beard. What a coincidence! To think I met this old man of all people in this place. It means¡­ ¡¸It has been a while.¡¹ I slightly bowed while giving a formal greeting to that old man. This old man was the grandmaster of the Kaien-style, Aaron Kaien. I had met him a really long time ago(according to my perspective) when my grandfather had taken me for a tour. ¡¸Uhm, long time no see.¡¹ The venue fell silent when Old Man Aaron raised his right hand to greet me back. ¡¸Aaron-sama, this incompetent was cheating, and Zack assaulted me!¡¹ The referee, who I had just healed, pointed at Zack and me, speaking with an extremely indignant expression. Yet¡­ ¡¸SILENCE! You¡¯re now banished from our school!¡¹ Old Man Aaron shouted back at the referee with an even more terrifying expression. He didn¡¯t beat around the bush and immediately banished the bear-like man. ¡¸Hah? W-Why did you banish me?¡¹ ¡¸You fool, do I need to explain the reason one by one? Expose all your shame to the public?¡¹ ¡¸¡­¡¹ The color drained from the face of the bear-like man; his face turned ashen white in just a moment. That was right. To this old man, it should¡¯ve been obvious whether I was cheating or not. ¡¸I don¡¯t know how much you got for agreeing with this folly, but your actions have crossed the line. You¡¯re a shame for a martial artist. FROM THIS MOMENT, you¡¯re no longer a part of our school! Now, get the hell out of here!!¡¹ After hearing all that, the bear-like man descended from the arena with a lifeless gait and vanished into the passage. ¡¸My deepest apologies for this folly, Kai, Zack. As much as I¡¯m ashamed to say this, but that man was a member of our school until I banished him just now for his shameful act.¡¹ ¡¸Don¡¯t worry about it!¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, it¡¯s not a big deal!¡¹ Old Man Aaron heaved a sigh upon seeing both Zack and me giving way for him; it wasn¡¯t his fault after all. Then, he looked at the tent of the tournament committee like a bird looking at its prey. ¡¸Thank you, but still, it doesn¡¯t change the fact that our school is the one who¡¯s managing this tournament. Oi, chairman, you better prepare a proper explanation for this incident. You hear me?¡¹ He straight out threatened the chairman. The committee members and the haughty-looking chairman, all of them could only hang their faces down in shame upon receiving that threat and tremble like newborn calves. Uhm, it seems that the air of this old man and even his enraged tone was similar to that of my grandfather. These two factors were still the same as the one in the memory of the past Kai Heineman. ¡¸Old man, you¡¯re the referee, right? Then, let¡¯s get this started.¡¹ Speaking of Aaron Kaien, he was a sword master whose ability rivaled my grandfather¡¯s. He was one of the strongest martial artists in this world. And this rascal dared to act so brazenly in front of such an existence. Though, I couldn¡¯t bring myself to hate a battle junkie like him. Yup, it¡¯s decided! This guy will replace me as Rose¡¯s royal guard. ¡¸Uhm, you¡¯re right! We, martial artists, talk with our skills. My apologies to make you wait.¡¹ Old Man Aaron¡¯s face changed into that of a merry old man as he spoke those words while raising his right hand. ¡¸BEGIN!!¡¹ Then, our battle started with the cue from Old Man Aaron. Volume 2 - CH 27 Act 2-27: He Who Exists in The Realm of Martial Art Gods[Side: Aaron Kaien] I, Aaron Kaien, absentmindedly looked at the extreme and nonsensical exchange of offense and defense from the side of the arena. Zack¡¯s kicks and punches were hitting empty air. ¡¸UWA!?¡¹ It seemed Zack lost his posture when his attack missed its target. As a result, Kai Heineman swept his leg and threw him into the air. After turning a few times in the air, Zack again crashed on the ground on his back. Kai Heineman moved away by shifting his center of gravity as if to react to Zack, who immediately stood up. Maybe, it was a prediction. Yeah, that was the only answer I could think about. Maybe, he was making his move based on Zack¡¯s expressions, gaze, and all the minute movements he made. Everything culminated into clairvoyance that resembled a future vision. ¡¸Aah¡­¡¹ A voice of admiration escaped from my lips. Yes! Clairvoyance was the essence of all martial arts and also its most basic principle. To put it in another way, clairvoyance was the lifelong goal of all martial artists. Every martial artist, including me, polished our skills every day to achieve that state in our life. And just now, Kai Heineman showed to all of us that he was already in the legendary realm of martial arts. ¡¸Or even past that¡­¡¹ The tears I held back flowed out like the water in a bursting dam. Never had I expected that I could have the honor to see that legendary realm at my age. Zack unleashed a roundhouse kick with his right leg toward Kai Heineman¡¯s head, but that kick also missed its target. Yet, Zack didn¡¯t stop turning in the air. He pushed his right palm to the ground as a fulcrum, then unleashed another kick with his right leg, which had gained momentum from his previous kick. The resulting shockwaves shredded the stone arena to pieces, but Kai Heineman had already retreated beyond Zack¡¯s attack range. ¡¸GUGAA!!¡¹ When he realized that his chained attack had just failed, Zack tried to open some distance while letting out a bestial roar. However, Kai Heineman didn¡¯t miss that opening and unleashed a kick that sent Zack flying to the edge of the arena. Zack managed to stand up again, albeit with much difficulty. The look on his face wasn¡¯t that of disbelief or frustration; it was an expression overflowing with joy since he could challenge someone with genuine, absolute skills, someone who he couldn¡¯t defeat no matter what. ¡¸Maybe I¡¯m envious of him¡­¡¹ Yes. I was really envious of Zack. To be able to challenge someone who stands in the realm of martial art gods. It was the dream and the highest honor for every martial artist. And right now, I was really mad at myself since I had let go of that chance. ¡¸Da*mmit all.¡¹ Recruiting that martial art god(Kai Heineman) into Kaien-style? Ridiculous! It would be like a person holding the sword for the first time trying to teach an assistant instructor. It would be just how ridiculous I¡¯ll look if I try to recruit Kai Heineman. The battle had been going on for more than thirty minutes. Zack didn¡¯t show any signs of giving up. And that martial art god properly responded to Zack¡¯s fighting spirit. Things might keep going on until Zack can¡¯t even lift his finger. ¡¸It seems I can¡¯t stop it either.¡¹ This was the greatest moment in Zack¡¯s entire life. There was no way I could stop him even if it cost his life. That was why I decided to see through his struggle till the end. However, the moment I sat in the arena, two youths suddenly rushed out from the passage. Both of them were dragging along several tournament committee members who were trying to stop them. I was about to stand up and throw these boorish youths out of this place, but they suddenly groveled right before the arena. ¡¸KAI HEINEMAN!! Barse city is in danger! Please, please save the city!¡¹ The blonde man shouted at the top of his lungs while pressing his forehead on the ground. For the first time since the start of the match, Kai Heineman looked away from Zack and gazed at the two youths who were grovelling right before the arena. Maybe because he had also sensed something off after hearing those youths¡¯ pleas, Zack released his stance and crossed his arms while watching over the situation. ¡¸What¡¯s happening? Tell me in detail.¡¹ Kai Heineman asked the two of them to explain the situation. Volume 2 - CH 28 Act 2-28:A Commission From The Hunter Guild I noticed something when our fists collided. Just like that greenhorn sword emperor, Zack was gifted with a talent for martial arts. To be honest, as I was born without such talent, I really enjoyed a match against a mass of talent like Zack. Maybe because I had gotten too focused on our bout, I had forgotten about my surroundings until someone called out my name. I immediately looked in the direction where the voice came from and saw two men prostrating in front of the arena. I remember them. One of them was the hunter who had made a laugh of me back in the hunter guild. He was a tall, blonde hunter called Raiga. Back then, he had looked down on me. For such a man to assume such a humiliating posture in front of me, the situation had to be extremely troublesome. ¡¸What happened? Tell me in detail.¡¹ ¡¸EVERYTHING IS MY FAULT! My comrades! The city!¡¹ Raiga¡¯s speech was a complete mess. He was crying nonstop. It seemed the incident had really disturbed his mind. Since Raiga¡¯s speech was a mess, I looked at the other, hooded man with short black hair to hear his story, but¡­ ¡¸Our careless actions have brought danger to Barse. Please, lend us your power!¡¹ His explanation was short and to the point. Barse is in a dangerous situation, huh! That enslaved beast-folk girl and Arnold are both in that city. Abandoning them is out of the question! Good grief! Trouble always comes from an unexpected direction. Then, I realized that along with these two men, a girl with her long hair tied in a ponytail had come to the side of the arena too. She seemed out of breath, ¡¸Kai Heineman-san, there¡¯s a cooperation request from the guild master of Barse city, Ralph Excel, to subjugate the ¡¾Regional-Class¡¿¡¯s monster. Please come back with us to Barse city immediately!¡¹ The woman shouting with disheveled breath was the receptionist of Barse¡¯s hunter guild, Mia. Mia¡¯s remark raised a commotion in the entire venue. ¡¸I¡¯m abstaining from the match.¡¹ I stepped down from the arena and walked toward the trio after saying that to Old Man Aaron. ¡¸Let¡¯s go! Tell me the details along the way.¡¹ I commanded them with a strong voice since the situation seemed to be terrible over there. Rose and co. were already waiting for us in front of the martial arts venue. All of us headed together to the closest plaza. I couldn¡¯t prevent Old Man Aaron and Zack from following us since there was nothing to hide in this situation. After we reached the plaza, we heard the story from the trio. ¡¸I see. Monsters from the deep forest are heading toward Barse, huh¡­¡¹ Rose muttered with a dead-serious expression. Despite their lack of qualifications, Raiga and his comrades had managed to locate the ¡¾Ancient Temple¡¿ in the deepest part of the sea forest of Silke, all thanks to the item they got from a suspicious person. It turned out to be a trap. That trap killed everyone except Raiga and Hook. And thanks to their action, the monsters living in the deep forest came out at once toward Barse. The one requesting my reinforcement might have been Arnold. That personage seems to overestimate my capabilities. ¡¸So, Asta, do you know about this?¡¹ Even though not even a day had passed, Asta seemed like a well-informed person. ¡¸Unfortunately, I still don¡¯t have enough information about this world. Therefore, I lack the foundation to make any assumption.¡¹ It seemed she wasn¡¯t lying. Or, should I say she was simply not interested in this matter. It was obvious just by looking at her face after all. I shifted my gaze to Faf. She had already fallen asleep while clinging to my clothes. Come to think of it, it¡¯s time for her afternoon nap. I guess I can¡¯t ask Faf about this matter either. ¡¸Well, I guess I have no choice but to go back to Barse.¡¹ Let¡¯s keep this matter for later. I¡¯ll somehow do something about this situation anyhow. ¡¸So? What are you going to do now? It¡¯ll take one and a half day¡¯s journey from this place to Barse even if you use the fastest carriage. I mean, you should know that Barse might get destroyed during that time, right?¡¹ Zack, you¡¯re enjoying this situation, right? Moreover, you seem to be eager to stop me. Then¨D ¡¸Uhm, I don¡¯t need a youngster like Zack to remind me of something that I¡¯m well aware of, right? I¡¯m also rather curious about that.¡¹ Old Man Aaron spoke in a curious voice while stroking his long, white beard. ¡¸Kai?¡¹ Rose looked at me with a pleading gaze. ¡¸I understand.¡¹ Heaving a sigh, I took out the ¡¾Subjugation Picture Book¡¿ from my item box, opened the page I was looking for, then chanted ¡¾Release¡¿ in my mind. The next moment, a suspicious giant bird appeared before us. Yes, it was the guardian of the 700th floor, Phoenix. This suspicious bird had the same name as the divine bird. Although he was a noisy fella who kept on chirping about immortal this, immortal that, after I kept chopping him up for five hours straight, he had chickened out and died for real. ¡ºOoh, Our great Supreme Ruler! What kind of order do you have for this bird?¡» The self-proclaimed divine bird(Phoenix) appeared while lowering his head till it touched the ground beneath him. ¡¸You hijacked every single authority in ¡¾God¡¯s Ordeal¡¿, and you¡¯re telling me that you¡¯re just a ¡°human¡±!!¡¹ Asta was sweating from head to toe, mumbling some mumbo-jumbo while chewing on her thumbnail. She looked more repulsive than usual. Uhm, well, let¡¯s ignore her. It¡®s a much better option for her after all. Besides Faf, who was rubbing her sleepy eyes, everyone looked open up in silence, mouth wide open in shock. ¡¸Take me to the place I point out to you.¡¹ ¡ºYour wish is my command!¡» Our bodies then floated in the air and landed on Phoenix¡¯s back. Phoenix ruled over resurrection, fire, and wind. He had lifted all of our bodies with his wind. ¡¸Fly until the city located in the northern direction of this city comes into view.¡¹ ¡ºAs you wish!¡» The self-proclaimed, suspicious immortal bird, Phoenix, hovered in the air as he flapped his wings. Then, he flew toward the northern direction at lightning speed. Volume 2 - CH 29 Act 2-29: The Beast Army(1) [Side: Ilsa Harsnich] The wasteland in front of Barse city¡¯s east gate! ¡¸It seems this is the last of them.¡¹ I said as I plopped on the ground, wiping the beads of sweat that came out like a waterfall. Monsters kept coming out of the sea forest of Silke like surging waves. With the other hunters¡¯ and my cooperation, the small fries had been exterminated. As for the monsters from the deep forest, we left them to Wolfman and Knight Leader Arnold. Just a while ago, Knight Leader Arnold had slain the last one-eyed giant, thus confirming our victory in this defensive battle. Now, we only had to deal with the other small fries, such as goblins and kobolds. Low-rank hunters were more than enough to deal with the likes of those monsters. Everyone was exhausted at this point. Even with the fastest carriage, that youth, Kai Heineman, might need around one day to reach this place from Luserhall. I felt relieved since we had managed to overcome this crisis without having to use the final trump card, that youth. ¡¸That seems to be most of them.¡¹ The muscular, middle-aged man with blue hair and stubble beard voiced Ilsa¡¯s heartfelt feelings as he approached her. ¡¸Yeah, you must be exhausted too, Knight Leader! Please take a rest, and leave everything else to us!¡¹ I tried to prop myself up with a cheerful smile, but it seemed my body was really at the limit. Thus, I fell back on my rear. ¡¸Hahaha! You guys did a good job! Don¡¯t force yourself! Leave the matter of dealing with the aftermath to me and Wolfman.¡¹ Knight Leader Arnold suggested that while looking at the tall man whose face was covered in a wolf mask and who was wearing wolf fur. Wolfman kept looking in the direction of the sea forest of Silke even now. The knight leader and Wolfman had been fighting non-stop for the last few days. Even after we had almost won, they kept fighting. That made me wonder whether they were humans like us. £¨Now I realized just what kind of an existence is the so-called S-class hunter.£© My goal was the superman who hailed as an S-class hunter, the target of envy for every hunter in the world. Honestly, I had no idea that there was so much difference between our powers. Upon a closer look, I realized that these two men were standing at such terrifying heights. Maybe, that was also how large the gap between them and the top of the world was. I chewed my lips upon feeling the incomprehensible in my heart. ¡¸Understood! I shall withdraw along with everyone.¡¹ I propped myself again and bowed to Knight Leader Arnold. ¡¸Yeah, I¡¯ll leave that matter to you.¡¹ Knight Leader Arnold lightly nodded as he spoke. ¡¸ARNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD!!¡¹ Suddenly, Wolfman¡¯s scream resounded in the wasteland. I turned around toward the source of that scream and saw that Wolfman had already assumed his stance, his gaze still fixed on the sea forest of Silke. At the end of his line of sight was a goat-headed man wearing foreign clothes. ¡¸That one is¡­ bad news.¡¹ This was the first time in these few days that I had heard Knight Leader Arnold speak in an anxious tone. Arnold then drew his sword, lowering his center of gravity as he focused on that goat-headed man. These two men had never raised their guards like this even when they were fighting against the monsters from the deep forest. Does that mean this goat-headed man is far more dangerous than the one-eyed giant? I mean, he doesn¡¯t seem to be that powerful¡­ ¡¸EVACUATE! Take everyone to the gates!¡¹ After saying so, both Knight Leader Arnold and Wolfman sprinted toward the goat-headed man. Thus, the clash between two of humanity¡¯s strongest and the goat-headed man began. Volume 2 - CH 30 Act 2-30: The Beast Army(2) [Side: Ilsa Harsnich] The goat-headed man easily parried Knight Leader Arnold¡¯s strike, which could slice a monster from the deep forest like butter, with the claws of his right hand. Moreover, the man even dodged Wolfman¡¯s kick, which packed an extremely terrifying force toward his head, without even as much as turning around; he had just shifted his center of gravity a little bit. Then, he sent casual claw strikes toward both of them. ¡¸GUH!¡¹ ¡¸¡­¡¹ Wolfman and Knight Leader Arnold twisted their bodies and barely dodged those seemingly casual attacks. However, the ground below them split due to the residual force of the attacks. If they hadn¡¯t dodged in time, those claw attacks would¡¯ve inflicted fatal wounds on them. ¡¸What kind of a monster is that¡­¡¹ The B-rank hunter beside me spoke in a hoarse voice. The faces of those who saw the fight turned pale as if all color had been drained from their face. Their reactions were natural. After all, even Knight Leader Arnold and Wolfman, who had slain the monsters of deep forest with such ease, could only fight on par with one goat-headed man. Moreover, the goat-headed man seemed slightly stronger than the two combined. Come to think of it, the monsters¡¯ parade was rather unusual. It had felt as if the monsters that inhabited the forest were escaping from something. But, since there were no existences that could force the monsters from the deep forest to escape from their living place, I had unconsciously excluded such a possibility. Maybe, that goat-headed man is the owner of the voice, the man who called himself Pazuzu, in Raiga and co¡¯s testimony. £¨Are you kidding me? No matter how strong Kai Heineman is, there¡¯s no way he can beat this monster!!£© As if Kai Heineman could beat a monster that could fight on par against two S-class hunters. Surely, Raiga¡¯s ruin exploration had violated many taboos for treasure hunters. But, it was still a place where such a monster was asleep. That trap was an extremely cunning, well-prepared trap terrifying enough to send a chill running down my spine. In short, it wasn¡¯t just a trap prepared for Raiga and co.; even veteran hunters could have fallen into that trap. Suddenly, a magic circle appeared beneath the feet of the goat-headed man during that 1-vs-2 fierce combat. Then, several chains of light came out from within magic circles, binding the goat-headed man¡¯s body. ¡¸Do it! NOOOOOOOOOOW!!¡¹ A small yet muscular man clad in a red robe, Excel Ralph, shouted while pointing his cane toward the goat-headed man and restraining him. ¡ºGUGOOOOOOOO!!¡» The goat-headed man let out a bestial roar as he seized the chains of light restraining him with his hands. Then, he tore them. Although the goat-headed man had managed to break free from the chains of light, Knight Leader Arnold¡¯s great sword beheaded his head right at that moment, followed by Wolfman¡¯s heel drop-sinking into the body that had already lost its head. The body of the goat-headed man exploded into minced meat, which spread in all directions after Wolfman¡¯s heel drop. ¡¸They did it¡­¡¹ ¡¸WE WON!!¡¹ When a hunter let out a victory cry while raising his right hand to the sky, others followed suit. The victory cries resounded in the wasteland right in front of Barse city¡¯s east gate. ¡¸Did we¡­ do it?¡¹ I heaved a sigh as I felt that the strings binding my body had loosened for the first time in a few days. ¡¸DON¡¯T LET YOUR GUARD DOWN! It hasn¡¯t ended yet!!¡¹ However, Guild Master Ralph¡¯s shout slapped me awake from the euphoria. When I looked around, I realized that it wasn¡¯t just the guild master, even Knight Leader Arnold and Wolfman were still looking at the sea forest of Silke. All three of them were staring into the forest with dread-filled expressions. Guild Master Ralph was once a leading sorcerer in ¡¾Babel(World Sorcery Institution)¡¿. In terms of strength, he was of the same unofficial, ¡¾Over¡¿-class hunter rank, like Wolfman. In short, he was one of the absolute strongest in this world. For three such people to wear such dreaded looks on their faces! It could only mean that¨D ¡¸No way.!¡¹ When I turned around to see the great forest of Silke, I finally understood the reason behind their dreaded expressions. ¡¸Uwa¡­¡¹ The other hunters also let out various groans of despair. The reason being other beast-headed monsters clad in foreign clothes were starting to come out from the sea forest of Silke. Their number was already in the hundreds or maybe thousands as they filled in the wasteland. I had never considered this situation. Does that mean every single one of those beast-headed monsters is as powerful as the goat-headed man, who was finally defeated after Guild Master worked together with Knight Leader Arnold and Wolfman? There¡¯s no way we can survive this. ¡ºOh my! It seems one of us has already been killed.¡» A hoarse yet relaxed voice resounded in my head. The beast-headed monsters suddenly split into two groups. Then, they knelt at once and bowed. Before them was the figure of a tall, red-haired man with a blue beard. Dressed in red pants, a mantle, and a pair of shoes, and with a round green hat on his head, the man was combing his hair in an extremely narcissistic pose. ¡¸Those are¨D impossible to defeat even for us! Go back and take refuge! We¡¯ll stay behind and try to buy as much time as we can for you!¡¹ The moment Guild Master Ralph said so, the hunters started to turn around and tried to escape as fast as possible. ¡ºStopping us? That¡¯s impossible.¡» The tall, red-haired man said so as he looked down. He sneered at Ralph, who was chanting the aria for his magic. ¡¸¡­¡¹ Ralph¡¯s aria suddenly stopped in the middle, then he looked up in silence. He flinched. I-IMPOSSIBLE! I couldn¡¯t see his movement, nor could I sense the moment he had moved at all. When I realized, the red-haired man was already standing in front of Guild Master. I looked around and realized that neither Knight Leader Arnold nor Wolfman could react to the red-haired man¡¯s movements at all. ¡ºAra! What are you going to do now that you know you can¡¯t stop me?¡» Just like a frog being stared at by a snake, the red-haired man grabbed Guild Master¡¯s head and raised him with one hand. ¡¸Uwa¡­¡¹ The Guild Master, who was normally calm and composed to the point of being creepy, was wailing in pain as if he was experiencing a pain he had never felt before. ¡ºWoops! I really can¡¯t measure the strength of a lowly bug. That¡¯s why, you mustn¡¯t blame me if you die by accident, okay?¡» Then, he threw away Guild Master Ralph like he were a piece of trash. The guild master fell far away at a terrifying speed, crashing into the ramparts along with a deafening explosion. The rampart blew into pieces, burying Ralph inside a mountain of rubble. ¡¸DON¡¯T LOOK DOWN ON US!!¡¹ Wolfman ran at his full speed with his four limbs. Then, he unleashed a stab with the sharp claws of his right hand into the back of the red-haired man¡¯s head. However, his claw strike got repelled with a clear, metallic sound. ¡¸WAH!!?¡¹ It might have been better if the red-haired man had dodged that claw strike with his fists or claws. But, he was unscathed even after receiving the full brunt of Wolfman¡¯s attack. On the other hand, Wolfman¡¯s claws were now bent in all directions. ¡ºMy bad!¡» The red-haired man slowly turned around to look at Wolfman. ¡¸¡­¡¹ Then, he unleashed a light punch to Wolfman, who was still looking at his own claws with a dumbfounded expression. That punch sent Wolfman rolling on the ground at a terrifying speed, and when he finally stopped, his body didn¡¯t even as much as twitch. My head couldn¡¯t catch up with the sudden development of seeing how easily the guild master and Wolfman had been beaten to a pulp, each with a single strike. Guild Master Ralph was one of the Over-rank S-class and ¡¾Babel¡¿¡¯s ex-strongest. Wolfman was an S-class hunter in his active duty. These two people, who were mine and many other hunters¡¯ lifelong goals, had been beaten so easily. My peers and I sweated blood and tears every day just so that we could become someone who could stand by these people¡¯s sides as peers. Such existences had been beaten so easily with seemingly light attacks. How can this be? Yes, this must be a dream. Just the usual nightmare, and once I wake up in my bed, I will start the day with the usual foolish conversation with my comrades. ¡ºWell then! It has been a while since the last time we had our meal, you know! Now, eat to your fill!¡» The beast-headed men in the beast army hit their left ch*sts with their right fists the moment they heard the red-haired man¡¯s order. Then, they marched toward us. ¡¸Why?¡¹ Knight Leader Arnold, who was watching over the situation with his sword still readied despite sweating like a waterfall, said that word. ¡ºUhm, what do you mean?¡» ¡¸Why are you guys attacking us?¡¹ ¡ºUfufufu~n! It¡¯s because we can use humans in various ways, such as various experimental subjects, ingredients for foods or raw materials, etc, you know!¡» Such a terrifying remark resounded directly in my head. ¡¸Ingredients? Raw materials? Are you serious?¡¹ ¡ºOf cou~rse! Especially the clothes or bags made from the skin of an especially powerful human. They are the best quality materials. The stew made from the meat of human children or a female human is something you can¡¯t get enough of.¡» The red-haired man replied with an entranced expression as his body writhed in a strange way. ¡¸THIS ROTTEN DEMON!!¡¹ Knight Leader Arnold took up his great sword on his shoulder. Shouting in an enraged voice, he charged toward the red-haired man. However, he was pinned to the ground from behind by a wolf-headed man with gray fur, a round hat, and clothes having white and blue color as their basic tone. Standing beside the red-haired man was an eagle-headed man and a tiger-headed man with the same attire as the wolf-headed man. ¡ºResistance is futile! A small fry like you won¡¯t even be able to leave a scratch on us, let alone Pazuzu-sama.¡» The wolf-headed monster gleefully seized Knight Leader Arnold¡¯s head and slammed it on the ground. The ground exploded, creating a crater on the place he slammed Knight Leader Arnold¡¯s head. Then, the tiger-headed man walked till he arrived beside Knight Leader Arnold and squatted down. ¡ºAah, Pocchi is rather violent after all. Human meat becomes tough and unappetizing if you hit them too much or overly scare them. Beheading them in a single strike is the best way to kill them. Hey, it¡¯ll be more painful the more you struggle, you know! Just relax, and it¡¯ll end without much pain and suffering¨D¡» He spoke as if were admonishing the wolf-headed man, but¡­ ¡¸MUTT B*STARD!!¡¹ Knight Leader Arnold spat on the tiger-headed man¡¯s face. Blood vessels popped out on the tiger-headed man¡¯s forehead; he was enraged. ¡ºHey, Pocchi, I¡¯ve changed my mind. Can you leave this guy to me?¡» ¡ºUuh, Mike¡¯s bad habit is coming out again! My goodness! This is why the cat family is no good.¡» The eagle-headed man shrugged and shook his head to the sides as if he knew what was gonna come next. ¡¸Peeco! How da¨D¡¹ ¡ºCan you guys stop the useless chit-chat and capture them immediately. Make sure that you¡¯re not injuring the young males and females since we can use them for breeding more humans in the ranch. As for the rest, do as you like!¡» The Wolf-headed man, Pocchi, stood up and punched Knight Leader Arnold right on his solar plexus with his right fist. He reaped the consciousness of the knight leader in one clean hit. Then, Pocchi bumped his right fist on his chest. The tiger-headed man, Mike, and the eagle-headed man, Peeco, did the same. ¡º¡º¡ºAS YOU WISH, PAZUZU-SAMA!!¡»¡»¡» They shouted in unison like trained soldiers. ¡ºIt¡¯s party time! Eat to your fill!!¡» With a roar from Pocchi, the other beast-headed monsters ran toward the hunters. As I watched them approach with a dumbfounded look on my face, strangely enough, I got a feeling that these beast-headed monsters¡¯ movements were surprisingly slow. I knew that I was safe since I was a ¡°female.¡± But sometimes, being alive was worse than being dead. What awaited me once I got caught by these monsters was the worst possible future where my dignity as a human would be thoroughly trampled by them. On the other hand, being eaten by them might be considered as some sort of salvation. Are these guys the subordinates of the four great demon kings? I don¡¯t think so! Even if the demons are our enemy, they don¡¯t eat humans, nor do they have any repulsive ideas, such as a human ranch. They just want to rule over humans! That¡¯s all. On the other hand, these people before us are far more malicious. Definitely not the savior from another world which they mentioned. A sheep-headed monster approached. He was about to grab my head with his right hand when¨D ¡ºGAHI!!¡» A black mass fell from the sky, crushing the sheep-headed monster beneath it. The sheep-headed monster¡¯s body got broken into numerous pieces of meat. Then, the human-shaped black mass turned around toward me. He was the mysterious youth whose appearance might be able to end this fight, Kai Heineman. Volume 2 - CH 31 Act 2-31.1: The Strongest Incompetent in This World Pazuzu === As we rode on Phoenix¡¯s back, it took us less than ten seconds to arrive at Barse. I looked at the ground and saw numerous beast-headed monsters rushing toward the hunters. Arnold and the other hunters were barely breathing. It seems I¡¯ve arrived in the nick of time. ¡¸I¡¯ll get down here. You guys can wait for me in the city. Phoenix, deliver Old Man Aaron and the others to the city below us.¡¹ ¡ºAs you wish!¡» ¡¸Wait a minute, Ka¨D¡¹ Rose wanted to say something, but I ignored her and descended to the wasteland below us. I landed right on top of the sheep-headed monster, which was about to grab the brown woman who had worn an attire that exposed a whole lot of her skin. I knew her. She was the one who had been peeking at the farce that had happened between me and the thugs in the back alley. Well, I hadn¡¯t minded it. That was a trivial matter for me after all. After landing, I looked around for a strong opponent. However, the only things I saw were small fries. All of them were so weak that they looked the same to me. If I had to say, the haughty-looking pervert who had only worn underpants and a mantle seemed like the boss of these beast-headed small fries. It was kind of a rule of thumb that when small fries like these gathered in the survival of the fittest, their boss was the strongest one. The other smaller leaders were the eagle-, wolf-, and tiger-headed monsters. As for the clothes they wore! Are those military clothes from another world? Maybe not! According to that book from another world, which I found in that easiest dungeon, this is more like the attire for a festival of that world. According to that book, like-minded fellows gather some days, donned in the appearance or in the attire of a character that appeared in the legend. Yeah, the activity is called ¡¾Cosplaying¡¿ over there, and the participants are ¡¾Cosplayers¡¿. Maybe all of these beast-headed monsters have the same hobbies as those perverts who dare to walk in their underwear in daylight. Does that mean all of them are monsters from another world? It seems Arnold got beaten by them. Maybe those monsters¡¯ corps and that pervert are wearing those items to limit their abilities, just like me. If that¡¯s the case, I can¡¯t let my guard down in front of them. Well then, I guess that¡¯s enough speculation. Now, the first thing I need to do is¨D ¡¸Anyone who dares to move, even if by just a single step, will die by my sword.¡¹ I looked around for the second time while infusing my killing intent into my warning. The warning was enough to stop all the beast-headed monsters, whose numbers had reached the thousands. Look at them! They can¡¯t even talk back to me. I chanted ¡¾Release¡¿ as I summoned thirty ¡¾Healing Slimes¡¿ from the ¡¾Subjugation Picture Book¡¿. ¡¸Heal the humans here.¡¹ The ¡¾Healing Slimes¡¿ trembled as if they were all fired up upon receiving my order. They immediately went to heal the injured hunters. ¡ºA-Are they¡­ healing slimes?¡» The eagle-headed monster, who was clad in female military attire, said in a shocked voice. Hou, these weirdos are familiar with healing slimes, huh! ¡ºWhy has Apollo¡¯s most prided kin appeared in such a place?¡» ¡ºYou fool! Naturally, it¡¯s because heaven¡¯s army has come to this land.¡» ¡ºSo that guy is Apollo¡¯s subordinate!!¡» The wolf-headed and tiger-headed monsters joined the conversation, saying something incomprehensible. ¡ºBE QUIET!!¡» The noisy trio quickly shut their mouths the moment they received a scolding in broad daylight from the red-haired pervert only in his underpants and a mantle. The composed look on that pervert¡¯s face had already vanished a while ago. Now, he was squinting as if he wanted to seize me. ¡ºA strength that can make those extremely prideful Healing Slimes obey you and even make us tremble in fear. Just who in the world are you?¡» ¡¸Uhm, I¡¯m Kai Heineman. The most incompetent man in this world.¡¹ It wasn¡¯t humility. That was my origin and my starting point. I had long since accepted my identity without feeling disappointed, even if the others laughed at me for my gift. Rather, I realized that I was really happy to be born as an incompetent. Thanks to that, I realized that I didn¡¯t need to rely on something vague like a gift more than necessary. A gift wasn¡¯t everything and certainly not something that defined your true self. ¡ºYou must be joking right? There¡¯s no way an incompetent can make us tremble in fear so much.¡» The pervert replied in an annoyed tone. The beast-headed corps flinched as they profusely oozed cold sweat like a waterfall. ¡¸It¡¯s the truth. Rather than that, release your limiter right now. You don¡¯t want this to end in an instant, right?¡¹ I took out ¡¾Murasame¡¿ from my item box. I¡¯ve finally met a strong opponent after a long time. Now is the time to learn more about the power level of this world for my future reference. ¡ºLimiter? what do you mean?¡» ¡¸Uhm? It¡¯s exactly as I said! Whether it¡¯s the effect of an item or abilities, cancel the concealment effect that makes you look like a genuine small fry. Use everything you have to beat me just like what you did to knight leader.¡¹ ¡ºT-THIS GREAT ME IS A SMALL FRY!!?¡» The pervert in the mantle shouted in an enraged voice. ¡¸I never said that ¡°YOU¡± are a ¡°SMALL FRY¡±. I said the concealment effect makes the ¡°CURRENT¡± you look like a genuine ¡°SMALL FRY¡±. You don¡¯t want to die with regret since you¡¯re not going all out from the start, right?¡¹ At the same time, I could learn the highest level of strength in this world. This definitely a win-win solution. ¡ºPochi, Mike, Peeco, kill this disgusting trash!¡» ¡º¡º¡ºYes!¡»¡»¡» The beast-headed, cosplayer squad withdrew their weapons and surrounded me at once. It seemed this military nerd trio could somehow withstand my coercion. Or they might be just too stupid to not realize the difference between our strengths. Anyhow, using one¡¯s subordinates to test the water was a rule of thumb. Well since that¡¯s the case, I shall use these small fries to show my strength to that pervert. ¡ºYOU¡­ WILL DIE!¡» The wolf-headed monster pointed his iron ax at me as a brief smile appeared on his face. ¡ºYes, you¡¯ll learn your place for calling Pazuzu-sama a small fry.¡» The eagle-headed woman joined in while twirling her spear. ¡ºYou will die in our hand¨D Pazuzu-sama¡¯s three bea¨D¨D eh?¡» This idiot who carelessly got into my range had finally noticed! It seems they were way too stupid to notice that fact when it was already too late for them. ¡¸Sorry, but you¡¯ve already been sliced to pieces.¡¹ I had already unleashed a lightning-speed slash toward the three of them. They wouldn¡¯t even be able to see it even if they moved now. Every single one of them had already been sliced a thousand times each after all. ¡ºI-Impo¨D¡» ¡¸Ssible¨D¡¹ Extremely fine lines spread on their bodies as each of them spoke their last words. The next moment, they fell as fine pieces of meat. ¡º¡­¡» The pervert wearing a mantle stared in silence at his subordinates who had already been turned into fine pieces of meat, sunk into their own pool of blood for a while. After that, I smiled at him since he looked at me. ¡¸!!?¡¹ Act 2-31.2: The Strongest Incompetent in This World The pervert wearing a mantle jumped back as if he were trying to escape the moment he saw my smile. ¡¸I¡¯ll repeat this for the last time. Cancel the concealment effect that makes you look like a genuine small fry, RIGHT, NOW!¡¹ My last warning to the pervert in the mantle sounded calm and composed, but it didn¡¯t allow any refusal. ¡ºJ-J-JUST WHO IN THE HELL ARE YOU!!?¡» ¡¸Hah? I¡¯ve told you before that my name is Kai Heineman, right?¡¹ ¡ºAs if such a name has any meaning to one who can wield such power!?¡» The pervert kept muttering that nonsensical remark, ¡¸Are you still going to spout such trivial lines at this late stage of the fight? Or, are you looking down on me for being incompetent? Wait a little bit, you might change your mind after I slaughtered all of your subordinates.¡¹ ¡¸What are you¨D¡¹ I ignored the pervert who was trying to say something, placed my hand on the hit of Murasame¨D ¡¸True Commandement Sword Art, One Sword Style, fourth form¨D¨D¡¹ Thread made from my mana that my body releases spread in the wasteland, capturing all the beast-headed monsters whose number reached thousands. And then¨D ¡¸¡ªArachne(Poisonous Spider¡¯s Nest)¡¹ The moment I recited that, Murasame¡¯s sword blade was unleashed from its sheath. All the beast-headed monsters¡¯ heads fell on the ground, which was then followed by sprays of blood from the bodies that had lost their heads, and finally. All those small fries fell on the ground like puppets whose strings had been cut loose. Thus, those thousands of beast-headed monsters died without even being able to resist at all. The skill I had used just now was ¡¾True Commandement Sword Art¡¿, fourth form, Arachne(Poisonous Spider¡¯s Nest). This fourth form used a thread of mana that spread to all directions to search for its target. Then, it would unleash a single sword strike to any target that got caught in the range of the thread. This was something I had chanced upon when I tried to test whether I could cut through the space by applying ¡¾Commandement Throwing Art¡¿ into my slash. Nevertheless, since the searching range of the mana thread was quite short, and since it was a single-strike skill, it wouldn¡¯t be that useful against a truly strong man. In short, this was a special skill to annihilate small fries. ¡º¡­¡» When he turned his face around, the red-haired pervert realized that all of his subordinates had already been annihilated. His expression was truly a sight to behold. ¡¸Do you understand now? I¡¯m not a weakling that will make you regret going all out.¡¹ ¡ºI see, you must be an assassin god sent by the heavenly army to kill me, right!?¡» Assassin god? Is this fella right in the head? There¡¯s no such thing as a god in this world. They are watching from above. Was his head hit by something? No, wait a minute, I think I¡¯ve read about this in the book I found in that easy dungeon, I think this is mental illness. This mental illness affects adolescent humans from age of 13 until 15¡ªsometimes until they are adults¡ªand is called ¡ºChuunibyou¡». This pervert actually suffers from such an illness. ¡¸I see! So you¡¯re suffering from such unfortunate mental diseases, huh. No wonder you dared to walk in broad daylight in such a perverted costume.¡¹ Well, he was going to die the next second since I have no shred of sympathy for this guy. ¡ºYou really are creepy fella through and through! Anyhow, I¡¯m sure that you¡¯ll become a hindrance for that personage if I leave you on your own device. That¡¯s why¡­¡» ¡¸That¡¯s why?¡¹ ¡ºYOU¡¯RE GOING TO DIE HERE!!¡» The pervert¡¯s appearance transformed as he let out a bestial roar. His whole body creaked like a broken jar. His muscles swelled up, and a pair of bat wings appeared on his back. Then, his face transformed into that of a reptile¡¯s. What is he trying to do now? Normally speaking, I would chop him to pieces the moment I spotted such a defenceless state during transformation, but¡­ My current priority was to know how powerful I am in this world. Because I knew if I didn¡¯t take this risk to properly understand how powerful I am in this world, it might come back to bite me back in the future. Thus, I decided to wait properly until that pervert finished his transformation, even if that went against my principle to attack the enemy in their defenceless state. ¡¸¡­¡¹ After the transformation had completed, I stared in silence toward the pervert with a half-opened mouth, but¡­, ¡¸No way! Is this your true strength?¡¹ I barely managed to squeeze those words upon seeing his transformation. ¡ºYes, This is my M-O-I! It¡¯s too late even if you get scared shi*tless now. You¡¯ve killed my subordinates. You¡¯ll pay for your sin with your body and soul!¡» The reality was truly cruel. "" ¡¸No way! The one who¡¯s gonna close the curtain of this act is¡­¡¹ I¡¯m looking down on my feet as if to express my current state, taking an extremely deep breath, and exhaling it. ¡ºTHIS IS IT! THIS IS IIIIIIIIII! I really can¡¯t get enough of the scene when a strongman like you is trembling in fear before my true poweeeeeeeeeer!!!¡» ¡¸To think I arrived too late again¡­¡¹ I mean, there was no way that this small fry could defeat the knight leader, the strongest in person in the kingdom. That strongman must have left after they defeated Arnold, leaving this small fry to take care of the rest. I mean, the fact that this pervert mentioned ¡ºThat Personage¡» made me even more sure of my congestion. In the end, I failed to meet a strongman again and know my strength in this world. Dammit all! THIS MUST BE A CURSE!! ¡ºYou, w-what are you talking about¨D¨D¡» The pervert wearing a mantle tried to punch me with his right hand. ¡¸SHUT UP!! CAN¡¯T YOU SEE MY SADNESS NOW!!¡¹ I drew Murasame and sliced that pervert¡¯s right hand. ¡ºGUGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!¡» I only got more and more annoyed seeing the pervert screaming like a sissy. Even though I was annoyed by this situation¡­ ¡¸I have no use for useless small fries like you. Now die.¡¹ I sentenced the pervert wearing a mantle with the death penalty. ¡ºW-Wai¨D¡» The pervert desperately tried to jump back to escape from me but he ended up falling on his rear. And then¨D ¡ºEh?¡» He finally saw a pair of legs in front of him, his own legs. ¡ºIs that, my leg?¡» He screamed again upon realizing this. ¡ºN-NO! I WILL NEVER COME TO MEDDLE WITH THIS WORLD AGAIN IIIIIIIIIIII!!¡» ¡¸I¡¯m also tired of hearing your nonsense delusion.¡¹ I turned around, sent a sidelong glance to the crying pervert, swung ¡¾Murasame¡¿ to the side to get rid of the blood on it. Only then did I return it into its sheath. ¡ºY-You¡¯re sparing me?¡» ¡¸Sparing your life? What are you talking about?¡¹ I had no intention to spare the life of this lowlife who had brought only misery to humans. The reason I sheathed Murasame was simply that it had already accomplished its job. ¡ºHYIIII! W-WHAT IS HAPPENING TO MEEEEEEE!!?¡» Countless fine lines started to appear on the pervert¡¯s body. Those lines then started to slide off slowly, one-by-one. ¡ºMY FACE, MY BODY IS CRUMBLIIIIIIIING!!¡» The pervert desperately tried to reconnect his crumbling body. ¡ºIGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!¡» His entire body crumbled down into fine pieces of meat along with his dying wail. Good grief! Here I thought that I finally got the chance to know the level of my current strength in this world and yet, only to arrive after the strongman had left, leaving only these f*cking small fry amongst small fry. Nowadays, it felt like I was relegated to the role of cleaning up these small fries. After heaving a sigh and feeling extremely downhearted, I, who had finished my job, went back toward Barse. While walking, I brushed the healing slimes, which had splendidly finished their job as their rewards till they were satisfied. Only after that did I send them back into the Subjugation Picture Book. === Character Design: Battaman AKA Kamen Rider Black Look a like Volume 2 - CH 32 Act 2-32: The Strongest Man(Side: Ilsa Harsnich) The small, muscular man clad in a small robe arrived beside me. I was still on the ground after falling on my rear, yet to recover from the unbelievable spectacle a while ago. ¡¸It seems you survived, huh, Guild Master!¡¹ I patted my ch*st in relief upon discovering his survival. ¡¸I was seriously about to die back then. The only reason I survived is the slimes he summoned.¡¹ These words made me recall the slimes that were pridefully jumping around Kai Heineman. ¡¸You¡¯re right.¡¹ I had no choice but to agree with Guild Master. ¡¸So, what do you think is THAT?¡¹ By ¡°THAT,¡± Guild Master was obviously referring to Kai Heineman. ¡¸No idea! To be honest, not even in my wildest dreams would I have thought that he¡¯s such an aberrant being.¡¹ It was natural. Kai Heineman had easily massacred thousands of beast-headed monsters, each equal to three guild masters. To top it off, he had sliced their generals; the eagle-headed, the wolf-headed, and the tiger-headed monsters that had pinned down Knight Leader Arnold. Kai Heineman had diced them into fine pieces of meat, and as if that wasn¡¯t absurd enough, he had even trampled on their boss, which had turned into a giant with a lizard head, with such ease. Strongest hunter¡ª No! It might not even be an exaggeration to call him the strongest in the world. ¡¸That f*cking Elm! Just how in the world did he manage to raise such an aberration?¡¹ Guild Master cursed Elm, Kai¡¯s grandfather, non-stop. ¡¸You¡¯re wrong! That Martial God has no teacher.¡¹ When I turned toward the direction of that voice, I saw an old man with a long, white beard and hair walking toward us with a pleasant smile on his face. ¡¸Long time no see, Master Aaron!¡¹ Knight Leader Arnold ran toward us the moment he saw the old man. He cupped his hands and bowed toward the old man. Wolfman followed Arnold a while later. ¡¸Uhm! It seems you¡¯re also safe and sound, Arnold.¡¹ The white-haired old man replied to Knight Leader Arnold. Yes, this old man was Knight Leader Arnold¡¯s master and the grandmaster of the Kaien-style, Aaron Kaien. ¡¸Aaron! What do you mean by Kai Heineman has no teacher?¡¹ ¡¸THAT is a Martial God. And a Martial God has no teacher. Am I wrong?¡¹ ¡¸¡­¡¹ Guild Master touched his chin upon hearing Aaron¡¯s remark and said, ¡¸Now that you said those words, cultivating ¡°THAT¡± is pretty much impossible. Since that¡¯s the case, such a talent is¡­¡¹ ¡¸So? do you know what kind of person that youth is?¡¹ Wolfman sent a sidelong glance toward Guild Master and asked for a confirmation. ¡¸Kai Heineman is Princess Rose¡¯s royal guard.¡¹ So that rumor was true. Since that¡¯s the case¨D ¡¸I see. Kai is Princess Rose¡¯s royal guard, huh¡­ So that¡¯s why the princess is¡­¡¹ Old man Aaron crossed his arms as he pondered something with a steep expression. On the other hand¨D ¡¸I¡¯M AGAINST THIS! Don¡¯t you see just what kind of aberration is that so-called royal guard? His strength isn¡¯t something that should be in the possession of a country. Just what kind of madness is this for a mere princess to have such an aberration as her vassal!!!¡¹ Guild Master¡¯s visage turned ghastly pale. But¡­ ¡¸So, what do you think about this situation, Guild Master?¡¹ "" I asked him about the real intention behind his remark. ¡¸Naturally, leave him to a neutral organization that isn¡¯t affiliated with any country, such as ¡¾Babel¡¿, or Hunter Guild.¡¹ So it came to this, huh! But still, Guild Master¡¯s remark was correct. Kai Heineman¡¯s existence might be capable of destroying the entire delicate power balance between countries and races. Or rather, I couldn¡¯t see any chance of defeating him even if tens of thousands of soldiers surrounded him. I could only see mountains of corpses he would single-handedly build. Yes, just like those beast-headed corpses. ¡¸Worry not! He isn¡¯t the kind of person willing to work under someone else. He¡¯s not a pure knight like us. If I have to say, his role is more like a guardian who supports Rose-sama.¡¹ So his relationship with the royal family is more like a guardian! The one who has the power to do that is either a super big-shot noble or the relatives of the royalty. No matter how much you think about it, such a position was too much for a young man of Kai Heineman¡¯s age. And yet, I naturally consented with Knight Leader Arnold when he explained the relationship between Kai and Princess Rose. Old Man Aaron, who had been pondering something with his arms crossed since a while ago, looked at his disciple, Knight Leader Arnold, with a serene expression. ¡¸Arnold, do you know the secret of Kai Heineman¡¯s strength?¡¹ Yes, everyone in this place was also curious about the secret behind Kai¡¯s strength. ¡¸Everything I know so far about him is just my conjecture.¡¹ ¡¸Nevertheless, you have no shred of doubt about it, right?¡¹ ¡¸Yes.¡¹ ¡¸Then do tell us!¡¹ At Old Man Aaron¡¯s urging, Knight Leader Arnold shook his head and opened his mouth. ¡¸That¡¯ll be a breach of privacy. To make matters worse, everything is just my conjecture. He had us make a promise to not snoop around his secret and privacy, so I really can¡¯t tell you about the secret of his strength! Not even to you, Master!¡¹ He declared that. ¡¸No exception at all?¡¹ ¡¸Yes.¡¹ ¡¸I see¡­ Well, it can¡¯t be helped then¡­¡¹ A wry smile appeared on Knight Leader Arnold¡¯s face when he saw Old Man Aaron¡¯s dejected expression. Then, he added, ¡¸Well, there¡¯s one thing I¡¯m sure about. He was weak and powerless before the start of our journey toward the royal capital.¡¹ ¡¸He was weak and powerless before the journey! Is it¡­ Uhm, sure enough¡­ That Martial God¡¯s prowess isn¡¯t something as cheap as talent and gift. Since that¡¯s the case¡­¡¹ Old Man Aaron drowned into a train of thought. ¡¸The origin of his strength is a trivial matter! What matters is the fact that Kai Heineman is STRONG! Aaron, you don¡¯t mind if Hunter Guild takes him, right?¡¹ Guild Master asked Old Man Aaron, not allowing the latter to have any other choice. ¡¸Yeah, I don¡¯t mind. I realized how ridiculous my attempts to make that Martial God my disciple was. Placing him in the hunter world, which values merit and real strength above everything, is our best option and the one that will cause the least problem.¡¹ ¡¸That¡¯s good! It¡¯ll get busy very soon! I have to pull some strings to quickly raise his hunter rank!¡¹ I looked at Guild Master, who ran toward Barse city with sparkling eyes. ¡¸Let¡¯s follow him.¡¹ Knight Leader Arnold urged us to follow Guild Master. Thus, nodding in silence, all of us walked toward the city. For some reason, I had never felt a breeze as refreshing as the one blowing this time. It wasn¡¯t just my imagination, as I found out a while later that I had unknowingly gotten myself embroiled into the vortex of the storm centering around Kai Heineman. === Character Design: Anna Volume 2 - CH 33 Act 2-33: Announcement of Hunter Rank Promotion Barse¡¯s Guild House, Guild Master¡¯s room! ¡¸Are you really sure about this?¡¹ I asked with a serious expression, looking at the mountain of platinum coins right before me. ¡¸Yeah! The hunter society is based on real strength, after all. You deserve at least this amount.¡¹ There has to be more to it. Moreover, I honestly don¡¯t want to borrow a favor from him. Let¡¯s not beat around the bush! I have met this short yet muscle-bound man a really long time ago. To be exact, my grandfather had brought me to meet this man. This man is one of the people that the current me has a hard time dealing with, other than Aaron Kaien. I want to decline this money since I have already received the reward from the Sacred Martial Arts Tournament, but declining this money would be equal to not giving this personage any face. Since I plan to live a long, fulfilled life as a hunter, I definitely can¡¯t afford to offend this man, who is akin to the hero of the hunters. ¡¸Thank you! I shall receive this reward.¡¹ The pouch held a hundred platinum coins. The moment I touched it¡­ ¡¸Using this chance, I¡¯ll also raise your hunter rank from E to D. Look, this is your revised guild card.¡¹ Ralph returned me the guild card he had borrowed from me a while ago. "" ¡¸Eh? I¡¯m not wishing for promotion though.¡¹ If I¡¯m not wrong, I have received the information about the requirement for applying to raise hunter rank, which is followed by an examination, when I registered as a hunter a while ago. Thus, for me to raise my hunter rank so easily like this might be something worth celebrating. ¡¸As long as you fulfill the requirement for it, any branch guild master can raise your hunter rank to C. That¡¯s why there is no need to worry about the procedure.¡¹ ¡¸P-Please wait a minute!¡¹ Are you kidding me? If I keep getting myself entangled with this troublesome status, it would surely be a great hindrance to my leisurely, slow-life plan to travel around the world. ¡¸I understand your worry! You¡¯re troubled since you can raise only one rank, right? Don¡¯t worry about it! I¡¯ll think of a proper way for you to raise your rank to C next time.¡¹ What in the hell is this f*cking baldy old man on about? ¡¸That¡¯s not what I mea¨D¡¹ I tried to refuse his offer for a promotion when Guild Master Ralph patted my right shoulder with a bright smile plastered on his face. ¡¸Relax! I¡¯ve already talked about this matter with Princess Rose. You¡¯ll have a special status amongst hunters.¡¹ He added a remark that would bring only more anxiety to me. ¡¸But¨D¡¹ ¡¸Lastly, not a single word about this incident¡¯s truth will be leaked outside in accordance with the Princess¡¯ wish. That¡¯s what you wish for, right?¡¹ ¡¸Indeed bu¨D¡¹ ¡¸You must be tired after all this. Let¡¯s take a rest.¡¹ Guild Master Ralph didn¡¯t even allow me to speak. He just stood and spoke one-sidedly to me, then left the room with a satisfied smile. What in the hell happened just now? Things blew up beyond my prediction! And he said that he was already talking with that black-bellied princess(Rose) about this matter. That makes me even more anxious! Dammit! At this rate, my brilliant slow-life plan will get only further and further away from my grasp. But, no one will talk about the truth behind this incident, huh! So, not even Arnold or Guild Master will tell the truth about this incident even if they are cross-examined. Well, I should be grateful since this means nobody will leak my personal information. I left the room after getting a grip on myself. When I descended to the first floor, two men clad in robes stepped up to me with expressions as if they were entering enemy territory. ¡¸THANK YOU very much for saving this city!¡¹ ¡¸THANK YOU very much for saving us!¡¹ Both of them bowed to me. They were familiar faces. One of them was the blonde man with thug-like eyes: Raiga; the other was the man with short black hair, who always wears a hood: Hook. ¡¸No need to thank me! This course of events is something that would¡¯ve eventually happened.¡¹ Well, I had my reason for killing that f*cking small fry. My reason wasn¡¯t something as worthless as a sense of justice or wanting to help others. I¡¯m not some sort of champion of justice. In fact, even you might not understand my reason. ¡¸No, my cockiness killed our comrades and invited that disaster to this city. Although I managed to clean up the mess after that, it was by borrowing your power, someone who I had insulted in the public. That¡¯s too despicable, right?¡¹ Raiga spoke without beating around the bush, his body trembling all over. I see now! This youngster simply wants someone to blame him. Since there was no clear requirement or rule that prohibited someone from delving deep into the forest, no one blamed Raiga and his team for exploring that ancient ruin. Thus, no one blamed them for being the reason those monsters attacked this city. That might be why these youngsters can¡¯t forgive their recklessness. But, that¡¯s nothing more than their self-satisfaction; such a thing will leave only detrimental effects on them. ¡¸Stop acting like spoiled children. The reason your comrades died was that both of you were TOO WEAK. That¡¯s the only reason! Becoming stronger so that such a thing will never happen again is the only way for the two of you to recompense your deceased comrades.¡¹ That¡¯s all I can say to them. Whether they can brace themselves and move on or not completely depends on themselves. After saying that, I turned around and left the Guild House. === Character Design: Dandy Uncle, Arnold Volume 2 - CH 34 Act 2-34: Please Don¡¯t Change ¡¸There you go! Two million oars!¡¹ I handed two platinum coins to the pushover-like slave trader and received back the pouch containing my eighty-thousand-oars deposit. This was the money I had received from my grandfather. I didn¡¯t want to spend it carelessly now just because the guild had given me so much money. As a side note, the value of each coin is like this: an iron coin is equal to 10 oars, a copper coin 100 oars, a silver coin 1000 oars, a gold coin 10000 oars, and lastly, a platinum coin equates to 1 million oars. In short, just defeating those small fries had given me 100 million oars. Honestly, my value of money was about to get skewed. After all, I got 100 million oars, which I had no idea what to do with, just by exterminating small fries that I could snuff out with just my sneeze. ¡¸Thanks for your patronage! Please bring her out!¡¹ The pushover-like man gave the order. Then, the black-clothed man entered the shop and came out leading the silver-haired beast girl behind him. Even her complexion was much better than before, let alone her appearance. It seems these people did keep their agreement with me. Or maybe, this might simply be a matter of the pushover-like man¡¯s pride as a slave trader. Well, honestly, such things about a slave trader are a trivial matter for me. ¡¸My name is Kai Heineman. You can call me Kai.¡¹ I presented my right hand, and the beast girl timidly accepted it. ¡¸Myu¡­ desu.¡¹ She introduced herself with much difficulty. ¡¸S-S-SO CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE!!¡¹ The troublesome princess¡ªwho had worn a pure white robe and hid her face with a hood, trying to make her presence as small as possible¡ªsuddenly screamed like a strange bird. Then, she hugged Myu and rubbed her cheek on hers. ¡¸FUE?¡¹ That wasn¡¯t the end of it. Rose started to touch every part of Myu¡¯s body while the latter had yet to recover from her shock. ¡¸Uhm. I really can¡¯t get enough of these fluffy ears and tails!¡¹ ¡¸HIIIII!?¡¹ Myu shriveled in terror. She ran toward me, looking up to me with a face on the verge of crying. ¡¸Okay! Please stop right there! You¡¯re scaring the child!¡¹ I pulled Rose by the nape of her neck with my right hand, separating her from Myu. I felt more amazed and more amazed at the princess, whose status just corrected itself from a frail princess to a pervert. ¡¸Don¡¯t worry! This girl might be a pervert, but she is a good one.¡¹ I didn¡¯t hide anything from Myu as I patted her head with my left hand. ¡¸¡­¡¹ Myu replied by nodding in silence. ¡¸Now, let¡¯s leave this place!¡¹ Anna gently smiled as she took the beast girl¡¯s right hand and led her toward the inn we were staying at. ¡¸Yes¡­.¡¹ The previous Anna would¡¯ve instantly flared up on me after seeing my treatment of Rose. However, she didn¡¯t care about it anymore; she didn¡¯t even make a retort. That isn¡¯t a bad thing, though. ¡¸Okay Kai, that¡¯s enough! Can you let go of me now?¡¹ When I looked at the retreating backs of Myu and Anna, deeply moved by their harmony, a certain pervert princess(Rose)¡¯s voice, which contained a lot of reproaches, resounded in my ears. ¡¸Uhm, sorry! My bad!¡¹ I let go of my grip on Rose¡¯s nape. ¡¸Seriously, what would you have done had my clothes gotten stretched due to your crude treatment?¡¹ Rose asked while placing her hands on her slender waist. ¡¸All is justified to prevent a pervert from approaching children.¡¹ ¡¸I just wanted to hug her, rub our cheeks together, and fluff with her tail and ears!¡¹ This princess has a troublesome personality, after all. ¡¸The people who do that are defined by society as perverts.¡¹ ¡¸Muuu.¡¹ I ignored Rose puffing her cheeks and moved my attention to the slave trader, who was observing my interaction with Rose since a while ago. ¡¸Let me give you some advice.¡¹ ¡¸What is it?¡¹ ¡¸The only reason I¡¯m doing a proper transaction with you people is that you¡¯re running a business in accordance with the trashy rule of this kingdom. To be honest, I detest people like you guys, who were whipping a little girl and calling her a beast, from the bottom of my heart. That¡¯s why if you guys break even one of the trashy rules of this kingdom¨D¡¹ As I stopped for a moment, I could hear the slave traders gulping their spit as they waited for me to finish. As the tips of my lips rose upward, I looked at them with a sinister smile on my face and continued. ¡¸I¡¯m gonna smash you guys to pieces. Don¡¯t even think that you¡¯ll have an easy and peaceful death.¡¹ I declared so with a voice that sent a chill running down my own spine. All the slave traders¡¯ faces became devoid of color. ¡¸T-That¡¯s only natural! We absolutely won¡¯t cross the line!¡¹ The pushover-like man spoke with a shrill voice as if my words had turned his inside out. ¡¸Never forget about this. You¡¯re barely keeping your head intact right now.¡¹ After saying that, I turned around and left the place. I had given them a stern warning. What would happen next depended on them. I had learned in a criminal psychology book I found in that dungeon that the people who run such a business were treading on an extremely dangerous path. Although they might escape after this, they wouldn¡¯t change their profession. ¡¸What¡¯s the matter?¡¹ I asked as Rose was looking at my side profile with a merry expression on my face while walking beside me. ¡¸As I thought, you¡¯re the only royal guard for me.¡¹ ¡¸Add ¡°Temp,¡± will ya! I¡¯m definitely gonna find a replacement soon.¡¹ Rose smirked and revealed a mischievous smile. ¡¸Despite all you say, I¡¯m sure that you¡¯re gonna stay by my side until the end, as long as my creed stays the same.¡¹ She spoke as if that were a fact. ¡¸Stop judging as you please. I¡¯m not a weak-hearted fool. I¡¯ll immediately find a successor and dump this god-forsaken role to them.¡¹ I¡¯m definitely going to quit and explore the world; this decision would never change. And I¡¯ll make sure that it comes true no matter what. ¡¸Really! Even though you must be really happy becoming the knight of a beauty like me!¡¹ I heaved a deep sigh upon hearing Rose¡¯s nonsensical remark and her elbowing my abdomen. Then, I opened my eyes and said¡­ ¡¸A true beauty won¡¯t proclaim herself as a beauty.¡¹ Appearance-wise, Rose was indeed a beauty. But, anyone who saw this unprecedented personality of hers would surely re-evaluate their judgment. To be honest, Anna, who had turned into an obedient woman, had a higher score in my opinion. ¡¸Muu~h, Kai, that¡¯s a rude remark to a lady, you know!¡¹ I shrugged upon seeing Rose make that remark while puffing her cheeks. ¡¸Why, thank you! I¡¯m not familiar with how to treat a so-called Lady-sama, after all.¡¹ This was the truth. If she really wanted to be treated like a lady, she should just ask the famous hero-dono of this Amelia kingdom. ¡¸Please don¡¯t change, Kai!¡¹ Rose muttered that short yet profound remark. ¡¸The same goes for you.¡¹ I replied that as we walked together to the inn. === Character Design: The best one in my Opinion¡­ Astaroth Volume 2 - CH 35 Act 2-35: The Demon King¡¯s Distress The throne room of the Darkness castle! The castle of the Demon King of Darkness¡ª Ashmedia, one of four great demon kings. ¡¸Unbelievable! You mean that our god really got defeated?¡¹ The question was asked to one of the leaders. ¡ºAs soon as the plan started, an all-out search for a suspicious person in Barse city had taken place. Thus, we were forced to leave the city and were unable to see the situation. But considering this situation, maybe¡­¡» The unconvinced voice of a man clad in black clothes resounded in the throne room. ¡¸What about the identity of the one who took down our god? Is it the legendary hero?¡¹ ¡¸My deepest apologies! We were in the middle of gathering information about the situation, but it seems the authorities issued a strict gag order that bans anyone from telling about what happened back then. This prevents us from digging for more information.¡¹ The man clad in black clothes hung his head down while apologizing. The moment he finished, impatient voices rang in the throne room. ¡¸Be quiet!¡¹ However, they all stopped speaking as soon as the profound voice of the woman who sat on the throne reverberated in the air. The throne room that was set abuzz a moment ago regained its calmness the next moment. ¡¸What do you think about this matter, old man?¡¹ A beautiful girl with blue skin and clad in jet-black vestments threw that question to a small, blue-skinned old man who stood by her side. ¡¸No matter how powerful they are, the hero is still a human. And a human can¡¯t defeat a god.¡¹ ¡¸Since that¡¯s the case, what¡¯s your opinion about this situation?¡¹ ¡¸ I can think of two possibilities. First, the one who defeated our god is another god. Second, our god became greatly weakened due to an imperfect ceremony, which caused imperfect materialization.¡¹ ¡¸A slip on our side, eh! Of those two possibilities, which do you think most likely happened, old man?¡¹ ¡¸For argument¡¯s sake, we won¡¯t be talking in this place right now if the god who took down our descended god were in this world. That¡¯s my answer.¡¹ ¡¸Uhm, you¡¯re right.¡¹ The girl who sat on the throne nodded upon hearing a conclusion from the old man. Sighs of relief escaped the mouths of other chief vassals. ¡¸So that means we need to increase the precision of our ceremony, right?¡¹ ¡¸Yes. We managed to connect the gate with the other world. Our plan wouldn¡¯t have failed if there were no flaws in our ceremony, which means that our ceremony is imperfect. Since that¡¯s the case¡­¡¹ ¡¸We have to prepare a new way to conduct the ceremony. Is that what you¡¯re trying to say, old man?¡¹ ¡¸Yes. I wanted us to take a bit more time to see which ceremony is more appropriate for the next¡­¡¹ ¡¸Uhm, I¡¯ll leave this matter to you.¡¹ The blue-skinned beauty who sat on the throne massaged the area between her eyes with her index finger and thumb finger. ¡¸Good grief! We wouldn¡¯t have to rely on our unreliable gods if those humans hadn¡¯t summoned the monster they call a hero¡­¡¹ She muttered such soliloquy with a tired voice. At her words, all of her chief vassals¡¯ faces showed distressed expressions. ¡¸The hero is strong. And as if it isn¡¯t bad enough, these humans want to eradicate us, the demon race. If we don¡¯t do anything, I¡¯m afraid that our demon race will live our entire lives as those humans¡¯ slaves, or worse, get eradicated.¡¹ ¡¸I know that! I know that, and yet, what makes me unwilling to accept this situation is that those abominable humans even target non-combatants and civilians.¡¹ ¡¸My Lord! That¡¯s¨D¡¹ ¡¸Stop right there, old man! We repeatedly agreed about this.¡¹ The blue-skinned beautiful girl then looked up at the ceiling and closed her eyelids. The chief vassals who stayed by her sides took that as a signal and left the room after bowing to her. ¡¸Yes. I have to become a guide for my people. I¡¯ll do everything to protect them even if this body of mine gets humiliated as a result.¡¹ The blue-skinned beauty¡¯s soliloquy vanished along with the wind blowing the door. === Character Design: Ifrit¡¯s design remind me of Ifrit from classic final fantasy¡­ As for the colored one, well he¡¯s just a mob. Volume 2 - CH 36 Act 2-36: Babel¡¯s Speculation ¡¾Babel¡¿ In the middle of the neutral zone was a large tower that accepted people belonging to all races and backgrounds from around the world. Right now, the top floor of this tower was host to a meeting with four participants. ¡¸So, that young man¡¯s power is the real deal, huh!¡¹ A golden-haired woman whose beauty rivalled that of a goddess asked that question to the other three people in front of her. It seemed like she was half in doubt as she leaned on her gorgeous chair. Her ears were long, and she had worn a white robe with embroidery of an immortal divine bird woven with gold thread. ¡¸Yes. His martial arts prowess surpasses even that of my master.¡¹ The man wearing a bandana and giving off the air of a swordsman, Bri, reported while clenching his right fist. ¡¸Since we fought against him, I have the same opinion.¡¹ The slit-eyed man in a black robe, Sigma, had the same opinion. ¡¸I¡¯ve received a report from Ralph, who witnessed his strength first hand. Although this sounds like nonsense, there seems to be more to the situation. Millefeuille, please tell them your opinion about that young man.¡¹ The golden-haired woman then turned her attention to the silver-haired girl. ¡¸He¡¯s our country¡¯s¡ª No! the strongest transcender in the history of this world.¡¹ Millefeuille declared that without a shred of doubt. ¡¸Transcender? According to our investigation, Kai Heineman is definitely a human though? And even though it¡¯s hard to believe, he¡¯s famous as the gift holder of a joke-like gift called ¡ºThe Most Incompetent in This World¡».¡¹ Bri asked Millefeuille with a frown on his face. ¡¸Yes. It¡¯s just as you say, Professor Bri. I think he¡¯s a human.¡¹ Millefeuille¡¯s reply didn¡¯t fit with her own previous statement. ¡¸U~hm! Your statements seem to be contradicting! Care to elaborate?¡¹ The corners of Millefeuille¡¯s mouth raised when Sigma asked her that question ¡¸Professors, where do you think the essence of a human is located? Is it in the body or the soul?¡¹ She asked an ambiguous question. ¡¸That¡¯s an interesting question. We, sorcerers, regard our bodies as nothing more than vessels, after all. The essence of a human is the soul. The heart, which represents the soul, is the definition of a human.¡¹ ¡¸I want to say it¡¯s the body, but this made me think! You can¡¯t think of a goblin¡¯s soul that enters a human vessel as a human. So I¡¯m with you.¡¹ Bri replied while touching his chin. ¡¸I think the same. So? Care to elaborate on why you asked that philosophical question?¡¹ The golden-haired woman with long ears leaned forward and asked Millefeuille. Her golden eyes expressed her will to force Millefeuille to get to the point. Millefeuille sent sidelong glances to Sigma and Bri. The two men stood beside her with ghastly pale expressions, the reason being the serious look on the tower master¡¯s face, which they had witnessed for the first time in their lives. ¡¸His heart is that of a human, while his vessel is that of a transcender. By definition, he¡¯s a human.¡¹ Millefeuille replied with a composed expression. ¡¸So, you¡¯re trying to say that the young man regards himself as a human. Is that it?¡¹ ¡¸Yes.¡¹ The golden-haired woman stood up from her chair, then looked at the outside scenery of the ground far below. ¡¸We might be able to use this.¡¹ She muttered a soliloquy as she looked at the other three people. This conversation would later throw Kai Heineman¡¯s peaceful, slow-life plan in disarray. === Character Design: Everyone¡¯s Idol¡­ Faf-chan Volume 2 - CH 37 Act 2-37: Empire Situation Glitnir Empire¡¯s Heavenly Court! The ¡°Heavenly Court¡± was located on the top floor of the palace built in the center of the Glitnir empire¡¯s flourishing imperial capital. The interior of the Heavenly Court was built with white marble. Top-tier craftsmen were hired to sculpt the pillars inside. On top of that, a long, bright red carpet lay spread out from the giant door all the way to the throne. Lined up on the sides of the carpet were the vessels of the person on the throne. The one sitting on the throne was a middle-aged man. His tempered body, which was filled with scars visible even through his clothes, was a testament to his strength as a warrior. This man was the current emperor of the Glitnir empire, also known as the Conqueror Emperor, Amnes Zi Glitnir. ¡¸What? Can you repeat that?¡¹ Amnes Zi Glitnir, whose expression rarely changed, raised his voice in disbelief as he heard the report from the vice-captain of the already-destroyed summoner squad. Gulps from the vassals, who saw their emperor¡¯s ghastly face, rang in the Heavenly Court. ¡¸In the beginning, everything went according to our plan, and we managed to incapacitate the kingdom¡¯s knight leader, Arnold, but the appearance of a black-haired young man reversed the situation. He made Ifrit submit to him, killed Enzu-sama, and beat Signiel-dono in a pure sword duel. After that, Signiel-dono announced his retirement from his position as the empire¡¯s general and vanished on the way back to the empire.¡¹ The vice-captain looked at the floor he was kneeling on and repeated his report with a voice that was close to dying out. The content of his report caused a stir in the Heavenly Court. ¡¸Be quiet!¡¹ However, everyone became silent just a moment later due to a single, cold remark from Amnes. Amnes then moved his attention to the man leaning on the pillar behind him while crossing his arms. This man was completely covered in black attire except for his left eyes ¡¸What do you think, Pho?¡¹ Amnes asked without beating around the bush. ¡¸That long-nosed monster has surely sworn absolute obedience. That black-haired youngster might have used a charm on it. The youngster might be a tamer, or he just might be stronger than the long-nosed monster¡­¡¹ Suddenly, the room clamored with a crackling sound. Then¡ª ¡¸Stronger than the long-nosed monster, eh¡­ Pho, are you implying that he¡¯s stronger than Ifrit?¡¹ A blonde woman clad in full plate armor placed her hands on her slender waist and asked the man in black, Pho. ¡¸Yes. They are the kind who live as per the law of the jungle. They are a prideful bunch who won¡¯t submit to anyone weaker than them.¡¹ ¡¸Since that¡¯s the case, the youngster shouldn¡¯t be a summoner, right? I mean, I can¡¯t think of any human who can win against Ifrit with brute force, aside for Pho-san.¡¹ A petite man who seemed like he belonged to a well-do family replied with a flat tone while playing with a tetrahedron object in his hands. ¡¸I agree with you.¡¹ A red-haired giant agreed without even trying to hide his yawn. ¡¸We have to use every method to recruit him as one of six generals.¡¹ Emperor Amnes remarked. ¡¸What about the hero summoning?¡¹ The man in black, Pho, asked, but¡­ ¡¸It¡¯s just a trivial matter. Do as you wish.¡¹ The emperor spat out those words as if the summoning of the hero was truly a trivial matter in his eyes. ¡¸Your Majesty, how should we deal with the escaped Signiel? Should we get rid of him?¡¹ Amnes shook his head upon hearing the sleepy, red-haired giant. ¡¸Let him go. Seeing that the black-haired youngster wanted to spare Signiel¡¯s life, there¡¯s no need to create an undesirable conflict between him and us. But, we have to reinstall Ashburn at his position as one of the six generals by using his grandson¡¯s desertion as a reason.¡¹ ¡¸Your will is my command!¡¹ The red-haired giant bowed upon hearing Amnes¡¯s decision. The other vassals also gave a salute in the empire style before leaving the Heavenly Court. ¡¸Pho, do you think you can win against that black-haired youngster?¡¹ Emperor Amnes asked Pho, who was left behind. ¡¸Yeah, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll lose against that black-haired youngster.¡¹ ¡¸If we can¡¯t bring him to our side, kill him!¡¹ ¡¸Understood!¡¹ The moment the emperor raised his right hand, the man in black vanished like smoke. ¡¸Acquiring a strongman whose strength surpasses Ifrit, eh! If we manage to recruit him, according to Pho, our empire will gain two weapons who can single-handedly wipe out the existence of the demon race from this world. Once we accomplish it, the great land beyond that will fall into our possession¨D¡¹ The delighted laugh of the Conqueror Emperor, who was left alone, resounded in the Heavenly Court. === Character Design: Girimekhala¡­ Ignore the old man beside him, that retard is just a retard. Volume 2 - CH 38 Act 2-38: Longing(Side: Riku Salvatore) Riku Salvatore was walking with a heavy gait toward the round arena. Waiting in the arena was his opponent in the final round of the tournament. Riku¡¯s opponent, Zack Prower, was leagues above him in terms of strength and was also one of the champion candidates of this tournament. Nevertheless, even though the previous Riku, the one before ¡°THAT¡± match, might have eagerly stood on the arena, the current him didn¡¯t feel like doing that. The reason was that match. It had slapped him awake and made him aware that there was a sky above the sky above him. Kai Heineman¨Dthere was no reason to investigate, but Riku had realized Kai had been hiding his true strength when he was still in Lamour. Although Riku¡¯s master, Shiga, claimed that Kai¡¯s victory during the elimination match was due to cheating with an item, Riku knew that the problem wasn¡¯t in physical strength. Slapped awake by Kai¡¯s remark, Riku had finally understood the one fact that not even his master realized. An unsurpassable wall lay between Kai and the other participants of that match, including Riku. Compared to Kai Heineman, Riku and the other participants were no different from toddlers who just learned how to crawl around. And it was the same case for Riku¡¯s opponent in this match, Zack. Zack had reached a height in martial arts that far surpassed Riku. The spectators cheered as Riku climbed up the arena. Riku had managed to reach the final round of the tournament purely by luck. He had been trembling in fear at the edge of the arena when Kai had spared him. In his ears, the audience¡¯s cheers weren¡¯t directed at him, who had entered the final in such an unsightly manner. In short, the audience was cheering for Zack. £¨Well, that¡¯s only natural.£© Riku was only reaping what he had sowed. He blamed himself for never taking martial arts seriously prior to this tournament. For him, martial arts was only a means to gain fame in society. Riku regretted the fact that he had passed the preliminary round. Since even if he had lost in the final preliminary round, he would at least retain his pride as a swordsman. ¡¸I¡¯m not even qualified as a warrior anymore¡­¡¹ His muttering disappeared amongst the cheers of the audience when the female emcee introduced Zack. Immediately abstaining after a match¡¯s start was allowed in the final round. Riku had watched several of Zack¡¯s matches. Zack apparently had zero interest in a gutless opponent. He wouldn¡¯t attack his opponents as long as they surrendered at the start of the match. At this point, Riku had achieved the goal set by his master, advancing to the final round of the tournament. Not surrendering at this point would only sully the fame of the Heineman-style. Therefore, Riku¡¯s master, Shiga, had strictly ordered Riku to surrender right after the start of the match. There was nothing wrong with Shiga¡¯s opinion. After all, it was impossible for Riku to beat Zack. And that was also Riku¡¯s original intention. The referee finally stepped into the arena. ¡¸FIGHT!¡¹ He gave the signal to start the match. Riku tried to raise his right hand to surrender, but strangely, his body refused to move. Trembling, he grasped the wooden sword he had never cared about until now, refusing to let it go. ¡¸Ain¡¯t gonna surrender, eh?¡¹ Zack, who had been showing no interest toward Riku until now, squinted his left eye and looked at him. ¡¸¡­¡¹ Riku pointed his wooden sword toward Zack in silence. £¨What in the world I¡¯m doing now?£© Even Riku himself had no idea why he had pointed his wooden sword toward Zack. There was no shame in surrendering in front of an opponent he couldn¡¯t win against. And most of all, his master Shiga had ordered him to do that. Shiga was the current instructor of the branch family faction with the most influence in the Heineman-style dojo. Going against such a man would only make Riku lose his status in Heineman-style. And yet, his trembling limbs entered a fighting stance on their own. ¡¸Then, I¡¯m gonna crush you.¡¹ Zack spoke while cracking his fingers. ¡¸UWOOOOOOOOOOOOO!¡¹ Letting out a warcry, Riku entered a fight he couldn¡¯t win, for the first time in his life. Zack¡¯s right fist, which felt as hard as a rock, landed a clean hit on Riku¡¯s abdomen, sending him flying. Riku bounced back on the floor until he reached the edge of the ring. When Riku tried to prop his body using his wooden sword, a sharp pain ran through his entire body. His left eyelid swelled up from internal bleeding, taking half of his eyesight from him. ¡¸Riku, stop showing such an unsightly figure! Surrender now!¡¹ The hoarse voice of his master, who kept shouting the same order from the audience seat since a while ago, rang in his ears. ¡¸Oioi, he still wants to have a go despite being so weak.¡¹ ¡¸He¡¯s so weak that even I can beat him with one hand.¡¹ ¡¸Your master is right. Surrender quickly since you¡¯re just being an annoyance.¡¹ Riku could hear the jeering mixed with sneers coming from the audience seats. Strangely enough, the current him didn¡¯t care about that. Sure enough, his fight with Zack was like a quarrel between an adult and a child; it couldn¡¯t even be regarded as a match. Riku thought that the him before ¡°that match¡± might have felt the same way if he were watching this match from the audience seats. ¡¸RIKU, Stop smearing mud on the Heineman-style¡¯s name!!¡¹ ¡¸SHUT THE HE*L UP! This is my fight! How to end this fight is mine to decide!¡¹ The words coming out of Riku¡¯s mouth were a rebellion against his master, something he would¡¯ve never even considered until now. With this, Riku would surely lose all status in the Heineman-style dojo that he had built until now. Yet, he didn¡¯t even feel a grain of regret at all. In fact, he felt refreshed. When Zack saw that, a ferocious smile appeared on his face. ¡¸You¡¯re weak. That much is true. But, at least, you¡¯re the best opponent I¡¯ve fought so far in this tournament. That¡¯s why from this point, I¡¯ll treat you like a proper warrior.¡¹ The moment Zack said so, his figure vanished from Riku¡¯s field of view. The next moment, a shock ran through Riku¡¯s solar plexus. Almost at the same time, his face crashed against the cold, hard floor of the arena. The last attack had incapacitated him. Then, amidst his hazy consciousness¨D ¡¸Make sure to watch the match between me and Kai Heineman. You¡¯ll find what you¡¯re looking for in that match.¡¹ Riku heard Zack¡¯s parting remarks. ¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô By the time Riku had regained his consciousness in the medical bay, the figures of his fellow apprentices and his master, Shiga, couldn¡¯t be found in Luserhall anymore. Riku¡¯s relatives lived in Lamour. He was the pride of his parents. Riku estimated that his foolishness during the fight against Zack would¡¯ve already spread around Lamour by now. Although he did feel ashamed for his blood relatives, he didn¡¯t feel a shred of regret about his choice. He was looking for a carriage to Lamour, but¡­ Make sure to watch the match between me and Kai Heineman. You¡¯ll find what you¡¯re looking for in that match. He recalled Zack¡¯s parting words. The thing he was looking for. It was akin to a guiding light for the current Riku, who was looking for a goal. Thus, he had decided to stay in Luserhall until the end of the tournament. Since Kai Heineman was the holder of ¡ºThe Most Incompetent in This World¡» gift, the tournament committee didn¡¯t even allow him to have a proper fight. Incompetent apostate! That was the label everyone fixed and approved for Kai. They believed that Kai wouldn¡¯t be able to win the tournament just because of his gift. Such reasoning was normal in Lamour, Riku¡¯s hometown. And Riku had no intention of blaming the audience either. The reason was that their eyes were clouded by the doctrine, just like him prior to THAT match. Thus, Riku endured the unpleasant feeling he felt upon seeing the committee¡¯s farce. Then, a white-haired old man appeared and took control of the situation. Anyone aspiring to become a martial arts expert would be extremely familiar with this man. This old man was the old friend and a rival of the grandmaster of Heineman-style and was also the grandmaster of the Kaien-style, Aaron Kaien. Aaron took over the role of the referee and announced the start of the match between Kai and Zack. The whole stadium fell silent during the match. Even the audience members who were booing until that point looked at the nonsensical match unfolding before them with dumbfounded expressions. Zack, whose strength was seemingly unsurpassable for the current Riku, couldn¡¯t even land a hit on Kai. Even if he hadn¡¯t taken swordsmanship too seriously before, Riku had been training in the way of sword ever since childhood. What Kai Heineman showed in the fight wasn¡¯t some flimsy trick like talent or mere physical strength. It was the final destination of everyone who walked on the path of martial arts. ¡¸Eh?¡¹ When Riku came to his senses, his field of vision was blurry. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve and realized that they were his tears. Then, Riku strained his eyes again as if to burn every single moment of the fight between the absolute strongman, Kai Heineman, and his challenger, Zack. ¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô ¨DFortress city Lamour, Dojo of Heineman-style. The skin of his hands, which gripped the wooden sword, had already torn. It was painful, but Riku kept swinging his wooden sword like a madman. The sun had already set a long time ago. At this time, the old Riku would be hanging around with his friends in the commercial district of Lamour. His body had long since reached its limit. Nevertheless, he kept swinging his wooden sword, all because of the match he saw on that day. £¨Someday, I will also¨D£© The fight between Zack and Kai had left a long-lasting impression on aspiring martial artists. Whether it was skill, physical abilities, or mind, Zack was top-tier in all of them. But, Kai¡¯s level was even higher than that. No, maybe ¡°higher¡± was an understatement. Kai Heineman had already broken the limit of humanity itself. Thus, Riku¡¯s goal wasn¡¯t Kai. His goal was Zack, the man who had challenged the martial god called Kai Heineman. Riku had no idea how long it¡¯d take for him to reach Zack¡¯s level. But, someday, he would challenge the martial god just like Zack and perform the supreme dance of martial arts with his own hands. That was Riku¡¯s lifetime goal. Thus, he kept swinging his wooden sword. ¡¸You¡¯re working too hard.¡¹ Maybe because he was too focused on his training, he failed to notice that another person had entered the dojo. Since Riku had blatantly opposed instructor Shiga¡¯s order, he was now being avoided by everyone he considered as his friend. He was treated like air in the dojo. If there was someone who spoke to him¨D ¡¸Grandmaster!¡¹ Riku stood in panic and bowed to the elderly figure in front of him. Although his current standing in Heineman-style was weak, Grandmaster Elm was still the idol and the goal for young swordsmen such as Riku and his peers. ¡¸Don¡¯t mind me. Continue what you¡¯re doing.¡¹ The grandmaster cheerfully spoke as he sat on the floor. It seemed he had no intention of speaking to Riku. He might simply want to observe a disciple¡¯s training. After pulling himself together, Riku started swinging his wooden sword again. Finally, when he was too weak to even raise his hands, Riku fell face-up on the floor. This had become his routine. He returned home only after he couldn¡¯t swing his wooden sword anymore. ¡¸Did something happens to you?¡¹ The Grandmaster asked with a serious look on his face. This person is the grandfather of that Martial God. Shouldn¡¯t he be the first to discover the strength of Kai Heineman, that Martial God? No, Grandmaster is a human. On the other hand, Kai Heineman is a Martial God. If Kai really wants to hide his power, maybe not even his grandfather would realize that. Especially because Kai is his grandson. Elm had no idea about Kai Heineman¡¯s advancement to the final round of the tournament. After all, Shiga along with the Heineman branch family had gone all out to hide that news. Since the news was hidden until now, Riku thought that Kai might have wanted to hide his strength from his grandfather too. Therefore, there was no reason for Riku to divulge Kai¡¯s secret. That was why¨D ¡¸I saw the pinnacle of martial arts.¡¹ Riku decided to tell the truth without revealing Kai¡¯s identity. ¡¸Pinnacle of martial arts¡­ Are you referring to Roman or assistant instructors?¡¹ Riku shook his hide to the sides at the Grandmaster¡¯s question. ¡¸Not those fakes. It was a genuine Martial God.¡¹ He answered. ¡¸Martial God? Is he even stronger than me?¡¹ ¡¸Yes.¡¹ Strangely enough, the Grandmaster didn¡¯t get angered even upon hearing Riku¡¯s reply. ¡¸So, are you swinging your sword to defeat that Martial God?¡¹ ¡¸No, I won¡¯t be able to beat that personage with my meagre talent.¡¹ ¡¸I see, so why are you swinging your sword?¡¹ ¡¸To challenge him! And then, engrave my martial arts in that personage¡¯s memory!¡¹ Even Riku himself was shocked by his answer, ¡¸Martial God¡­ Martial God, eh¡­¡¹ The Grandmaster nodded again and again with an amused expression, but¡­ ¡¸Swordsman Riku, come to the dojo early in the morning. I shall guide you myself.¡¹ This was an extremely unexpected jab for the current Riku. ¡¸Y-Yes. Definitely!¡¹ Riku stood up, albeit with difficulties, and bowed to Grandmaster. Even after the Grandmaster had left the dojo, Riku was still trembling in delight. The Grandmaster¡¯s teaching wasn¡¯t something he could normally ask for unless he had reached instructor class. And from the way Elm had spoken, Riku assumed that the Grandmaster would train him in person. ¡¸With this, I can become even stronger!¡¹ Riku started to swing his wooden sword again, dreaming of the day when he could finally challenge that person, the Martial God. === Character Design: Kai¡­ Whose hair colour changed for no reason+Murasame(above), Raikiri(Below Murasame), and Unbreakable Stick Volume 2 - CH 39 Act 2-39: The Way of the Sword(Side: Signiel) A jungle in the northernmost part of the Amelia kingdom! In the past, this place was under the governance of the beastfolk tribes, but the Amelia kingdom had snatched this land from them. Most of the northern area ruled by the kingdom was covered by a sea of forests. This sea of trees could make anyone lose their sense of direction. Moreover, various poisonous trees or plants also grew here. Even the great Glitnir empire had given up the notion of invading the Amelia kingdom from this forest. Anyone with normal common sense wouldn¡¯t dare to step into this jungle since it was the place of certain death. As for why I, Signiel, am wandering around this jungle, it¡¯s simply because I¡¯ve left the empire army. I left a note on the way back to the Glitnir empire mentioning that I would be leaving. To be exact, I¡¯ve cut off all relationships with them. In short, I¡¯ve deserted. I had lost in a fight against that black-haired swordsman. It was an utter, complete defeat. In fact, the impact wouldn¡¯t have been this big had I lost by a narrow margin, like when I fought Arnold. But, that hadn¡¯t been the case. My opponent had toyed around with me in that fight as if I were a child. That fight had made me realize that I was nothing more than a cocky thug, or a fallen mercenary to that black-haired swordsman. ¡±There is still a sky above the sky in this world. Therefore, you mustn¡¯t neglect your daily workout in case you need to fight a strongman you might meet in the future.¡± My grandfather used to repeat this to me day after day since my childhood. However, in his generation, or rather, up until a while ago, no one in the empire could beat me in a sword fight except for my grandfather. Thus, I had become cocky. I neglected my grandfather¡¯s advice and even went against him by joining a trivial group called the six generals. My reason was that I had gained everything I had to gain as a swordsman. Well, reality showed me that it was nothing more than a ridiculous hubris of mine. A frog in the well who doesn¡¯t know the vastness of the world, that¡¯s what I was. As a result, when I left the empire, my prided sword art had been treated like child¡¯s play. At that moment, I had realized that I had forgotten the most important thing about being a swordsman. ¡¸I can¡¯t go back anymore.¡¹ Such words escaped my mouth as I really felt that I had lost my place in my birthplace. Whenever I remember that, I feel like my heart is about to get crushed. The current emperor of the empire, Amnes Zi Glitnir, is a cool-headed person. However, even as a joke, me deserting the army wouldn¡¯t escape his eyes. Even I understand that my decision might lead to the fall of Gastrea¡¯s house in the worst situation. I feel bad for placing such a huge problem on my grandfather and my family. But, if the current me, who has lost the most important thing about being a swordsman, returns to the empire, I¡¯m sure that I won¡¯t be able to grasp my sword again in my entire life. This is a premonition I¡¯m getting. Thus, I have to do this no matter what. Suddenly, several black shadows rushed out from the gap between the trees. ¡ºGUOOOOOOOOOOOO!!¡» I looped off the head of a bear-like monster that swung its right arm from behind, then stabbed into the forehead of a giant monkey that jumped out from a branch above me with the returning blade. At that moment, a dull pain ran through my left foot. When I looked down, I saw that a big snake had taken a bite off my left foot. ¡¸Dammit!¡¹ I stabbed my sword into the head of the snake and beheaded it. Then, I hurriedly pried off the bitten part with my knife and smeared the wound with some medicinal herb and a bit of liquor I had brought with me. Such a failure! That was a poisonous snake. What a joke! Someone who brazenly claimed to be the strongest swordsman until a while ago will die because of such a ridiculous reason. Maybe, I¡¯m nothing more than a third-class swordsman. My vision started to fade, and my body sweated like a waterfall. Paralysis poison, eh? I¡¯m definitely going to become prey to a monster once I lose my consciousness. This place is different from the comfortable places I¡¯ve been living in until now, after all. Soon, my entire body got paralyzed. I looked up to the sky as I fell on my knees. ¡¸Kuhaha¡­¡¹ A parched laugh escaped my mouth. I, who had deserted the army as I couldn¡¯t let go of my sword, would die alone in a place that no one knows about, eh. ¡¸Well, it can¡¯t be helped I guess.¡¹ I had gotten conceited just because of a little bit of talent and had never faced my sword properly. By the time I realized this, it was too late. The path of the sword is a thorny, never-ending path of training and improving myself. I have yet to reach that level. And what made me realize this was the unsightly fight between me and that black-haired swordsman. ¡¸But, no¡­ I don¡¯t want this kind of end. Sword God, please! Please give me one last chance!¡¹ My consciousness disappeared the moment I raised my left hand. ¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô When I opened my eyes, I saw an unfamiliar ceiling. I tried to raise my body, but it wouldn¡¯t budge at all. When I tried to move my head¡ªthe only part of my body that could move right now¡ªI saw the worried look of a silver-haired beastgirl. ¡¸Ah, Dad, Mom, he woke up!¡¹ The silver-haired beastgirl looked overjoyed when she saw me waking up. She left the room in a hurry as she called her parents. A while later, a silver-haired beastwoman and a huge, blonde beastman with an unshaved beard entered the room. ¡¸Are you an Amelian?¡¹ "" The blonde, giant beastman asked me straight away. Upon a closer look, I realized that my limbs were bound by ropes on the bed. There was a chance that my answer could determine my life and death. Anyhow, I felt like I had already lost my life when that snake bit me. Let¡¯s struggle a bit more to survive this precarious situation. ¡¸No, I¡¯m from the empire.¡¹ The silver-haired beastwoman twitched. That¡¯s a natural reaction. The empire is well known for its invasions of other tribes after all. From her perspective, I¡¯m the beastfolk-tribe¡¯s enemy. ¡¸What¡¯s the reason you visited this land?¡¹ The blonde, giant beastman asked me a troubling question. ¡¸About that, I just somehow¡­ ended up in this place.¡¹ ¡¸Somehow?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, I deserted my birthplace and came here.¡¹ The steep face of the silver-haired beastwoman and the blonde beastman loosened a little bit. ¡¸Why are you escaping from your homeland?¡¹ ¡¸It¡¯s desertion. I feel disgusted by what I did until now.¡¹ "" ¡¸Do you have proof of that?¡¹ ¡¸Ain¡¯t have anything to prove but my words though.¡¹ ¡¸I see¡­¡¹ The giant, blonde beastman touched his chin, but¡­ ¡¸Understood! Sorry for the trouble, but please leave this place as soon as your injury gets better.¡¹ ¡¸Dear!¡¹ The silver-haired beastwoman spoke with a rather impatient voice, but¡­ ¡¸It¡¯s okay! This fella¡¯s eyes aren¡¯t rotten.¡¹ After saying that, the blonde beastman left the room along with the silver-haired beastwoman. ¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô Two weeks have passed since then. They have released my bindings, but they still remind me to not leave my room except for when I need to go to the toilet. Most of my injuries have healed as well. I can finally move normally. ¡¸And then, we¡¯re going to go to meet Myu immediately.¡¹ The girl, Mya, repeated this so many times while energetically jumping around. It seems Mya and her younger sister had escaped their hometown when the Amelia kingdom soldiers had raided their hometown in the previous war. Although Mya was secured in time, her younger sister, Myu, had gotten caught by the kingdom army. And then, they received news that Myu had been sold to a slave trader in one of the Amelia kingdom¡¯s cities¨DBarse. ¡¸Rather than that, you two managed to break out safely?¡¹ I asked so while looking at the giant, blonde beastman, Gauss, and the silver-haired beastwoman, Ululu. Apparently, the one who had raided their tribe was the army of a big-shot noble in the kingdom. Breaking through their encirclement wouldn¡¯t have been a simple matter. ¡¸Naturally, the ones who remained there were prepared to die. But then, we were saved by a certain person.¡¹ Gauss replied with a distant look on his face as if he were recalling that day. ¡¸A certain person?¡¹ ¡¸Sorry, but I can¡¯t tell you about his identity! What I can tell you is that he¡¯s from the empire.¡¹ Gauss was a tight-lipped man. Telling me that information was the most he could do. However, such a piece of information is trivial for me. I honestly don¡¯t care about it. ¡¸Is that the reason you saved me?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, at least, we know that not every human is evil. That war reminded us of that fact. Anyhow, the ones who got spared from that encirclement were the ugly betrayers of our tribe.¡¹ It seems they got betrayed by their fellow tribesmen too. ¡¸So, we told a human merchant that we¡¯re willing to pay for Myu. She should be under the care of a slave trader in Barse city. We¡¯re going over there to negotiate with him.¡¹ ¡¸Acquaintance, the one who saved you guys?¡¹ ¡¸To be exact, that person¡¯s subordinate. In fact, he was the one who had provided us with this place.¡¹ ¡¸I see¡­¡¹ Only a small number of existences can break through the encirclement of the Amelia kingdom¡¯s army. So maybe ¨D Suddenly, the sound of incoming footsteps interrupted my train of thought. The next moment, the door was vigorously opened. ¡¸The merchant has returned!¡¹ A young beastman shouted. ¡¸Really!¡¹ Gauss sprinted out the moment he heard that news. Ululu, Mya, and I then followed him. A sea of people were spread out before us, and in their middle was a man in his golden age, spotting a nice beard. The man straightened himself. ¡¸My deepest apologies!¡¹ He said while bowing to the Gauss family. ¡¸Myu has been bought eh¡­¡¹ Gauss¡¯s shoulder dropped. The color drained from Ululu¡¯s face. Mya started to cry, knowing that she won¡¯t be able to meet her younger sister now. ¡¸Yes, it seems I was a step too late.¡¹ ¡¸So, do you have any idea about the identity of the buyer?¡¹ ¡¸About that! The slave-dealer showed a strangely strong rejection when I asked him about the identity of the buyer. Maybe, the other party forbid him to speak about their identity.¡¹ ¡¸But you should at least know some information about them, right?¡¹ The merchant shook his head. ¡¸There is one thing I can tell. That slave trader is terrified of the buyer. So, the buyer might be some bigshot of the kingdom, royalty, or else¡­ the Underworld King.¡¹ It¡¯s the worst. The buyer turned out to have an extremely troublesome identity. Moreover, it was impossible for the Gauss family to buy Myu back if the identity of the buyer was one of the first two. ¡¸Understood. I¡¯m going to look for them.¡¹ Gauss stood and said that. ¡¸Please cease that thought! You¡¯re way too conspicuous. They¡¯ll execute you if they capture you.¡¹ The merchant chided Gauss with a calm expression. ¡¸What should I do then!?¡¹ Gauss asked back with an impatient look on his face. ¡¸My subordinates are still investigating the identity of the one who bought the little miss. Please wait for a bit!¡¹ The merchant persuaded Gauss in a calm voice. ¡¸My¡­ apologies! I¡¯m just¡­ shocked. And thank you very much for your help!¡¹ Gauss bowed to the merchant. He gritted his teeth until he was bleeding to endure the frustration. £¨Good grief! What in the hell I¡¯m thinking about¡­£© I¡¯m in the middle of desertion, and yet I can¡¯t even do anything for them. ¡¸I¡¯ll look for Myu too. It¡¯s much safer and easier in my case since I¡¯m a human.¡¹ ¡¸You are?¡¹ The merchant looked at me as if he was trying to evaluate me. ¡¸Name¡¯s Sieg. Use me as you see fit until we find the girl.¡¹ The merchant touched his chin and pondered the offer for a while. ¡¸Understood. Please be my temporary bodyguard for now.¡¹ In the end, he respectfully nodded. ¡¸Roger!¡¹ ¡¸Are you sure about this, Sieg? You¡¯re a runaway, right?¡¹ Gauss asked with an impatient expression. ¡¸Yes! You saved my life back then. I¡¯ll return this debt of gratitude with interest by returning your daughter. Ain¡¯t gonna have any problem with it, I presume?¡¹ Gauss looked even more frustrated, but he still bowed to me. ¡¸Please, save my daughter!¡¹ He squeezed his voice and made that request. In this way I, Siegniel found a goal. At the same time, I also got sucked into the giant storm centred around a true Monster called Kai Heineman. === Character design: One of the worst character designs in my opinion, Kyuubi and Fenrir. The former for her ¡°Unbalanced Breast¡±, and the latter for his color. Volume 3 - CH 1 Act 3-1: Arriving at the Royal Capital Two days after staying in Barse, our carriage left and headed toward the Amelia kingdom¡¯s royal capital as per our original schedule. ¡¸That¡¯s the Amelia kingdom¡¯s royal capital, Alamgard!¡¹ Anna pointed at the city surrounded by a tall and big rampart. The royal capital was inside that giant rampart. In fact, the sight of the rampart left me in awe. Well, it was the kind of awe where my mouth opened slightly wider instead of genuine admiration. ¡¸Wa~nanodesu!¡¹ ¡¸Wa~~¡¹ Both Faf and Myu snuck out of the carriage and gazed at the giant rampart with awe. Maybe because their mental ages are close to each other, these two have ended up sticking together like a pair of sisters with Anna being their elder sister. Anna has already taken over the matter of taking care of these two along with her escort duty to Rose. Anna¡¯s tone has mellowed a lot more than before. Now, she even laughs from the bottom of her heart. Yeah, this might be the real her. Even the children can see that. Even Faf, who had been wary of Anna before, has slowly recognized Anna as an existence with no ill will toward the children. Now, Anna has become the third closest one to Faf after Rose and me. ¡¸Kai, what are you going to do after arriving at the royal capital?¡¹ ¡¸I¡¯m going to see my mother first.¡¹ Although this reunion is taking place after more than 100k years from my perspective, I remember my mother¡¯s face. Strangely enough, I don¡¯t feel that there¡¯s anything wrong with that. Yeah, my original personality has completely changed, leaving behind nothing more than memories. I don¡¯t think¡­ I can fool my mother. ¡¸I see! Feel free to spend your private time with your mother during our stay in the royal capital.¡¹ ¡¸Eh, no! I¡¯m only going for a short visit.¡¹ I mean, my current habit, speech, and personality have changed to the point where I¡¯ll look like a completely different person to anyone who knows the old me. Even my mother might refuse to live with me even if my stay would be for only a while. ¡¸You¡¯re not honest of your feelings, as usual, eh!¡¹ ¡¸Nope! I¡¯m always faithful to my will, you know.¡¹ That¡¯s how I¡¯ve lived for 100k years, and I¡¯m sure that it¡¯ll be the same even after this. ¡¸Kaykay, I believe in you!¡¹ Rose shrugged as if she was giving up in some way. Then, her line of sight moved to the royal capital. The look on her face when she saw her birthplace was the look of someone who had entered enemy territory; it wasn¡¯t the look of someone about to return to their safe home. Maybe, the royal capital is no different from the demon race¡¯s capital in her eyes. Well, everything will be alright as long as we don¡¯t get entangled in troublesome matters. At this moment, I felt an ominous premonition inside the corner of my head. And that premonition came true immediately, resulting in me getting further and further away from my original, enjoyable slow life plan. === Character Design: Kai¡¯s ex-fiancee and childhood friend AKA Lyla Hellne Volume 3 - CH 2 Act 3-2: The Reunion With Mother After 100,000 Years ¡¸Ka~-Kun!!¡¹ A gentle-looking, tall woman with black hair opened the entrance door of a two-storied building as she screamed and rushed to hug me. Yes, this woman is my mother, the personage who can¡¯t let go of her son yet. ¡¸How¡¯s your condition? You didn¡¯t meet any danger along the way ri~ght?¡¹ She kept touching me as if she was trying to confirm my safety. ¡¸Yeah, I¡¯m safe and sound, Mother!¡¹ If I¡¯m not wrong, this should be how the old me used to speak back then. Somehow, I feel a strong resistance toward this way of speaking. ¡¸¡­¡¹ My mother grabbed my shoulders and stared into my eyes. ¡¸Ka~-kun, have you grown up a little bit?¡¹ Now that¡¯s a question that I¡¯m definitely going to have a hard time answering. ¡¸Well, somehow!¡¹ I am more than one hundred and thousands years old rather than just ¡°grown up a little bit¡± though. Yet, this old man has become a joke-like existence in front of his mother. ¡¸I see¡­ Ka~-kun has grown up too.¡¹ She wiped the tears in the edge of her eyes as she hugged me again. My original plan was to leave immediately after greeting her, but it seems I have to modify that. My mother is an A-rank hunter. She¡¯s an extremely busy person and rarely stays at home. So I¡¯m gonna escape as soon as my mother is out for her mission. I¡¯ll leave behind a letter in a place that would definitely be found by the live-in employee. There¡¯s no need to make an unnecessary mistake. ¡¸Well, come in! Mother has prepared a meal for you.¡¹ I have no choice but to obey her right now. Well, I guess I have to leave Faf and Myu under the care of Asta, my self-proclaimed butler, and Anna, the two girls¡¯ surrogate elder sister. It should be fine if I leave them for a few days. If that gets longer than my expectation, I guess I have to show my face; otherwise, Faf would start looking for me. And just as I expected, three days later, my mother left the royal capital for a mission that would take her around two months to complete. You can say that she¡¯s quite a popular A-rank hunter. I left my letter on the table so that the live-in employee could find it easily. My plan was to head to the northwest side of the royal capital, the inn where Faf and co. were staying! ¡¸C¡¯mon, please forgive me already!¡¹ Currently, I¡¯m headed toward the dining room along with Faf and Myu for early dinner. ¡¸I don¡¯t know master, nodesu!¡¹ Faf is sulking. Yeah, she¡¯s pissed off as I left her for three days. I mean, in the last tens of thousands of years, we have never been separated even for a single moment. Even though I¡¯m quite familiar with the loneliness of being forcefully separated from my family in the first few years after entering that dungeon, it seems I didn¡¯t take Faf¡¯s feelings into consideration. ¡¸Sorry, Faf!¡¹ I gently patted Faf¡¯s head like usual. ¡¸I won¡¯t be deceived, nodesu! Faf is, Faf is¡­¡¹ I kept patting Faf, who started to cry, on the head in silence. A while later, Myu stared at Faf, who was sleeping on my lap pillow after getting tired of crying. ¡¸Is something the matter?¡¹ ¡¸It¡¯s nothing¡­¡¹ Myu¡¯s persuasive power was zero when she spoke with an expression that seemed like she wanted to cry too. ¡¸I¡¯ve told you before, right? Children shouldn¡¯t hold back.¡¹ Myu looked down as she clasped the rim of her knee-length skirt, then said, ¡¸I want to meet my father, mother, and big sister again.¡¹ She cried out loudly. Her tears were flowing down the back of her hands as she rubbed her eyes. She wants to reunite with her family, huh! This reminds me that Myu is indeed at the edge where she still needs the love of her family. Even I wanted to meet my grandfather and mother when I had gotten swallowed into that dungeon for the weak. That feeling should be even more intense for Myu, who¡¯s still at her tender age. ¡¸Uhm, I¡¯m planning to leave this kingdom after I finish all of my business here. It was originally a journey without a particular goal in mind. So, let¡¯s go looking for your family during that journey. That¡¯s why, be a good child for now, okay.¡¹ ¡¸Yesh¡­¡¹ In the end, Myu bawled as she hugged me. Nevertheless, upon hearing her story, I realized that she and her tribe had been living desperate lives. Anyhow, the chief¡¯s tribe and Myu¡¯s parents had been besieged by the Amelia kingdom army, thus forcing Myu to escape to the forest along with her older sister. Since Myu¡¯s parents had realized that they couldn¡¯t escape while bringing Myu and her older sister, they had decided to stay behind to attract the attention of the Amelia kingdom¡¯s army, prepared to throw away their lives for their daughters. £¨They were such fools!£© They were not supposed to fulfil their duty as parents by dying. That should be done by protecting their daughter on the run. They should¡¯ve chosen to survive even if they had to sip muddy water. They should¡¯ve done everything to survive. That¡¯s what I would¡¯ve done if I were in their place. Nevertheless, the one who caused this event was the hero-sama. One of the reasons the Amelia kingdom invaded the beastfolk tribe was the existence of the hero, which gave this kingdom the energy spared from not fighting the demon king. Even though it sounds like a joke to me, the scripture did say that the demon race was a bitter enemy of everyone. And yet, the humans invade those they regard as ¡°Lower Species,¡± who should¡¯ve been their comrades-in-arm in the intense war against the demon race. Well, the church¡¯s creed about the demon race being evil itself is a big fat lie. In the first place, the ancient document that I found in that dungeon said that the human side was the one who had first declared that the demon race was evil. Yup, I really shouldn¡¯t put my trust in this sh*tty kingdom called Amelia. I mean, this sh*tty kingdom even involved that tomboy Rena Groat and Keith Steinberg into their politics. This sh*tty kingdom had literally taken them as hostages. Naturally, if they dare to hurt them, I plan to let this kingdom see the hell on earth. However, I don¡¯t wish to live a life full of such turbulence. Thus, I¡¯ve concluded that moving along with Rose, the princess of this sh*tty kingdom is the best option for the time being. Rose will ascend to the throne as long as she wins the competition for the throne. Rose still lacks experience, but she isn¡¯t an idiot. Once she ascends to the throne, she should put a stop to that useless conflict against the demon race and prioritize reorganizing the messed up internal organization of the kingdom¡ªin short, put a stop to that useless war against the demon race. By doing that, she will automatically make the hero party obsolete. As the current king will decide the content of the competition for the throne, it seems there¡¯s still some time left until the next term. As for how long it¡¯ll take, my prediction is around three-four years. During that time, I¡¯ll evacuate Rena and Keith along with their families, while at the same time, finding a replacement royal guard for Rose. I had planned to get into contact with Rena and Keith during my stay in this royal capital. However, I found out that the two of them had gone abroad to study in the centre of the educational institution of this world, ¡¾Babel¡¿, along with the hero party. The reason they sent Keith too might have been that they wanted him, whose gift was archmage, into the hero party too. Sending him to Babel was the preparation for that. Anyhow, everyone at the hero party is studying in Babel. No doubt about it! There is a deal between ¡¾Babel¡¿ and the Amelia kingdom regarding the matter of the demon race¡¯s subjugation! ¡¸Yo!¡¹ Someone called out to me. I raised my face and saw that a tall, muscular man with a beast-like air around him was standing in front of me. ¡¸Zack! Did you come to the royal capital too?¡¹ ¡¸Well, something along those lines. Rather, I became Princess Rose¡¯s knight too. So, best regards.¡¹ Zack sat on the seat right in front of me and began to order food. I see! I had thought that Rose might scout this fella after that tournament. But, this is the best and most convenient development for me. Zack¡¯s talent in martial arts is amongst the best I¡¯ve ever seen. Moreover, despite his overwhelming strength, he¡¯s a proud warrior. Ability-wise, he won¡¯t fall behind the likes of those fools from the kingdom. Thus, you can say that he¡¯s the best choice as my replacement for Rose¡¯s royal guard. For the future, that is! The current Zack is still a greenhorn. I have to do my job as the royal guard until Zack¡¯s strength reaches my minimal standards. The problem is whether Zack is willing to train under me or not. He regards me as his rival. I¡¯ve never seen anyone with such admirable mental prowess obediently receiving the teachings of those they regarded as their opponent. Well, maybe I should try to ask him first! ¡¸Zack, I¡¯ll train you starting from tomorrow.¡¹ ¡¸S-SERIOUSLY!?¡¹ I was rather taken aback when Zack leaned forward with a blood-curdling expression. ¡¸Yes, but I have to remind you that I am a swordsman. Thus, I¡¯m not very well versed in hand-to-hand combat. That¡¯s why the only thing that I can teach you is a skill that allows you to become stronger during combat. Are you willing to accept it?¡¹ ¡¸OF COURSE! As long as I can become stronger! Yahoo! Accepting the princess¡¯s invitation was the correct choice, after all! That old man¡¯s definitely going to cry once he hears this!¡¹ Although I have no idea what he¡¯s talking about, training Zack to become stronger will work in my favour. I¡¯m gonna train him thoroughly starting from tomorrow. === Character Design: Rena Grotte¡­ Another Kai¡¯s childhood friend and member of hero party¡­ Airhead. Btw, her weapon looks badass. Her gift was sword princess. Volume 3 - CH 3.1 Act 3-3.1: Notice of Competition For The Throne We¡¯ve been staying in the royal capital for a month now. First, regarding the training that I mentioned before. As a martial artist, Zack easily cleared the minimum requirements to receive my training. It was time to introduce a new concept to raise his strength to a whole new level. Thus, I taught Zack my reinforcement attribute-less magic. Reinforcement attribute-less magic in this world could only be invoked after a long, mind-boggling chant, and its effect was meh. It was also infamous. So I thought Zack would show some reluctance upon hearing this, but unexpectedly, he wholeheartedly agreed. Although it took me a really long time to come up with this reinforcement technique, which could be called a revolution in attribute-less magic, it was quite simple once one realized the logic behind it. And just as I expected, Zack managed to invoke the magic without chanting in just three weeks. However, he still failed once every two or three times, and the magic he invoked was only the altered version that shielded his entire body with mana. In short, he had finally reached the entrance of the development of attribute-less reinforcement magic. Nevertheless, even if the elevation in his abilities was not that much, Zack was elated at that improvement. And then, there was another surprise. It came from none other than the silver-haired kemonomimi girl, Myu. After seeing Zack¡¯s training, Myu had asked me to train her too. Her explosive growth had stunned me. Her growth wasn¡¯t just at the level of a genius; it was a whole new level of growth even higher than that. You could say it seemed like this magic was exclusively tailored for her tribe. Maybe this magic is more suited for the beastfolk tribe than for the humans. However, such abilities were useless without the fundamental martial arts. Thus, I taught Myu the basics of martial arts, bit-by-bit every day. And when I felt that life in the royal capital was fulfilling in this way, Rose called me and asked me to come to the royal palace. ¡¸Wait for a while in this place.¡¹ A high-handed young official told me so. When I sat on the sofa and waited for a while, the same guy entered the room again. ¡¸It¡¯s time for the audience. Honestly speaking, the throne room isn¡¯t a place for a fake without noble blood like you to enter. Make sure that you don¡¯t forget your place.¡¹ Originally, my house had an honorary knight peerage. So this young man didn¡¯t regard me as a noble. He was even indirectly telling me to not get self-conceited. ¡¸Kaykay!¡¹ I stood up and stretched as I gave that half-hearted reply. Although his eyebrows twitched upon hearing my reply, the youth left the room without saying anything. Yup, he must be pissed off right now. Well, not that I care about what that youngling feels. The surroundings, the ceiling, wall, pillars, and stairs were made from beautiful white marble. A red carpet lay on the stairs. At the end of the ascending stairs was a giant gate. ¡¸How foolish!¡¹ Just how much wealth had they used to create this spectacle? The wealth they took from the countries that they conquered was definitely far from enough to build all this. The majority of the budget must have come from taxes. In short, this spectacle was the very symbol of this kingdom¡¯s overexploitation of its citizens. These royal families and the bigshots would never be satisfied no matter how much they dressed up this place. The funds for this useless spending could be used to fulfil many other things. Rose was right. This kingdom has already rotten from its roots. Even though the gatekeepers on both sides of the gate glared at me upon hearing my remark, they still opened the gate for me. So this might be what that youngster called the throne room. I was sure that even the price of one ornament hung along a wall in this room was enough to give a normal person a heart attack. And then, I saw the people inside the extremely spacious room standing in two lines facing each other. On my left side were the officials who looked like the cabinet ministers donned in gorgeous clothes. On the right were knights in pure white armor. And then, in the middle of them, sitting on the throne as if he owned this entire world was a blonde man with a regal air around him. In front of the throne were the figures of a young man and two girls wrapped in dresses. The girl in a pure white dress was Rose, which meant that the other two blonds were Rose¡¯s brother and sister. The two men beside them might be their royal guards. I stood by Rose¡¯s side, basking in the hostile gazes of both the officials and the knights. It seems both of us were abandoned by them. Well, I guess I should stop acting like a foolish clown. ¡¸ON YOUR POSITION!¡¹ The person standing right beside the king, who seemed like the bigshot amongst the ministers, shouted that command. Everyone in the room placed their right hand on their ch*st and bowed to the king. Naturally, I just gave him a slight nod as a form of courtesy between adults since I wasn¡¯t even his vassal, to begin with. The king surveyed the room with a brazen smile on his face. ¡¸The reason I gathered all of you today in this room is that I¡¯ve something to announce. It¡¯s about the selection method of the next ruler of this kingdom.¡¹ So this exaggerated atmosphere is really because of the competition for the throne, eh. Since he said it was the method to select the next ruler, this meant he would explain the rules for the competition for the throne. And it was just as I thought. If the method was well-known, the people in this place wouldn¡¯t show those surprised expressions. ¡¸Well then, I shall explain the rules of this competition. And although I say rules, it isn¡¯t that complicated. I¡¯ll give each of Rosemary, Gilbert, and Louise a territory to govern. The basis for the evaluation will be the development of the territory under them. In addition, they would be judged on a scale of 1-10, including their contribution to the Amelia kingdom. Louise, the youngest amongst the three of you will be an adult in four years, so anyone who gets the highest grade at the end of the fourth year will become the next ruler. What do you think? It¡¯s simple and easy to understand, right?¡¹ The king was grinning while saying those words. This fella is definitely enjoying this situation. This king was the one who had captured and conquered many other minor tribes or beast kingdoms while using the hero to keep the demon race in check, after all. I feel bad for Arnold, but this king fellow gets my certification as an extremely greedy fellow. ¡¸Your Majesty, who are you going to appoint as the one to judge the development?¡¹ A blonde, handsome young man whose long hair combed upward came forward and asked that question. This must be the one called Gilbert. I needed only a glance to know that he had one or two fu*ked-up habits. ¡¸Since the judge must be impartial, I appoint the prime minister.¡¹ At that declaration, all eyes focused on the giant, beardy, black-haired man who stood right beside the throne. ¡¸T-That¡¯s¨D¡¹ The handsome blondie with the long hair seemingly wanted to protest the decision, but¡­ ¡¸Do you have any complaints about me?¡¹ The icy gaze from the giant black-haired man, whose eyes look like a massive chunk of black ice, shut the prince down. ¡¸N-No, I¡¯m not¡­¡¹ The handsome blondie averted his gaze like a loser. Louise seemed to be dissatisfied with that decision too and seemingly wanted to say something, but she could only grit her teeth since there was nothing wrong with that decision. Even someone as ignorant of the political situation and with zero interest in it as me had at least heard about this giant, black-haired man. He was the man who had raised the military power of the Amelia kingdom to one of the best in the world within a short period, the prime minister of the Amelia kingdom¨DJohannes Roosevelt. In my opinion, this man is an exception in various ways. Although he has more bearing and air than the arrogant king who sits on the throne, he is way too bizarre. Anyhow, Rose heaved a sigh as she patted her ch*st upon hearing that the prime minister would act as the judge. Thus, I realized that this personage was at least impartial. ¡¸Now then, let¡¯s start the introduction of each participants¡¯ royal guard.¡¹ A grey-haired, priest-like man stepped forward and unfolded the scroll in his hands. ¡¸First, starting from the royal guard of the second princess, Her Highness Louise. An active S-rank hunter who is also rumored to be the strongest hunter¨D Isaac Gijidoor-dono!¡¹ A cheer rose when a slender, gray-haired man with slit eyes who stood beside the second princess placed his right hand on his ch*st. Isaac Gijidoor, he¡¯s definitely the strongest hunter. To think that the domineering blondie called the second princess managed to convince the strongest hunter into becoming her royal guard! Well, that¡¯s but another proof of her competency. ¡¸The royal guard of the first prince, His Highness Gilbert, is a visitor from another world, the great sage of the current hero party¨DSatoru Mizoguchi-dono!¡¹ Another cheer that was no less than the one before erupted in the room when a black-haired youth who seemed about seventeen or eighteen years old raised his right hand. As expected of the current member of the hero party. Quite popular, aren¡¯t ya! Rose was right. The hero wasn¡¯t available as a royal guard. Nevertheless, this didn¡¯t change the fact that Gilbert had gained support from an otherworlder who had come from the same place as the hero. This meant that the hero was taking his side too. Nevertheless, I couldn¡¯t feel the sign of a strong man from that black-haired youth, unlike what I felt from Arnold and Isaac. Rather, this problem had kept appearing after I cleared that dungeon for the weakest. As a result of having to experience a thrilling survival life in that easy dungeon for tens of thousands of years, I developed an innate sense to differentiate the strength of the monsters in that dungeon. But, I have no confidence when it comes to measuring the strength of a human or a being summoned by a human. I mean, I never had the experience of crossing swords with a human back then. The one in my image training didn¡¯t count since it didn¡¯t seem to be reliable. ¡¸And lastly, the royal guard of the first princess, Her Highness Rosemary, is the king of incompetents who bears the title of ¡¾The Most Incompetent in This World¡¿! Truly the weakest royal guard!¡¹ Unlike how it was with the others, my introduction was followed by a jeer. Nevertheless, this priest, isn¡¯t he a little bit too passionate about introducing me? Are you putting a lot of effort into making others sneer at me? Well, I don¡¯t think you need to put that much effort to do that though. ¡¸The weakest, eh?¡¹ The king scornfully laughed as he looked at me. To be honest, I wanted to know why this man wanted to retire as a king at such a young age? I mean, he seems to still have many years to live. Anyhow, he was nothing more than a slightly rude youngster after all. Although I didn¡¯t care about his attitude before, I really think that he should fix his attitude a little bit. ¡¸Thank you very much for the introduction. Unfortunately, unlike you people who have too much time to spare, I¡¯m a busy man. So, finish this farce immediately.¡¹ Silence descended upon the room after my remark. Then, the next moment, an enraged voice reverberated in the throne room. Rose, who stood by my side, heaved a sigh as she placed her right palm on her face. Hey, stop that ¡°I give up on this guy¡± attitude. Even I would be hurt by that, you know. ¡¸WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE THAT YOU CAN ACT SO RUDE IN FRONT OF HIS MAJESTY!!!¡¹ A giant man stepped forward. ¡¸WHAT ARE THOSE IMPERIAL GUARDS DOING!!?¡¹ The middle-aged priest who introduced us and the royal guards were screaming hysterically with flushed red faces. === Character Design: Rosemary¡­ Status¡­ Heroine(LMAO) Volume 3 - CH 3.2 Act 3-3.2: Notice of Competition For The Throne The tall man with long, blonde hair and a sideburn¡ªhe seemed like the leader of the knights called the imperial guards¡ªsent a glance to the king, ¡¸Your Majesty, are you sure about this?¡¹ He placed his hand on his ch*st as he respectfully asked the king. ¡¸I don¡¯t mind. It also serves as a good side show. Don¡¯t hold back, Geralt!¡¹ The king spoke as he leaned forward, looking at me with impish curiosity on his face. The tall man with the sideburn then unsheathed his sword and pointed it at me. Hou, that movement alone is enough proof of his polished strength. Overall, he is comparable to Zack. In short, he still has room for growth. But, he¡¯s still a far cry from mine and Arnold¡¯s realm. [TL: Kai never saw Arnold fight before, so he is still under the impression that Arnold is as strong as him.] ¡¸Kai, make sure to only inju¨D¡¹ ¡¸I understand.¡¹ I signaled to Rose, who was flustered for some reason, with my right hand that I understood her request. The other party was a greenhorn. It was unbecoming of me to go all out against him. Just when I thought that he was going to charge like the Sword Emperor and Zack¡­ ¡¸¡­¡¹ He stood rooted at his spot in his stance, sweating like a waterfall. ¡¸Commander¡­ Geralt?¡¹ His subordinate knights called him with worried looks on their faces, so¡­ ¡¸Maybe that¡¯s enough. This is too childish.¡¹ The gray-haired man, Isaac Gijidoor, said so as if he was changing his opinion while looking at me. ¡¸I agree with him. Such an incompetent isn¡¯t even worth being knocked out by Commander. Moreover, doing that is like smearing mud on Rose-sama¡¯s face.¡¹ ¡¸Yeah. The impoliteness he showed to His Majesty is worthy of a penalty in the throne competition.¡¹ ¡¸Maybe our commander feels that this cheeky incompetent isn¡¯t even worth a single swing of his sword. As expected of our commander.¡¹ Hearing the voices of approval and praises that agreed with Isaac¡¯s opinion, Geralt, whose face was already as pale as white marble, sheathed his sword. Then, he turned around and nodded in silence toward the king. ¡¸Interesting! Really interesting!¡¹ Although the king amusingly smiled upon seeing Geralt, who had lowered his head in silence in front of him, that smile vanished as he stood from his throne. ¡¸Well then, let¡¯s continue from before. Now, I¡¯ll bestow each contestant with an area to govern. Gilbert, The Westland of the West Louise¨D Thousand of the south.¡¹ The king paused for a moment, and then the tips of his lips rose to form a grin. Rose, who was familiar with such a face, instantly stiffened. ¡¸Rosemary, end of the east¨DEast End.¡¹ A moment of silence. It was followed by a mixed murmur in the throne room. ¡¸Your Majesty, there are no inhabitants in the East End! It¡¯s literally impossible to develop that place!¡¹ Rose protested with a pale look on her face. She was right. East End was the furthest end of the east, even further than my birthplace, Lamour. It was literally the end of eastern land. Only vast wilderness and jungle lay in that place. Forget people, only monsters inhabited that place. I¡¯m even confused whether that place can be still regarded as the Amelia kingdom¡¯s territory. ¡¸Rose, this is a handicap for you. You of all people should understand what I mean, right?¡¹ ¡¸¡­¡¹ Rose could only grit her teeth upon seeing the king say those words with an impish smile on his face. Then¡­ ¡¸Worry not! I guarantee the fairness of the evaluation of this competition. And that¡¯s all I want to say. Now you may break up!¡¹ The king left after saying so. Though the other chief vassals and knights sent sympathetic gazes toward Rose, they followed the king to leave the throne room too. Well, that was only natural. On top of having an incompetent who symbolized the weakest as a royal guard, Rose had been checkmated with a condition that made it look like she wasn¡¯t allowed to win. Well, that harsh condition might really be because of my remark back then. If that¡¯s the case, I feel bad for her. But, I guess this handicap is under consideration of Rose¡¯s current severe status. She has no choice but to put up with it. ¡¸Nothing can be done even if you¡¯re depressed like that. Let¡¯s go.¡¹ Anyhow, we have to visit East End first. ¡¸Yeah.¡¹ Rose drooped her shoulders as she walked, but then, a black-haired youth, the sage Satoru Mizoguchi approached us. ¡¸I¡¯ve told you right, Rose? This happened since you rejected my proposal!¡¹ He gleefully let out an ambiguous remark. ¡¸I have no regrets about choosing Kai as my royal guard.¡¹ ¡¸But that¡¯s the reason you¡¯re in this situation where you¡¯ve lost even before the start of the competition, right?¡¹ Sage Satoru took a glance at me, then asked Rose as if he was making fun of her. ¡¸It¡¯s just a matter of different opinions. I don¡¯t think that I¡¯ve already lost.¡¹ ¡¸Whattt, so you think you can win against me?¡¹ Sage Satoru squinted as he looked at me. It seems he has fallen in love with Rose and is jealous of me. Just your usual hot-tempered kid in love, eh? And he seems to be an extremely troublesome character on top of that. Well, he¡¯s a youth in puberty, after all. As an adult, I have to act like a likeable adult in front of him. ¡¸That¡¯s a good sense of rivalry you have toward me. But worry not! I have ZERO interest in Rose AS A WOMAN. So I¡¯m not going to be the third wheel in your courtship attempt.¡¹ I¡¯m far too old to feel any passion for a youngster 100k years younger than me. ¡¸¨D¨D!!!?¡¹ I said that while patting on Sage Satoru¡¯s shoulder. The young man¡¯s face flushed red until the tip of his ears. ¡¸Such an immature feeling is truly the sign of youth. SO DO YOUR BEST, YOUNG MAN!¡¹ I encouraged him with a smiling face. ¡¸D-DON¡¯T GET TOO FULL OF YOURSELF!¡¹ Sage Satoru left in a hurry after stuttering. Yeah, it¡¯s good to be young after all. Well then, time to go back, I guess. ¡¸Let¡¯s go. I want to take a look at the territory first.¡¹ ¡¸¡­¡¹ I turned around since I didn¡¯t hear any reply from behind me, and then, I saw Rose glaring daggers at me. ¡¸Is something the matter?¡¹ ¡¸IT¡¯S NOTHING!¡¹ Although I was puzzled about the reason for Rose pouting, I followed her to exit the throne room in silence. === Character design: Signiel Gastrea¡­ A man who should become MC Volume 3 - CH 4 Act 3-4: Information Gathering 1 After returning to the inn we were staying at, I took Zack, who was training, Anna, who was babysitting Faf and Myu, and Rose to visit the territory granted to Rose for the throne competition. We rode on Phoenix¡¯s back. After travelling at high speed for a few minutes, we arrived at our destination. ¡¸There¡¯s seriously nothing in this place¡­¡¹ Only two scenery welcomed us, a vast wasteland and a vast jungle. This place didn¡¯t seem like a place where humans could live at a moment¡¯s notice. I mean, the only people who can live in this place might be those who enjoyed a ¡°thrilling¡± survival life to the fullest. The Amelian king did intend to make Rose manage land with literally zero citizens. Due to this, it would be normal for one to think that the king simply hated Rose¡¯s guts. But, from their interaction in the throne room, it didn¡¯t seem to be the case. The first reason was the judge. If the king really wanted to make Rose the ruler of this kingdom, all he had to do was choose a judge who would favour Rose instead of the impartial prime minister. Naturally, he chose the prime minister to guarantee impartiality in the judgment. However, the main reason might be that that personage himself seems to be the type that hates unfairness. ¡¸Then, the first thing to do is to look for citizens, I guess.¡¹ ¡¸You say it like securing citizens is a simple matter. Do you have a way to break this situation?¡¹ ¡¸Nope, not at all.¡¹ Rose heaved a deep sigh upon hearing my reply. ¡¸Let¡¯s go back to the royal capital and think about our plan first.¡¹ She could only say those words. After returning to the royal capital, Rose proposed for us to change the inn we were in currently. Her reason was that the inn had too much traffic, which prevented us from having a proper discussion. Sure enough, only an idiot would think about discussing the crown contest in such a place. Since no one objected to Rose¡¯s idea, we immediately changed the inn. As for the inn we would use next, we had two conditions for that. First, the entire inn had to be reserved for us, and us only. Second, the content of our conversation couldn¡¯t leak no matter what. Keeping aside the first condition, I¡¯ve never heard about an inn that can fulfill the second condition. I guess I¡¯ve no choice but to ask the ones who know about such matters. And a few hours later, we stood in front of a certain building in the southwest corner of the royal capital, which was guarded by several ruffians. ¡¸Shifu, are you really going to ask them?¡¹[TL: ŽŸ¸¸(Shifu) means master. This position is equal to one¡¯s father, teacher for life to speak.] Zack asked that question to me with an obviously bored expression. By the way, Zack had started to call me ¡°Shifu¡± after I started training him. And whenever I told him to stop calling me that, he just ignored me. So, I just leave him be. I mean, yeah, it might be some code or whatever. ¡¸Yes. It shouldn¡¯t be a problem even if we use a slightly rough method when asking them, right?¡¹ "" ¡¸The way you¡¯re saying it. Aren¡¯t you basically gonna beat the c*ap out of them?¡¹ ¡¸That¡¯ll depend on them.¡¹ There was karma in this world. Those who kill someone should be prepared to be killed until at the end of their life. That¡¯s basically the same as us, the warriors. If you¡¯re not prepared to stain your hands with blood, you should never step into this blood-stained path from the very beginning. You should walk under the great sun instead. ¡¸Well, Shifu is Shifu, after all.¡¹ Zack swung his head to the sides as he let out a predator-like smile. Then, he cracked his fingers. That was an awful remark, but you¡¯re more eager to butt your head with them, huh! I heaved a sigh and then walked toward them. ¡¸Oi, stop right there!¡¹ When I arrived at the entrance, a short-haired man with a scar on his cheek and a ruffian with permed hair pointed their swords at me as a warning. ¡¸I want to meet your boss. You won¡¯t suffer if you obediently call your boss.¡¹ So, I told them that with the most refreshing smile I could muster. ¡¸Yeah, we belong to the king-type after all.¡¹ Oi, Zack-kun, your remark has zero persuasive power when you say it while cracking your fingers. Be more elegant, and show a good smile like me. And just as I expected, their cheeks twitched when a lump of muscle like Zack said those words. ¡¸G-GUYS, we¡¯re under attaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!!¡¹ The next moment, dozens of armed ruffians stormed out of the building. U~hm, things developed as per my prediction, after all. Just when I was about to step forward¡­ ¡¸Shifu, leave these men to me. They are just the right targets for me to test my newly acquired power.¡¹ Zack stepped forward while cracking his fingers, enveloped by his mana. The next moment, a pale-coloured, transparent membrane-covered him. Hoh! His countless invocation is much smoother than before. Moreover, he has turned it into toughness. Interesting! Toughness transformation¨Dit was a type of reinforcement magic in which the user covered themselves with a thin membrane of mana, then added toughness to that membrane. In short, the basic concept of that was in contrast with my ¡¾Herculean Strength¡¿, which reinforces everything inside up to the cellular level. But well, wrapping everything inside up to the cellular level might be impossible for the current Zack. He himself seemed to have realized that and came up with the idea of covering his body with mana instead. His combat sense is indeed sharp. Among the ruffians, a tall, skinny man with an unshaven beard, who stood at the end of the line, halfheartedly looked at me and Zack, but¡­ ¡¸The idiots over there, do you know who we are? If they came to act like scarecrows, bring them inside!¡¹ The ruffians went back into the building upon hearing the order from the man. It seemed that man was the boss of this place. Maybe because of the overwhelming difference in the number of both sides, these guys showed relaxed smiles as if their vigilance from before was a lie. The man with permed hair then approached Zack and pushed his long sword to the latter¡¯s cheek. ¡¸It¡¯s our boss¡¯s order. Be a good boy and die.¡¹ He threatened Zack with a remark that came straight from a third-class opera. ¡¸Fool!¡¹ Zack caught the blade with his bare hand. ¡¸Oi, you better not make any stupid mo¨D Eh?¡¹ He twisted the blade till it couldn¡¯t be used anymore. "" As if that wasn¡¯t enough, Zack then took the long sword from the perm-haired man¡¯s hands and kneaded it with bare hands as if it were mere clay. As they saw this surreal sight, everyone surrounding us stood still, at a loss for words. ¡¸M-MONSTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER¡¹ Zack showed a belligerent smile to the perm-haired man, who was shouting in fear. And that was the signal of the wild beast(Zack)¡¯s trampling. Volume 3 - CH 5 Act 3-5: Information Gathering 2 Anyhow, after seeing Zack¡¯s rampage, every single one of those armed ruffians lost their fighting spirits, except for one spirited person who was sitting in the seiza position right now. And that person was¡­ ¡¸We¡¯re the Metal Stove family that¡¯s affiliated with ¡¾Crimson Raven¡¿.¡¹ It was the tall baldie with an unshaven beard who looked like the boss of those ruffians who kept shouting ¡°KILL THIS, KILL THAT!¡± until just a while ago. ¡¸So?¡¹ His eyes opened wide, and he looked at me with a dumbfounded face. ¡¸¡±SO¡± YOU SAY!? Do you have any idea about ¡¾Crimson Raven¡¿!?¡¹ He shouted again, letting out a rain of saliva. ¡¸Ah! If I¡¯m not wrong, they should be one of the three kings of the underworld along with the ¡¾Tao Family¡¿ and ¡¾Lost Forest¡¿.¡¹ ¡¾Crimson Raven¡¿ was an extremely famous underworld organization. Even I, who lived on the surface, knew about them. I see now! So that¡¯s the reason he can keep his head up high even though Zack has beaten him to a pulp. "" ¡¸THAT¡¯S RIGHT! They are the king of the underworld! It¡¯s too late to regret now. You guys are finished! Your family, your lovers! They will kidnap them and then kill them!¡¹ The baldie kept spouting a wild delusion that would never come true. ¡¸The way he yelps is so lame. Maybe I have to give him a short course of special training.¡¹ I rolled up my sleeves and took out a few utensils I had prepared for such a situation. ¡¸Shifu, is that?¡¹ Zack asked with a stiffened face. ¡¸Yeah, this is a magic tool that will make him talk obediently like a good kid.¡¹ After taking out every single tool I needed, I casually swiped off one of them with one hand. Faf often went out to play with Myu nowadays, and there was no good book to read anymore. Therefore, I could finally finish all the books with bad tastes that I found in that dungeon and had set aside before with ease. ¡¸W-What are you going to do?¡¹ I seized the baldie by his collar and raised him. ¡¸Make you feel so good that you¡¯d want to spit out everything.¡¹ "" I let him sit in a chair, then smiled at him. The baldie let out a shriek! ¡¸So you guys are one of the mafias who manage this area. And you¡¯re allowed to continue your business as long as you offer money to ¡¾Crimson Raven¡¿. Is that it?¡¹ That baldie turned out to be a timid man. I had tested only a few pages of that book on him, yet he already fessed up all the secrets he knew. Around forty percent of Metal Stove Family¡¯s members, who had witnessed the process first hand, passed out while blowing bubbles from their mouths. The rest sixty percent begged to be spared while discharging nasal mucus and tears. ¡¸H-Hey! W-We only know a part of ¡¾Crimson Raven¡¿, not everything!¡¹ ¡¸Why just a part? If it really is the case, for what reason do you give offering money to them? Even if you want to make an offering, you can¡¯t do that unless you know their contact person, right?¡¹ ¡¸W-We send our offering through an agency shop in the royal capital! I¡¯m telling the truth! Please believe me!!!¡¹ The baldie squeezed his voice as he prostrated on the floor. It seemed he was telling the truth. I mean, there was no way the king of the underworld would establish direct communication with these small-fry organizations. ¡¸Uhm, it seems I can use this information.¡¹ To not stand out, a relationship with the underworld is necessary for me. They are pro at hiding after all. Naturally, there is danger involved. However, they live in the darkest part of society and are indispensable for the development of the territory. If we manage to win over them to our side, they would show far better worth than a petty organization. Moreover, no matter how powerful they are, they are still underworld organizations. Their real strength is a far cry from that of the kingdom¡¯s soldiers. Rather, they might be just a little bit stronger than amateurs who just got a weapon. So, even if they are hailed as the kings of the underworld, they are not a big deal at the scale of a kingdom. ¡¸Aah, there you go! Shifu¡¯s bad habit!¡¹ Zack shrugged for some reason. Hasn¡¯t Zack become more and more unrestrained around me lately? For some reason, his reactions remind me of Rose. Well, not that I care about it. We have more important matters to do right now. === Few Minutes Later¡­ === ¡¸Well, show us the way to one of the information brokers in the royal capital.¡¹ I ordered the baldie. ¡¸Yes, I¡¯ll show you the place.¡¹ The baldie vigorously stood up and walked, albeit with an unsteady gait. Uhm, compared to his previous rebellious attitude, the current him is a yes man. As expected, these men from the underworld are truly similar to the monsters from that easy dungeon; they become completely obedient after knowing the difference in our powers. ¡¸Shifu, you really are not holding back, eh.¡¹ Zack stated his honest opinion without beating around the bush as he squinted at the frightened baldie, who was walking ahead of us. ¡¸Is that so? I don¡¯t think I went that far though.¡¹ ¡¸No, I mean, it was too gross for any normal nerves.¡¹ Gross, was it? There were actually countless records of disgusting methods written in that book with an extremely bad taste. What I had done was a normal and the least dangerous method that wouldn¡¯t cause irreversible damage once the wound was completely healed. Rather, I wanted to return Zack¡¯s remark to himself as he was the one who had beaten the c*ap out of those ruffians. ¡¸Young masters, which organization are you two come from?¡¹ The baldie asked us in a trembling voice. ¡¸Which one, I wonder! You can get the answer, but the key to living a long life is to not snoop where you¡¯re not supposed to! Don¡¯t you agree with me?¡¹ I replied with a really meaningful remark. That moment, the color drained from that baldie¡¯s face. He didn¡¯t dare to speak again after that. Soon, we entered a certain, isolated brick house in the southwest corner of the royal capital. ¡¸This fellow is one of the information brokers in the royal capital, Mujina. Now that I¡¯ve completed my duty, I shall excuse myself.¡¹ After introducing us to a black-haired girl wearing shorts and a black robe that hid twin hills, the baldie left the building as if to get away from us as fast as possible. ¡¸¡¯Elcome, I assume that the Metal Stove family introduced me to you! What kind of information do you wish to buy from me?¡¹ The black-haired girl looked at us with an extremely curious expression for a while as she sat in her chair while smoking from her pipe. Then, she went straight to business. In the end, the information I bought from Mujina was the information about East End and an inn with tight lips. First, regarding the inn, Mujina told us to buy an old house in the southeast district of the royal capital. It seemed the agency was having a hard time finding a buyer for that particular house since it happened to be right beside the residence of the Metal Stove Family¡¯s boss; due to that, many ruffians loitered around that area, which led to a sharp decline in the house¡¯s price. The southeast district of the royal capital had a worse public order. Thus, no noble would ever set foot in that district. It was an ideal place to concoct a sinister plan. After that, I asked Mujina to act as a go-between and bought the three-storied house for eighty million oars. When I moved into that house, I brought sweets and famous pastries from the royal capital. It was a moving-in gift for the boss of the Metal Stove Family. However, the house which was right beside our house had been vacated the next morning. Why though? After I commissioned a builder in the royal capital to repair the mansion, the mansion was finally ready for everyone else to move in it seven days later. ¡¸IT¡¯S HU~GE!¡¹ ¡¸HUGE-NODESU!!¡¹ Faf and Myu frolicked and raised their voices upon seeing the mansion. With this, we could have a secret meeting anytime we wanted without being afraid of getting disturbed. Moreover, I had another arrangement with Mujina tomorrow. She might have already gathered tons of information about East End. Volume 3 - CH 6 Act 3-6: The Right Way to Use Information 1 A few weeks later, I had a discussion with Rose in the mansion. The topic was the plan to gather citizens, but the discussion turned out to be fruitless. I mean, we met a deadlock. Nevertheless, with some information from Mujina, I found the solution to this problem, a unique solution tailored for this East End territory. It¡¯s just my guess, but the solution I came up with might be the real reason the king appointed that territory to Rose. That king and the prime minister duo are truly old raccoons to entrust such a duty to someone as young as Rose. While doing so, those two might have also wanted to increase the base under the kingdom¡¯s control. To be honest, they are the last kind of people that I wanted to get close with. ¡¸Kai, do you have any idea about how to do this?¡¹ ¡¸Uh~m, nope!¡¹ This is a test for Rose. She won¡¯t grow if she can¡¯t even find a solution to this problem by herself. Moreover, she can solve this problem as long as she has the information about her territory. Information gathering is the basic amongst the basics in every field. There is a saying that information is, in a sense, more valuable than the treasure itself. This was a fact I found after risking my life daily when exploring that easy dungeon. Thus, I have to make Rose realize this herself. ¡¸I see¡­¡¹ Rose stood up from her chair. ¡¸I¡¯ll take a rest for now.¡¹ She went up to the second floor, albeit with slumped shoulders. Anna chased after her in a hurry. ¡¸Shifu, when will you tell the princess about THAT matter?¡¹ After Rose¡¯s figure vanished, Zack, who had been eating in silence until now, stopped his hands and asked me that question. The matter he was talking about was a certain matter about a chivalrous thief who was active in the centre of the east side, named Wind Cat. The thief was famous for attacking slave merchants or corrupt merchants who were in cahoots with one of the worst feudal lords in the Amelia kingdom, Count Ketzer Ksar, and distributing their spoils to poor people. Wind Cat had become a local hero for the citizens oppressed by the tyranny of Count Ketzer. According to Mujina¡¯s information, although this chivalrous thief¡¯s stronghold was somewhere in East End, Count Ketzer had already located it. The Count was currently recruiting more soldiers to raid Wind Cat¡¯s base and eradicate them in one clean swoop. Everything I knew up to this point was nothing more than hearsay. Well, only a fool would believe her information if it was something already known. Therefore, I had to check the accuracy of her information. So, I released the subordinates in my subjugation picture book who specialized in gathering information and spying. The result of that investigation confirmed that Mujina¡¯s information was accurate and reliable. Since her information was accurate, I deemed that Mujina was a trustworthy and reliable information broker. ¡¸About that, I absolutely won¡¯t tell her.¡¹ It would be troublesome if I have to keep babysitting Rose, after all. She has to arrive at the answer by herself based on the clues I provided to her. I would keep my silence until she arrives at the answer by herself. ¡¸A~h, as I expected! If things keep going on like this, the princess won¡¯t notice the problem at all.¡¹ Zack let out a remark that looked like putting a carriage before the horse. ¡¸Why do you think so? According to Mujina, her information about Wind Cat is widely spread over here, so we just need to take them in as our citizens. There¡¯s no problem with that, is there?¡¹ The current Rose doesn¡¯t have the knowledge to do that yet. So it would be correct to say that after she realizes what to do, it would be time for me to put my plan into motion. ¡¸That¡¯s exactly the problem. In the first place, there isn¡¯t a normal person who will think about recruiting a band of famous thieves as citizens.¡¹ ¡¸U~hm.¡¹ Sure enough, as a fellow oddball, Zack did have a point in his argument. A pure idealist like Rose would never come up with a plan to recruit underworld people at this point in her life. And I did realize that I¡¯m even starting to forget that she is a PRINCESS. ¡¸Uhm, you have a point. Okay then, I¡¯ll give a few hints to her.¡¹ What Rose lacks the most right now is awareness about the importance of information. This is something she has to realize as the lord of her territory. Fortunately, I have a lot of books in my collection that can teach her about that. I guess this is the best chance to have Rose read the introduction of the topic that even the current her can understand. I stood up from my chair and went up to the second floor, to Rose¡¯s room. Volume 3 - CH 7 Act 3-7: The Right Way to Use Information 2 A week later, our dear princess finally made an appearance with terrible dark circles below her eyes. Her hair was in disarray, and her eyes were bloodshot. Even hundreds of years of love would have cooled down at once if that Sage-kun could see her current appearance. ¡¸I want to contact the information broker in the royal capital.¡¹ ¡¸Rose-sama! That¡¯s a dangerous place full of ruffians!!¡¹ Just as I thought, despite Anna¡¯s attempts to change Rose¡¯s mind, the princess ignored her subordinate and approached me. ¡¸Kai, you should¡¯ve been expecting this development, right?¡¹ I didn¡¯t try to dodge this time. Instead, I gave her an ambiguous reply. ¡¸Ma~n, you took longer than my estimation to reach this conclusion.¡¹ Rose chewed her lips in frustration. ¡¸Then, please guide me to that place.¡¹ She spoke as if she were desperately trying to suppress her anger. ¡¸Roger!¡¹ I rose from my chair and escorted Rose on the way to Mujina¡¯s store. When I reached the place, I asked the girl wearing a black robe, Mujina, the aforementioned information. ¡¸I have already told you about that information, right, dear customer?¡¹ Mujina exhaled the smoke in her mouth as she told me that with a smirk on her face. Rose, who sat by my side, glared daggers at me, but I ignored her. ¡¸The one who needs the information is this girl. I¡¯ll pay a separate fee for that information.¡¹ The required information would play a vital part in this plan of mine, after all. ¡¸Sure!¡¹ Mujina squinted as she looked at Rose, then she told her the information. ¡¸The chivalrous thieves, Wind Cat¡­.¡¹ Rose folded her arms as she pondered something. I have realized this as of late, but her concentration ability is amazing. She grasped what to do with the information in her hand. It seems our princess is a surprisingly flexible person. ¡¸You seem to be pleased, dear customer.¡¹ I shrugged when Mujina said so with a smirk on her face. ¡¸Well, yeah.¡¹ I nodded lightly. The crown contest was an unexpected windfall for me. I mean, the time limit for it is around four-five years. I will be free from this duty only when this girl becomes the queen. Thus, for the sake of my slow life, I have to make her win this crown contest. Mujina alternately looked between Rose and me. ¡¸You sure are interesting fellows, my two dear guests.¡¹ She stated her impression of us. Well, for better or worse, we stand out quite a lot. I mean, this girl might already know our identities. Thus, I absolutely can¡¯t put my trust in her, aside from the information I buy from her. I mean, if she dares to cheat us with fake information, she would be risking her reputation as an information broker, and her pride won¡¯t allow her to do that too. ¡¸Let¡¯s think about that later. It¡¯s time to go.¡¹ ¡¸Yes.¡¹ I had no idea whether Rose was really replying to my words or not since it looked like she was absorbed in her own world. I paid for the information fee and followed her. Volume 3 - CH 8 Act 3-8: Each of Their Growth ¡¸Let¡¯s contact the Wind Cat who hides somewhere in the ¡¾Demonic Forest¡¿ of East End.¡¹ The only one surprised by Rose¡¯s remark was Anna. The other members didn¡¯t even bat their eyes upon hearing that. Faf and Myu simply had no interest in this difficult talk; they were engaged in lively talks about playing since five in the afternoon. Asta was skillfully eating her meal with one hand while holding a book in another hand. So, the only ones participating in the conversation were Zack and Anna. ¡¸How are you going to contact them?¡¹ I had granted her one night since I knew that Rose wasn¡¯t stupid enough to not come with a plan. ¡¸Searching the forest of East End with so few people is asking for the impossible. Moreover, they definitely won¡¯t accept our offer if we forcibly invade their territory. Am I wrong?¡¹ Good grief! She has realized the most important problem, huh! This is an answer that she would have never achieved unless she understood the feeling of the weak. Her train of thought is truly unlike the royal family of this sh*tty kingdom. But then, that¡¯s nothing more than her mental side. What I want to know the most right now is to what extent she putting that knowledge of hers into practice in the form of a plan. ¡¸I think the same. So, what¡¯s your plan?¡¹ ¡¸After putting together the information I heard yesterday from the information broker, I¡¯ve concluded that an organization is backing Wind Cat. Otherwise, they would have had a hard time doing their activities in the entire Ksar territory.¡¹ She was right. Moreover, it isn¡¯t only one. There are at least two of them in Ksar territory. In short, the Wind Cat isn¡¯t a band of chivalrous thieves; they are the front line of a resistance organization. ¡¸So?¡¹ ¡¸In short, to make it possible for them to move like that, they¨D¡¹ Rose spread the map in her right hand on the table. Then, she took out several copper coins from her pocket and placed them on the map. ¡¸They are definitely right in that place. This city is the best place for them to receive their supplies and funds.¡¹ Rose placed a gold coin on the area around the northwest of East End¡¯s ¡¾Demonic Forest¡¿. That area was the closest mining city to ¡¾Demonic Forest¡¿¨DAkinashi. Just like how the Heineman family operated, a noble family who gained their status from their achievements governed this city. The man who governed the Akinashi territory was Oliver Akinashi of the knight peerage. He seems to be one of the few kind lords in this east region. ¡¸Then, what are you going to do in Akinashi territory?¡¹ ¡¸I¡¯ll try to convince Knight Oliver to allow me to negotiate with Wind Cat. Although we might be aiming for different things, we have the same goal in mind. It¡¯ll take some time, but convincing them should be possible, right?¡¹ Great! She has done a good job in realizing the only thing that she¡ªwho is in a disadvantageous situation right now¡ªcan do right now. That¡¯s good enough for the current, powerless her. Now, I will put my plan into motion and set the stage for her. Besides, it¡¯ll be a festival that she will never forget. ¡¸GOOD! It¡¯s decided then! Asta, Zack, you two will act as her escorts!!¡¹ ¡¸Yeah! Leave it to me!¡¹ Zack nodded while raising his clenched right fist. ¡¸Roge~r, but what are you going to do, Master?¡¹ Asta closed the book she was reading and asked me. ¡¸We¡¯re going to camp in the forest.¡¹ ¡¸CAMPING-NODESU!¡¹ Faf pushed up her right fist in the air with Myu, who was also all smiles as she spoke. ¡¸YA~Y, CAMPING! CAMPING!¡¹ Myu nimbly jumped around after coming down from her chair. ¡¸Kai, that camping is really necessary, right?¡¹ Anna was trying to ask for confirmation with an extremely meek expression. ¡¸Yeah, we have to do this. It¡¯s the most disgusting part of the main plan.¡¹ In a certain way, the degree of difficulty in this was several times higher than that with the matter of Rose, who was basically waiting for us to finish our preparations. ¡¸Understood! Asta, Zack, please take care of Rose-sama.¡¹ ¡¸Ou!¡¹ ¡¸¡­¡¹ Zack cheerfully replied while drinking the liquor in his mug, while Asta lightly nodded. ¡¸Well then, Rose-sama, I shall excuse myself to make the preparations! Faf, Myu, come and help me!¡¹ ¡¸Ye~s!¡¹¡¸Ye~s-nodesu!¡¹ Faf took Anna¡¯s right hand while Myu took her left hand. Together, the three of them went to the second floor. ¡¸Anna has changed for better too, hasn¡¯t she?¡¹ Rose smiled from ear to ear. She commented on Anna¡¯s recent change of attitude like a mother commenting on her daughter¡¯s growth. ¡¸Indeed!¡¹ Although it was part of the plan, Anna did have to leave Rose¡¯s side for the time being. I thought that Anna would refuse it till the end, and yet, to my surprise, she readily accepted the plan. On this occasion, Anna received Rose¡¯s permission to leave the latter¡¯s side for the sake of achieving our goal. The fact that she readily accepted it means that she put her trust in Zack and Asta. It¡¯s an extremely surprising fact knowing that up until now, she never trusted anyone but her knight comrades with such duty. Understanding that, even Asta, the heavenly devil in a suit, gave a sincere nod to Anna. You can say that Anna, who was trapped in her own world until now, had finally broken her shell and changed for the better. ¡¸I have to prepare my dress too.¡¹ Chuckling lightly, I dealt with the scraps of the food left on the table while looking at the back-view of Rose, who was walking toward her room. Volume 3 - CH 9 Act 3-9: Ugly Desire(Side: Ketzer) ¨D¨DA certain mansion in the royal capital of the Ksar territory. It was a gorgeous room decorated with expensive but seedy-looking ornaments and stuffed monster¡¯s heads hanging on the wall. Sitting in the centre of that room was a fat noble with two beauties, whose eyes had already lost their intelligent lights, waiting upon him by his sides. ¡¸I wonder what brings the messenger of the royal palace to this place?¡¹ The messenger clad in a white robe and a white mask that hid their face was holding a handkerchief that they used to block their nose and mouth from the unpleasant air and the stinky odour in the room. ¡¸Ketzer-dono, it¡¯s an order for you.¡¹ ¡¸Order? From who?¡¹ That question made it clear to the messenger of the royal palace that only a few people could order this man, Ketzer, due to his peerage. ¡¸Currently, the girl planning to overthrow the order in this kingdom is staying in the mining city, Akinashi. Moreover, that girl seems to want to work together with Wind Cat to achieve her goal. Carefully use this information, and restore the order of this Amelia kingdom.¡¹ After reading the message, the messenger left the room in a hurry as if they were escaping from the room. ¡¸This order of the imperial court. I see! That rumor is true, eh?¡¹ Ketzer¡¯s expression, which was dyed in the color of lust, resembled that of a toad as he started to laugh. His reaction was natural since this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance for him to fulfill his dream. Just when Ketzer had grasped the information that the Wind Cat was hiding in the ¡¾Demonic Forest¡¿ forming a punitive force to subdue the latter, some piece of good news came upon him. The first was that the one supporting Wind Cat was none other than Oliver Akinashi of the knight peerage. Three hundred years ago, an evil dragon had appeared in the eastern territory of the Amelia kingdom. There was no end to the evil deeds the Evil Dragon committed, from destroying the city to burning its citizens alive. And the place where this Evil Dragon was subjugated was the current citadel of the Akinashi territory. Moreover, since that Evil Dragon had built its nest right on top of a mountain range vein, the Akinashi territory was well-known for its abundance of precious metals. These precious metals could be exported to create magic tools and many other things. Normally, the Akinashi territory should be under the jurisdiction of Ksar¡¯s count since it and the Ksar territory was literally next to each other. However, back then, the Amelia kingdom¡¯s government had granted that territory, along with the knight peerage, to the otherworlder who had subjugated that Evil Dragon¨DKotetsu Akinashi. If it became known that Oliver Akinashi was involved with Wind Cat, he would¡¯ve committed treason against the kingdom. Then Ketzer could not only get rid of Oliver Akinashi but also snatch that rich territory. As long as he played his card wisely, he could use his merit in subjugating Wind Cat to absorb the Akinashi territory into the Ksar territory. The second piece of news was the news about the royalty who was hailed as the mad princess of the Amelia kingdom, the first princess. Rosemary Loto Amelia was currently staying in Akinashi territory. Rosemary, who wanted to abolish the noble system, was viewed as the common enemy of all nobles with noble blood in their veins. A majority of the nobles wanted to banish her from the Amelia kingdom. Thus, although Ketzer had no idea from which big-shot had the self-proclaimed messenger from the royal palace come from, the other party was clearly affiliated with the Gilbert faction. Ketzer was almost convinced that it might be the order of Prince Gilbert himself. Prince Gilbert was regarded as the champion who would continue the tradition of the noble society. In Ketzer¡¯s opinion, Prince Gilbert had a gentle and cool-headed judgment, and he also honoured tradition and order. The difference between their beliefs was the reason for their cold war. Thus, as part of the Gilbert faction, Ketzer felt that he had to accomplish his duty. The third piece of news was the news about the chief of the Wind Cat. Their leader turned out to be the vanished princess, Felis Loto Amelia. ¡¸Nufufufufu! All the advantages are on me.¡¹ The order Ketzer had received was to assassinate Princess Rosemary and push the blame to Oliver Akinashi of knight peerage. At the same time, he would also be dealing with Duchess Felis, who was colluding with Oliver. And his reward for accomplishing his duty was Akinashi territory. ¡¸Princess Rose and Duchess Felis! To think that I¡¯ll get the chance to add the two of them to my collection.¡¹ Princess Rose was the undisputable, number one beauty of the Amelia kingdom. And the vanished Duchess Felis was also a country-toppling beauty. Moreover, the effect of her gift maintained her youthful appearance. A mere lord like Ketzer would have never dreamed that he would ever come across a chance to turn the two beauties into his slave. Humph! It¡¯ll be regarded as treason if the public were to learn of this, but their beauty is worth the risk. They¡¯re going to be treated as deceased princesses once all of this is over anyway. The top officer is noble. In short, I¡¯m acting as Prince Gilbert¡¯s vanguard. They¡¯re not going to investigate this matter seriously. It would end easily as long as I prepare corpses of burned women with the same physique like them. ¡¸Contact Serpent Blood¡¯s boss.¡¹ Ketzer licked his massive lips with an entranced expression as he ordered his retainer. Serpent Blood was one of the top ten mafias in the kingdom. Ketzer had been in a good relationship with them for a long time. He used them to do his dirty jobs, such as buying noble lady slaves, trading prohibited goods, looting, kidnapping, or robbery. And this time, I¡¯m going to use them to kidnap the princess and massacre the Akinashi territory in the name of treason. Let¡¯s commence the operation at the same time as when the hunt for Wind Cat in ¡¾Demonic Forest¡¿ of East End would begin. Even if many of the subjugation forces would die in the process, they¡¯re nothing more than disposable pawns. The preparation to take control of ¡¾Demonic Forest¡¿ is already in order. The next thing to do after securing the Duchess is to dispose of the mercenaries to get rid of all evidence. ¡¸How exciting!¡¹ Once upon a time, Ketzer had gotten the chance to see Princess Rose in the royal capital. Her beauty made one think that she was a goddess. Imagining her beautiful face twisted in fear as he tormented her was enough to make Ketzer extremely excited, ¡¸I¡¯m looking forward to that day!¡¹ He spoke with undisguised desire. Volume 3 - CH 10 Act 3-10: Wind Cat¡¯s Confusion(Side: Felis Loto Amelia) Deep in the ¡¾Demonic Forest¡¿ of East End¨DWind Cat¡¯s hideout. Dozens of people were gathered together in a squarish cave. Every one of them had an expression that looked like they had chewed on bitter bugs. ¡¸Rosemary, eh! She¡¯s the most decent one amongst my oldest brother¡¯s children. But, that was the past. I no longer have any confidence in her. After all, she has received her education in that den of low-lives called the royal palace.¡¹ ¡¸B-but, the rumor said that Saint-sama is a really kind person¨D¡¹ A petite woman around twenty years old was trying to say her opinion, but¡­ ¡¸The kindness of royalties or nobility isn¡¯t extended to citizens. It might be just philanthropy as a front.¡¹ Felis Loto Amelia shot down that notion while combing her silky blonde hair. ¡¸My lady, we¡¯re also exhausted. All of us are about to reach the limit of acting like chivalrous thieves.¡¹ A tall, lanky, yet well-built gentleman with white hair and beard said so as if to rebuke the princess. ¡¸Lucas! We¡¯re not chivalrous thieves! We are the resistance!¡¹ ¡¸The only ones claiming so are us. On the outside, we are called a bunch of thieves. Please realize that we have to cooperate with outside parties if we want to stir some trouble in the Amelia kingdom. In the first place, do we really have to perform this dangerous stunt?¡¹ Felis crossed her arms, pondering at Lucas¡¯s words. Then¡­ ¡¸But that offer might be a trap prepared by the government. We aside, Akinashi¡¯s citizens might become those disgusting pigs¡¯ prey, you know?¡¹ Felis could still shoot that opinion down with a fair argument. ¡¸Indeed! That¡¯s why I think we have to gamble on this chance. Are we going to get recognized as one of the people by this world or rot away in this place? We have extremely limited options, you know!¡¹ Felis had an agonizing expression on her face for a while, but¡­ ¡¸So, what¡¯s Oliver¡¯s opinion about this matter?¡¹ She asked Lucas after heaving a deep sigh and erasing the agonizing expression. ¡¸According to him, there is a low chance that Her Highness Rose came up with this plan on her own. However, she doesn¡¯t seem to be lying.¡¹ ¡¸So that means Rose has been appointed as the lord of East End during this crown contest, right?¡¹ ¡¸Yes! Although she seems to be contacting one of the information brokers we¡¯re familiar with, the news about her being the lord of East End is true.¡¹ Lucas was a cautious man. He would never offer a suggestion to Felis unless he had seen a chance to win. For him, even the seemingly weak Rose was worthy of his trust; she was worthy to be entrusted with the future of Felis and the Wind Cat. ¡¸Crown contest, is it? Which means that she has already chosen her royal guard. Do you know who her royal guard is?¡¹ A Royal guard was akin to the knight leader of the crown contest¡¯s winner. Although there were one or two cases in the long history of the Amelia kingdom where the royal guards didn¡¯t become knight leaders, each participant of the crown contest had received the authority to appoint a temporary royal guard. In short, a royal guard was something akin to the face of the crown contest¡¯s participant. Yes! The crown contest wasn¡¯t just a competition to decide the future ruler of the kingdom. It was also a power struggle between merchants or nobles in the kingdom. The merchants or nobles supported their chosen participants, believing that the one they supported was the most appropriate person to become the next ruler. ¡°This person is definitely going to win the crown contest.¡± The participant would receive support as long as they could show their supporters that they could win the contest. And since Rose was participating in the contest as well, Felis concluded that Rose had, at the very least, chosen her royal guard. ¡¸About that¡­¡¹ Lucas faltered for the first time today. ¡¸What¡¯s the matter? Tell me the identity of Rose¡¯s royal guard.¡¹ Felis noticed that something was amiss. Lucas was an extremely efficient man. The news might be a disadvantage for her and the others, but she had never seen Lucas hesitate like this before. ¡¸The gift holder of ¡¾The Most Incompetent in This World¡¿, Kai Heineman. He seems to be the grandson of the previous sword saint.¡¹ ¡¸The most incompetent in this world? Are you sure that Rose really choose someone with that seemingly-worst gift as her royal guard!?¡¹ As if she can win the crown contest with the possessor of such incompetent gift as her royal guard. ¡¸It might sound strange, but there¡¯s no doubt about it.¡¹ There¡¯s no need to discuss this matter anymore then. "" Rose might have been assigned this territory only for the duration of the crown contest. It would be deprived by the kingdom again once the crown contest has ended. If Rose loses this crown contest, the East End and the Wind Cat would be put under the control of that ugly Pigzer. [TL: Pig+Ketzer = Pigzer] The citizens who belong to Wind Cat are nothing more than the relatives of rebels or political offenders. In a certain meaning, they are nothing more than slaves. What would happen to them once this territory falls into the hands of that Pigzer is as clear as the day. Since the probability of Rose winning is pretty much zero, we shouldn¡¯t take such a gamble. Let¡¯s just ignore this. ¡¸Yes, if not for Her Highness Rosemary¡¯s other knight being Zack Prower, I might have had the same opinion as you.¡¹ ¡¸Zack Prower? Is he strong?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, I saw him only once before in a small martial arts tournament, but his strength is simply overwhelming.¡¹ ¡¸He¡¯s stronger than you?¡¹ ¡¸His strength and pure combat sense might be above mine. And he¡¯s still young. I still have an advantage in combat experience, though.¡¹ Lucas used to work as the knight captain of the saint king sorcery knight order in the Holy kingdom. Sorcery knight order is the gathering of mage knights. Lucas was cut above the rest of his peers even in martial arts. That shows just how powerful he was. Therefore¨D ¡¸Something doesn¡¯t feel right here. Since she has someone like Zack as one of her knights, why she doesn¡¯t appoint Zack as her royal guard instead?¡¹ ¡¸That¡¯s exactly what I mean, Milady! I heard that Zack himself said Kai Heineman is far more powerful than him.¡¹ ¡¸Seriously? The gift holder of the joke-like gift ¡°the most incompetent in this world¡±?¡¹ That was a natural conclusion in this world dominated by gifts. Like the blood running in one¡¯s veins, a gift was akin to a curse for its holder, making them easily get betrayed and trampled upon by the others, especially in this Amelia kingdom. And Felis had enough of that. So she had basically assumed that incompetent meant weak. This wasn¡¯t because she looked down on them; it was more like common sense. ¡¸Yes, and Her Highness Rose has no doubts about that too. It seems Oliver-dono is also half in doubt regarding this.¡¹ ¡¸That¡¯s only natural! But, I have to say that this situation is going in an unpredictable direction.¡¹ At least, that¡¯s his personal opinion as someone on the same level as a knight leader. That¡¯s an extreme advantage, especially in the Amelia kingdom. Many other rulers outside the Amelia kingdom hold a steadfast belief in martial arts first and gifts second. The problem is what should we do now? Since Rose has received a pretty much impossible challenge in the crown contest in the form of East End, our existence is crucial for her. The risk we might face after accepting Rose¡¯s proposal isn¡¯t actually that big. But¨D Just when Felis was deep into her whirlpool of thoughts, the sound of loud and fast-approaching footsteps disturbed her. And then, ¡¸T-THIS IS BAD!!¡¹ A black-haired youth rolled into the room. His face was ashen pale. ¡¸Is something the matter?¡¹ Lucas rushed to the youth, grabbed his shoulder, and asked in a calm voice. ¡¸I-I went hunting in the southwest lake. There¡­¡¹ "" The black-haired youth¡¯s explanation was too confusing for many in the room to understand. ¡¸Calm down! It¡¯s okay! Now tell us what you saw in the southwest lake?¡¹ After reassuring the youth, Lucas went straight to the point, which everyone was most curious about. ¡¸A-a lot of soldiers are gathering right in front of the lake!!¡¹ The black-haired youth replied with a shrill voice. Thus, the story rapidly progressed in the worst direction for Felis and the others. Volume 3 - CH 11 Act 3-11: An Unexpected Thank You Our time is limited. Especially in this crown contest, we only have four years. Now that I¡¯ve decided to have Rose win this contest, I don¡¯t possess any intention of losing. I¡¯m going to educate Rose to win the crown contest, then continue with my original plan to roam around the world. Since there were so many things to do, Rose, whose job was to handle the core part of the development plan, first headed toward the Akinashi territory with Phoenix. In the last ten days, we made a few preparations for our plan in a few cities such as Barse or the royal capital. Only after making sure that we had done all the preparations did we depart to ¡¾Demonic Forest¡¿. Then, seven days later, we were cutting down the trees in ¡¾Demonic Forest¡¿, forming a circular open space away from the secret base of Wind Cat. Both Faf and Myu were excited about this from the beginning to the end. They enjoyed the camping activity. Anna seemed to be worrying about Rose, but she didn¡¯t say anything. She just performed her job, babysitting Faf and Myu. ¡¸Master, Master! What¡¯s this!?¡¹ Faf showed her hand to me with a sparkling look in her eyes. ¡¸That¡¯s a cicada.¡¹ ¡¸What about this one?¡¹ ¡¸N-NOO!!¡¹ When Anna saw the thing in Faf¡¯s hand, she let out a scream. Then, she threw away that thing and hugged Faf as if she were protecting her from it. I grabbed the closest object around me, which happened to be a comb, and threw it at that thing, instantly killing it. ¡¸What¡¯s the matter, Anna?¡¹ Faf, who was being hugged by Anna, looked up at Anna with a puzzled expression. ¡¸Faf, that¡¯s a scorpion. It¡¯s a dangerous animal. You absolutely can¡¯t hold it with bare hands since it¡¯s poisonous.¡¹ Faf received a mild scolding from Anna. Naturally, such weak poison wouldn¡¯t cause any problem for Faf, but Myu was another matter altogether. Yup, Faf truly lacks common sense. This is a huge problem. I have to think about a counter-plan for this problem as fast as possible. ¡¸Yes¡­ nodesu! Sorry-nodesu!¡¹ Although Anna was still tightly embracing her, I gently patted the dejected Faf head like usual. ¡¸Well then, it¡¯s time for dinner. Help me out with the preparations.¡¹ Faf¡¯s depressed face shone again upon hearing that it was the time for dinner. ¡¸Yes, nodesu!¡¹ She raised her right fist as her mood went back to normal. ¡¸Ye~s.¡¹ Mimicking Faf, Myu also raised her right fist in the air. I poured the soup into their bowls while observing their slovenly faces. After dinner, Faf and Myu peacefully slept in my handmade tent. Those two got along like real sisters. I felt relieved seeing that Faf was truly enjoying the camping activity. As I was cleaning the tableware in the nearby river¡­ ¡¸Thank you!¡¹ Anna expressed her gratitude in an ambiguous way while turning her face away from me. ¡¸Thanks for what? Even though I¡¯m not helping you with anything.¡¹ ¡¸No, uhm¡­ It¡¯s about the matter of Rose-sama. I mean, compared to before, Rose-sama has become¡­ livelier nowadays.¡¹ Anna kept talking despite stumbling with her words of choice. ¡¸Is that so? She seems rather haggard though?¡¹ ¡¸That¡¯s not what I mean!¡¹ Anna stood up from her wooden chair as she denied that with her everything. ¡¸Pipe down! You¡¯re going to wake up Faf and Myu.¡¹ ¡¸M-My bad!¡¹ Although she played with her fingers as she sat, her eyes never left me. The tense look on her face was preventing me from all kinds of wild imagination. ¡¸You should already know that social status is everything in this kingdom. The same goes for houses of knights like us. Even though we understand Rose-sama¡¯s vision, deep inside, we might have already given up on realizing it. But, everything changed after Rose-sama met you.¡¹ ¡¸Is that so?¡¹ Well, Rose¡¯s vision is alien to this Amelia kingdom. She might have literally turned everyone into her enemy by the time she charged Fracton for treason. Moreover, both her sister and brother were peas in the pod, whose train of thought was pretty much the same as those sh*tty nobles. ¡¸I believe that choosing you will allow Rose-sama to win this crown conte¨D¡¹ I raised my right hand to stop Anna and looked at the bonfire. The flame there formed a human shape. This Fire Majin was kneeling in front of me, bowing down as he horizontally raised his palm. ¡ºWe bow before our Supreme Ruler.¡» He respectfully said. This fella¡¯s name is Ifrit. Yes, it¡¯s the evil spirit who had proclaimed to be spirit king. He has become an extremely obedient fellow after receiving a thorough education from Girimekhala. Girimekhala is the one responsible for the mission in this forest. Thus, he had mobilized all members of his faction. ¡¸You may rise. So, have they made their move already?¡¹ ¡ºReporting! They have already mobilized human troops in the lake southwest from this place.¡» ¡¸What about their number?¡¹ ¡ºThere are around a thousand of them.¡» A thousand, is it? Still within the range of my expectations. Now we can finally proceed to the next stage of our plan. But, let¡¯s gather more information first. ¡¸Girimekhala, send a part of their force to this place. I¡¯m gonna cross-examine them myself.¡¹ ¡ºAs you wish!¡» The austere voice of this man resounded as soon as I gave the order. As per his request, he was also responsible for guarding us. In fact, we¡¯re currently camping in Girimekhala¡¯s cursed realm. The permit to enter it aside, this is a closed realm, which prevents any leakage of information from inside. The reason my ¡¾Divine Eye¡¿ didn¡¯t work properly a while ago was because of us being in this world. ¡¸Well then, the festival is about to begin. Everyone, prepare a warm welcome for our guests.¡¹ Upon hearing my remark, the still-kneeling Ifrit got inhaled into the bonfire. ¡¸Kai¡­¡¹ I turned around to see Anna¡¯s anxious look. ¡¸Don¡¯t worry! My plan went really smooth, almost without any hindrance at all.¡¹ I threw some firewood into the bonfire as I convinced her in a strong tone. Volume 3 - CH 12 Act 3-12: The Treatment for Pitiful Rats ¡ºOur Supreme Ruler, the rats are now heading to this place.¡» Two hours later, I received a report from Girimekhala that the rats had already entered the cursed world. We are still a bit away from the rats. They arrived much earlier than I expected. It seems Girimekhala was really in high spirits when he received my order. Well, that makes things more convenient for me though. I stood up. ¡¸Stop hiding and show yourselves. You¡¯ve been peeping at us since a while ago, right?¡¹ I told the pitiful rats who had surrounded our camp to show themselves. ¡¸Hou! You¡¯re already aware of us, eh!¡¹ Then, armed men clad in light armour, led by a baldy covered in scars, showed themselves one by one. Although Divine Eye couldn¡¯t be used in Girimekhala¡¯s cursed world, it didn¡¯t affect my natural senses. Six of them were in front of us; five to eight were standing on top of the trees around us, nocking their arrows, ready to shoot me to death. And just as I expected¡ªeven though I had a hard time sensing their presence since they were too weak¡ªthey at least had the basics properly drilled in them. Every one of them might be what you call a mercenary. First, let¡¯s confirm their attitude when they meet someone they deem weaker than them. I stood up from my chair with a frightened expression, acting as if I were trying to protect Anna and the others. ¡¸There are only young children in this place. Please spare us!¡¹ I told them so, bowing my head. ¡¸Kai, what a¡ª¡¹ Anna was clearly dumbfounded upon seeing my actions, but still, she stopped midway. It seemed she realized my objective. ¡¸Nay! Whether it¡¯s children or the elderly, we¡¯re going to kill them all. And we have strict orders to capture all the women. But, of course, we¡¯re going to enjoy beauty to the fullest.¡¹ The bald leader said so with a shrill voice while licking his lips. ¡¸Hasn¡¯t this guy brought a nice woman with him? Boss, you definitely have to share her with us.¡¹ Feeling the mercenaries¡¯ gazes on her face, butt, and breasts, Anna showed a displeased expression as she pinched my flank. Okay, you win girl. Please be patient! I¡¯m going to deal with them. ¡¸Sure! Ye lot can have that woman. Instead, I¡¯m gonna enjoy that Duchess. I heard that she¡¯s the second, if not the most beautiful woman in this kingdom.¡¹ ¡¸Are you sure about that? That Pigzer especially ordered us to catch her and not make any move on her, right?¡¹ ¡¸Hah! As if dead soldiers can tell their master about that. Worry not! No one¡¯s going to find out about it.¡¹ They know that Felis Loto Amelia is hiding somewhere in this forest. It seems the rumour I deliberately spread in the underworld had spread nicely. Then, one of their men peeped into our tents and found the sleeping Faf and Myu. ¡¸Ho! A blond brat and a silver-haired beastfolk girl, eh? You lot, don¡¯t tell that Pigzer about these guys! Let¡¯s sell them to a slave dealer. Even at the lowest, we can sell them for several hundred thousand oars.¡¹ He let out that vulgar remark. ¡¸Kai, make sure that none of these a*sholes make it out of this place alive.¡¹ Anna looked at the mercenaries with an enraged look in her eyes. She was furious to the point that she spat out such remarks with her hand already touching the hilt of her sword. I mean, this lass was dead serious. Well, those poor rats might¡¯ve managed to make her snap the moment they planned to do unspeakable things to Faf and Myu, who she cares about like her little sisters. ¡¸You¡¯re right. They might end up getting too excited and cu*ming on their own if we keep them alive any longer. ¡¹ The forest around us had already been filled with a dense smell of death since a while ago. And these idiots were actually getting too excited to notice it. The most peculiar thing about Girimekhala¡¯s subordinates is that they are extremely loyal to me. Rather, you might even say that they have already turned into fanatics. At this moment, I realized that these idiots were done for, even if I spared their sorry lives. Well, not that I¡¯m planning to spare these pieces of trash who love toying with other people¡¯s lives. Well then, I guess I can go all out when extracting information from these pieces of trash. ¡¸HAAH!? What kind of nonsense have you two been talking about?¡¹ A shorty closed up to me, seized my collar, and acted like a boss. The moment he did so, a storm of killing intent exploded from the surrounding forest. ¡¸B-Boss, I¡¯m getting a bad feeling about this place. Let¡¯s kidnap them and leave this place immediately!¡¹ ¡¸Y-Yeah. You¡¯re right.¡¹ No matter how dull these pieces of trash were, they were bound to notice when exposed to such powerful killing intent. Well, not that Girimekhala¡¯s subordinates were trying to hide. ¡¸My bad! You¡¯re not gonna get away!¡¹ I unsheathed ¡¾Raikiri¡¿, injected my mana into it, and made the five who were surrounding us evaporate with a lightning strike. ¡¸E-Eh?¡¹ The color drained from the baldy¡¯s face as he saw his subordinates suddenly vanish like that. ¡¸K-Kill them all!!¡¹ The baldy howled as he pointed his sword toward me, and yet, the only reply to his words was total silence. ¡¸OI! What are you doing? Shoot your arrows, dammit!¡¹ ¡¸If you¡¯re looking for the idiots who were pointing their arrows toward us, they have already been eliminated. To be exact, we forced them to board the carriage to hell.¡¹ The presence of the archers around us had long since vanished. To be honest, this was the first time I had seen Girimekhala¡¯s subordinates get so pissed off that they didn¡¯t even bother to hide their killing intent. It seemed the mercenaries wouldn¡¯t die a peaceful death. ¡¸I-Impossible¡­¡¹ The baldy retreated, trying to escape from the unknown. However, he ended up striking a huge wall. He timidly turned around. ¡¸GIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!¡¹ And screamed at the top of his lungs. Well, that would be a natural reaction if you turned around and saw a giant, bipedal monster with a long nose standing right behind you with an imposing pose. ¡¸Thank you for the work. I¡¯ll cross-examine him now. Take care of Anna and the kids.¡¹ ¡ºAs you wish!¡» Girimekhala kneeled on the ground and bowed his head. ¡¸Anna, we¡¯re about to enter the next stage. Help me wake Faf and Myu, and please fold the tent while I¡¯m cross-examining this baldy!¡¹ ¡¸Roger!¡¹ Anna nodded once, then entered the tent where the two kids were sleeping right now. ¡¸Well, let¡¯s not waste our time. I have a lot of questions for you.¡¹ I seized the baldy, who kept screaming like a certain strange bird, by the nape of his neck and dragged him into the forest. Volume 3 - CH 13 Act 3-13: Poisoned Dish(Side: Rosemary) Mining city, the mansion of the Akinashi territory¡¯s lord! ¡¸I understand Your Highness¡¯s feeling. Just once, I¡¯ll set a meeting for Your Highness to persuade that personage.¡¹ I made guts pose in my mind at the words of the blonde, handsome gentleman before me. This is only natural since this blonde, handsome gentleman is none other than Knight Oliver Akinashi himself. Up to this point, he was persistently denying that he knows the one called Duchess Felis. Now I have gotten a chance to persuade Felis-neesama. ¡¸Thank you very much!¡¹ I said while bowing. ¡¸Please stop, Your Highness! The one who should do that is me. Anyhow, we really are about to reach the limits of our activity after all. That¡¯s why the matter of Your Highness wanting to help that personage is truly a godsend.¡¹ Oliver replied with a tired expression. ¡¸I¡¯m looking forward to our cooperation. I¡¯ll make sure to prioritize the reward for Lord Oliver for choosing to trust me.¡¹ ¡¸Yes, I¡¯m looking forward to our future cooperation too. I¡¯ll personally guide you to negotiate with the Duchess tomorrow. Since things are going to get hectic from tomorrow, please enjoy your rest in my mansion tonight!¡¹ ¡¸Yes!¡¹ Thus, I returned to the room allocated to us with bouncy steps. I was desperately suppressing the smile that was about to bloom on my face. ¡¸YAAY! Now I finally have the chance to recruit the people of Wind Cat as citizens!¡¹ I sat on the sofa as soon as we entered the room and spoke with a rather excited voice. Naturally, I was glad that things had gone according to plan. But the main reason for my uplifting feelings was simply that I had finally gotten the chance to meet Felis-oneesama again. Yes. One of the surprises I heard from Kai before departing to the Akinashi territory was that Felis-neesama, who had vanished a long time ago, was in fact the leader of Wind Cat. £¨Kai¡¯s secretiveness is something I want. But¡­£© Felis-neesama is one of the few royalties who I can trust. Thus, knowing she was alive was enough to make me ecstatic. In contrast to my joyous mood¡­ ¡¸Uhm, yeah.¡¹ Zack didn¡¯t seem to agree with me. ¡¸How naive!¡¹ Asta brutally said without even trying to hide it. ¡¸WHY!? My aim is someone whose appearance resembles Felis-neesama. Once I meet her, I¡¯m sure that ¨D¡¹ ¡¸Nah, that ain¡¯t the problem. Rather, you did a really great job during the negotiation, Lil¡¯ Princess.¡¹ Zack¡¯s remark was akin to pouring cold water onto my joyous mood. And he did so while pouring wine into his wooden mug. ¡¸What¡¯s the problem then!?¡¹ ¡¸The one who drafted this plan is Shifu.¡¹ ¡¸Indeed, the pillar supporting this plan is Kai. But, I¡¯m the one in charge of the main part of his plan, namely, persuading Lord Oliver. And that¡¯s why Kai put me in charge of this part!¡¹ ¡¸I know that. I was there when he passed this duty to you. The problem is, where do you think Shifu is right now?¡¹ ¡¸Hah? ¡¾Demonic Forest¡¿ of East End, isn¡¯t it?¡¹ Yes, Kai was currently in ¡¾Demonic Forest¡¿ to deal with an emergency Count Ketzer might cause. ¡¸Yes. And that¡¯s the main reason Shifu isn¡¯t with us. Our part is for you to persuade that uncle Oliver. If the plan were that simple, Shifu would be the one staying here while we would¡¯ve gone away to protect Wind Cat.¡¹ After Zack drank the wine, his remark made me recall the uncomfortable feeling that I had felt at the beginning of this plan. ¡¸That was also my concern at first, but did I just overestimate it?¡¹ Zack trusted Kai wholeheartedly. And by wholeheartedly, I mean EVERYTHING, not just in the matters of martial arts. But then, I guess that¡¯s the same for me. I mean, I¡¯ve ended up overestimating every single one of his deeds and remarks. Kai¡¯s female butler, Asta, who was reading the book up until now finally looked at me. ¡¸Rose, in a sense, you misunderstood our master. That personage is simply abnormal. Even calling him ¡°abnormal¡± is an understatement. He¡¯s strong, but his train of thought has already deviated from what you¡¯re referring to as ¡°normal.¡± Even this current development, I¡¯m sure that all of these will eventually develop into something beyond our imagination.¡¹ She declared so with a bold voice despite the gloomy look on her face. Kai¡¯s train of thought has already quit being normal, huh! Well, I guess I had also realized that. I mean, there was no way he could boldly come up with a plan such as recruiting people called chivalrous thieves as citizens in the Amelia kingdom unless his head had a few screws loose. ¡¸You can say that. However¨D¡¹ I was about to refute Asta¡¯s statement, but the room¡¯s door opened at that moment along with a knock. Then, a red-haired maid entered the room. The maid respectfully bowed. ¡¸I brought your meals.¡¹ She brought in a trolley with her into the room and set plates for us on the table. After that, she introduced herself as Jane, a newly recruited maid. She looked like a gentle girl. Lord Oliver often such acts. He would give a proper, albeit temporary job in his mansion to anyone suffering from poverty and who had no relatives to depend on. Thus, a few women with similar circumstances as Jane were working in this mansion. ¡¸Thank you very much for your everyday effort.¡¹ ¡¸No, I¡¯m just doing my job.¡¹ I felt like the gentle smile she showed was healing my weary mind. ¡¸Well then, it¡¯s time to eat, Princess.¡¹ Zack urged me to start eating with a fork in his hand. ¡¸I shall excuse myself.¡¹ Jane left the room after bowing to me as if she was in a hurry. Yeah, it was the courtesy in the Amelia kingdom for the server to take their leave immediately after serving the meal in the guest¡¯s room. Well, being able to enter the guest¡¯s room was already a feat. As soon as I dismissed this matter and sat in the chair, I saw Zack staring daggers at the room¡¯s entrance, from which the maid had just come, with an extremely rugged expression. The next moment, he stood from his chair, grabbed his plate, and threw it out of the window in our room. ¡¸Zack, what are you doing?¡¹ ¡¸Be quiet, and take a look for now.¡¹ A while later, the small birds perching on the trees¡¯ branches stopped moving. They lay flat on the ground after pecking a few mouthfuls of the dish on Zack¡¯s plate. ¡¸Eh?¡¹ "" I let out a bewildered voice. ¡¸These dishes have been spiked with a powerful sleeping drug that will knock you, a human, will be knocked out until tomorrow. It doesn¡¯t work on us though.¡¹ Asta¡¯s sarcasm felt so far away. I felt a chill running down my spine. I finally realized that I was the only one who had let my guard down after arriving in this mansion. The betrayal of the lord of this mansion felt like a thousand swords stabbing into my heart. ¡¸Do you think that Lord Oliver is the one who ordered this?¡¹ After feeling disappointed enough to drop my mood to the depths of hell, I braved myself to ask my two companions, who accompanied me on this journey. ¡¸Nah, that Uncle Oliver is different from Shifu. He¡¯s a good person, through and through. He won¡¯t be able to do something like this. By doing that, he¡¯d be risking the lives of the citizens in this city. Honestly, there¡¯s no merit for him to do this.¡¹ My heart warmed a bit upon hearing Zack¡¯s reassurance about Lord Oliver¡¯s character. Now, I could finally analyze the situation after calming down a bit. It was as Zack had stated. Lord Oliver would gain nothing from doing this. Even if he was forced to do this, he wouldn¡¯t do that in his city. ¡¸So that means, Kai predicted this development too, right?¡¹ ¡¸To be exact, Shifu said that something would happen, but he didn¡¯t know when. Thus, he appointed Big Sis Asta, who has Appraisal, to also accompany you, just to be sure.¡¹ "" Now, I started to feel that Kai not coming with me had become more and more unnatural. At this point, I was almost convinced that my job wasn¡¯t as simple as trying to convince Lord Oliver. ¡¸KUKUKU! IT¡¯S TOO LATE! There¡¯s no going back once Master executes his plan! Just be prepared. Just make sure that you¡¯re prepared for a grand finale that¡¯s far worse than this situation. AND this is not a joke!¡¹ Asta spoke triumphantly, raising her hands to the sky with an eerie smile on her face. I looked at Zack. By the expression on his face, I judged that he seemed to have the same opinion as Asta. ¡¸The dishes have already been spiked by the maid! And you say that an even more haphazard development is waiting for us!?¡¹ At that moment, Zack placed his index finger on his lips, telling me to be quiet. He said to me, who had shut her mouth. ¡¸What are you going to do now? Shall we pretend to be fast asleep? Doing that might bait the one who devised this stupid farce to appear before us, you know?¡¹ He whispered. ¡¸No, our dishes might not be the only ones spiked by the culprit. Things will turn into a disaster if other people¡¯s dishes have also been spiked with poison. We should inform the people in this mansion immediately.¡¹ The tips of Zack¡¯s lips rose upward. ¡¸I knew you were going to say that, Princess.¡¹ He muttered that remark in a lively and innocent voice. Volume 3 - CH 14 Act 3-14: Devilish Choices(Side: Rosemary) As a result of Asta¡¯s appraisal, we learned that the dishes that were about to be served to Lord Oliver contained a delayed poison. ¡¸My apologies for saying this, but it¡¯s a baseless accusation.¡¹ Lord Oliver frowned. He spoke with an expression as if he didn¡¯t believe what we just said. Rather, it looked like we had gained his ire for suddenly dropping an oversized bomb as his guests. ¡¸T-THAT¡¯S A LIE!! Do you really think that we¡¯re ungrateful ba*stards who will mix poison into the food for our master, our benefactor!?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah! We¡¯re not a bunch of ungrateful b*stards!!¡¹ The middle-aged cook with a crew cut shouted at us with an enraged expression. The other cooks agreed with him. The employees of this mansion, all of them, had special circumstances that had forced them to leave their city and wander till they had arrived in this city. Since Lord Oliver picked them up during the hardest days in their lives, they respected him like they did their parents. This was the reason for their rage when we said that some of them had put poison into their benefactor¡¯s food. Anyhow, all of them, including Lord Oliver, wasn¡¯t in the right state to hear our reason. What should I do now? There is no evidence, and we have no idea about the identity of the culprit either. As I pondered this matter, Asta suddenly stepped forward with an eerie smile on her face. The moment I saw that eerie smile on her face, I got a terrible feeling. ¡¸Since you have so much confidence that there¡¯s no poison, let¡¯s test that out by having you eat the dish on that plate.¡¹ ¡¸Wait a minute, Asta! What are yo¨D¡¹ Zack held me back before I could finish. When I turned toward him, he shook his head to the side, signaling me to shut my mouth for now. He was telling me to leave this matter to Asta. Although Kai couldn¡¯t tolerate crime, he was quite tolerant of those who lived honest lives. And despite her apathetic appearance, Asta was loyal to only Kai. She at least knew that Kai wouldn¡¯t let the people in this mansion die from poisoned food without a reason. Therefore, Asta must have come up with a plan to convince these people. ¡¸My apologies, Your Highness, but you must know that they are my important family. And I simply cannot doubt my family.¡¹ Lord Oliver rejected Asta¡¯s proposal with a resolute expression. ¡¸I commend your character for choosing to trust them. But, you know what¡¯s gonna happen to your so-called family if you really die after eating that poisoned dish, right? For your information, all the cooks over there would be sent to the gallow, right?¡¹ Asta spoke as she slowly walked to the front of the table. Picking the plate along with the dish, she skillfully turned it around with her right index finger. Then, she asked that question while sending a sidelong glance to Zack. ¡¸One thing is for sure. It¡¯s a capital crime. All the suspects might be executed. And that¡¯s only the beginning, since killing a noble is a capital crime. All members of your families would get executed too.¡¹ All the employees trembled in fear upon hearing from Zack that their families could get implicated too. That was only natural. After all, if one of them really turned out to be a traitor, then all of them would be sent to the gallows along with their families. ¡¸I, Astaroth, declare that the dish on the plate in my right hand contains a powerful poison with a delayed effect.¡¹ In such a noisy room, Asta made that bold declaration while striding inside. ¡¸You people claim that none of these dishes are poisoned. Then, everyone in this place has to prove their innocence by eating the dish on this plate. If none of you die, you have proved that we have made a mistake. On the other hand, if there really is a traitor amongst you people, you all might die but your families will be spared. Look, there¡¯s no better choice than this for you, right?¡¹ Everyone exchanged anxious expressions with each other upon hearing Asta¡¯s cajolery. ¡¸Stop trying to make us suspect each other! None of my employees are cowards who put poison into the dish!¡¹ Lord Oliver stood from his seat as he shouted at Asta with an indignant expression. He seemed furious at Asta¡¯s remark. ¡¸Master, we ain¡¯t afraid of this test. We¡¯ll take this test to prove our innocence.¡¹ The middle-aged cook with a crew cut walked toward Asta with an enraged expression. Then, he rudely stabbed the meat dish on the plate and ate it. ¡¸Look! I¡¯m innocent, right?¡¹ ¡¸Indeed, you¡¯re not the one who poisoned the dish.¡¹ The people in the room heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing that. Asta herself replied to the cook with an enigmatic smile on her face. ¡¸Hah!¡¹ Then, the long-haired young cook who stood next to the middle-aged cook with the crew cut ate his portion and sneered at Asta. After that, almost all the employees who were proud of their loyalty to Lord Oliver ate the dish without batting their eyes to prove their innocence. All but one. And that one was none other than the red-haired maid called Jane. Her face had stiffened the moment she scooped the dish with her spoon. ¡¸Is something the matter, Jane-cha~~n? Why you¡¯re not eating the di~sh?¡¹ Asta inched closer to Jane, asking that question with an extremely devilish smile on her face. ¡¸E-EVEN If I eat that, there¡¯s no proof that it¡¯s poisoned! Patriarch-sama, please reconsider this!¡¹ All the employees raised a murmur upon hearing Jane, who said that with a ghastly pale expression and while sweating like a waterfall. ¡¸Yeah, I¡¯m against your opinion after all. There¡¯s no way I can doubt my fa¨D¡¹ Lord Oliver couldn¡¯t finish his sentence. ¡¸Please don¡¯t stop them. Master, this is the proof of our loyalty and pride in serving you. Please let them finish this!¡¹ ¡¸I AGREE! Jane, get over with it already. The next one after you is me!¡¹ The middle-aged cook with the crew cut and the gardener were keen to finish this. And yet, Jane didn¡¯t move an inch. ¡¸M-MASTER!¡¹ Jane was trying to beg Lord Oliver, buying his sympathy. ¡¸Sorry, Jane! I can¡¯t tell them to stop since everyone has agreed to take this test. I promise you that I¡¯ll be apologizing again once everyone has taken the test.¡¹ ¡¸GUH!¡¹ In the end, Jane spooned the dish and carried it toward her mouth with slightly trembling hands. However, the next moment, she dashed toward the entrance of the room with an agility unbefitting of a mere maid. ¡¸Do you really think you can escape from me? Aren¡¯t you a little bit too confident with your puny ability?¡¹ A hand easily caught Jane¡¯s head from behind and lifted her in the air. Asta slowly increased her grip strength as she turned around and sneered at Lord Oliver. ¡¸GUH!¡¹ ¡¸Well, now I need to know why you were trying to escape. Do you happen to hate this di~sh?¡¹ Asta brought her face closer to Jane and asked her in a devilish voice that sent a chill running down my spine. ¡¸Y-YEAH! I hate that dish! You think I want to eat that garbage dish!¡¹ Jane¡¯s outburst made the middle-aged cook with the crew cut¡ªthe head chef¡ª and the other employees enraged. The tips of Asta¡¯s lips rose to a seemingly impossible height. Then. she forced Jane to sit in the chair. ¡¸What a picky eater we got here. But yeah I agree with her. Even we have one or two foods that we dislike. Since that¡¯s the case, we shall give you another chance.¡¹ ¡¸R-Really!? Okay, I¡¯ll eat any food as long as it isn¡¯t that disgusting dish!¡¹ Although Jane¡¯s face brightly shone as if she had found a ray of hope, that expression turned into despair the moment she saw the thing Asta took from who knows where. The thing Asta placed on the plate was a semi-circular, transparent container. Inside that container were countless, small living beings that would invoke physiological disgust in any normal human. ¡¸We also don¡¯t care about your choice. Now, will you eat that dish? Or my special menu? The choice is yours.¡¹ Jane, who was trembling like a newborn calf, opened her mouth and said, ¡¸Both a¨D¡¹ It seemed she was about to refuse both of the dishes. However¡­ ¡¸Eh, you would love to eat both of them?¡¹ Asta butted in before Jane could finish her reply. Then, she pushed the maid further into the abyss of despair. ¡¸Y-You¡¯re mista¨D¡¹ Jane shook her head in refusal. She was on the verge of crying, but¡­ ¡¸Unfortunately, you have no right to refuse. Now you have to choose! Which one to eat?¡¹ Asta gave her a final warning. Jane had to eat either the squirming bug inside the container or the poisoned dish with a delayed effect. She was stuck between a wall and a hard place. Yeah, it was truly a devilish choice. ¡¸N-NOOOOOOOOO!¡¹ ¡¸You have no right to say no. Well, if you don¡¯t make your choice before all the sand in this hourglass falls to the bottom, I¡¯m gonna shove both of them into your throat.¡¹ Asta took out an hourglass from her pocket and placed it on top of the table. No matter how evil she is, there should be a limit to everything. Honestly, just what kind of training Kai use on Asta to distort her personality like this. ¡¸N-No, I¡¯m not¡­¡¹ Jane tried to plead for mercy with a face messed up by tears and drool. ¡¸Society is merciless, little girl. It¡¯s a dog-eat-dog society. This is the truth. And you are the robbed side. That¡¯s why you¡¯re trying to rob the others. You know what I mean, right?¡¹ The tips of Asta¡¯s lips rose till her ears. On her face was a sneer displaying which should be impossible for a normal human. Jane, whose eyes were swimming around, chose the plate with the container. ¡¸CONGRATULATIONS! Your choice is correct!¡¹ When Asta snapped her fingers, a pair of a man and a woman, whose faces were covered with something like a black mist, appeared in front of us. The man had worn black foreign clothes, while the woman was dressed in something like a coat with a short skirt and black colored ch*st plate. The woman proceeded to pin down Jane, who desperately resisted. Then, the man seized Jane¡¯s jaw and shoved the bug into her mouth without even batting his eyes. ¡¸STOHPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!¡¹ Jane¡¯s bestial wail resounded in the entire mansion, but it was only the opening gong of her nightmarish meal. Volume 3 - CH 15 Act 3-15: Tales Woven By A Monster Half of the eyewitnesses vomited on the spot when they saw the nightmarish meal in front of them. As for the other half, they trembled like newborn calves. Several maids turned their faces away from the grotesque spectacle. Even my face had lost all of its colors. The only one unaffected by such a sight was Zack. Anyhow, this event proved that Jane was truly trying to assassinate Lord Oliver. ¡¸Big Sis, do you have the antidote for this poisoned dish?¡¹ Zack asked with a mixed look on his face. ¡¸From the very beginning, there was no poison in this dish.¡¹ Asta immediately replied with a strangely refreshed look on her face. ¡¸It¡¯s not poisoned?¡¹ ¡¸Yes. The dish poisoned by that girl is this one.¡¹ Another plate suddenly appeared in Asta¡¯s left hand. ¡¸Eh? Then, what about the dish they ate?¡¹ ¡¸A~h, are you referring to this?¡¹ Asta placed the dish she had claimed to be poisoned, which was in her right hand, back on the table. Then, she raised the palm of her right hand, and suddenly, another plate appeared on her palm. Seeing that impossible phenomenon, Zack flapped his mouth like a goldfish for a while. ¡¸Good grief, Big Sis is truly a devil.¡¹ In the end, Zack managed to praise Asta. ¡¸Indeed, it¡¯s just as you say.¡¹ Asta lightly accepted Zack¡¯s praise, then. ¡¸Finished. All of you are finished!! More than five hundred members of serpent blood have already surrounded this city! Not even a bug can escape from them!!¡¹ Jane screamed with a cramped face that was further soiled by tears, drool, and nasal mucus. ¡¸S-Serpent blood!? Are you one of their members!?¡¹ The color drained from Lord Oliver¡¯s face. ¡¸YEAH! I¡¯m the scout of Serpent Blood! They¡¯ll raid the city if I don¡¯t send a signal to them, and kill all of you!!¡¹ Lord Oliver fell to his knees, looking down on the floor with despair. ¡¸The worst¡­¡¹ Then, he fell on his rear as if he had no idea about what to do anymore. ¡¸Lord Oliver, do you know about them?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, Serpent Blood is one of the top ten mafias in this Amelia kingdom.¡¹ ¡¸Can we beat them?¡¹ ¡¸This Akinashi territory is just a mining city. Only a limited number of hunters operate here. We¡¯ll lose to those five hundreds members of Serpent Blood no matter what.¡¹ The room fell into chaos the moment Lord Oliver said so. ¡¸W-What shall we do now?¡¹ ¡¸Don¡¯t ask me!¡¹ It was only natural for them to lose their cool when seeing even their calm and collected Lord Oliver unable to do anything about the current situation. We are really in a difficult situation. We¡¯re doomed for sure if we only cross our arms and watch from the side without doing anything. We have to move immediately. ¡¸Serves you right! All of you will die wretched deaths!!¡¹ Jane triumphantly laughed upon seeing Lord Oliver¡¯s helpless figure. Seeing that, Zack only shrugged, looking down at Jane as if she were the most pitiful person in the world. ¡¸Good grief! How unlucky! Truly unlucky!¡¹ He repeatedly muttered that, ¡¸It¡¯s too late if you want to feel regret now! Men, women, children, babies, youngsters, and oldies, all of you are going to di¨D¡¹ Before Jane could finish her triumphant victory declaration, the door suddenly flung open. Armored soldiers hurriedly entered the room. ¡¸O-o-outside the city¡­¡¹ The soldier was trying to say something while pointing with his finger outside, but the words coming out of his mouth were a mess. ¡¸LORD OLIVER!¡¹ Hearing the shout that surprised even us, Lord Oliver looked at the employees gathered in the room as if wondering whether to repel the invaders or not. Then, he slapped his cheeks with his hands, rose from his chair, and raised his right hand. ¡¸CALM DOWN! Sure enough, it¡¯s impossible for the soldiers of this territory alone to repel the invader. But, Sword Saint-sama is living in the next city. We have to survive until he comes with his reinforcement!¡¹ He shouted as if to cheer himself too. ¡¸I agree with Lord Oliver. But Kai, who¡¯s camping somewhere in the ¡¾Demonic Forest¡¿ of East End, is closer to us than Lamour. Let¡¯s stall for the time until Kai comes with his reinforcement.¡¹ Since ¡¾Demonic Forest¡¿ is closer to Akinashi, Kai should be able to arrive here faster. Moreover, Kai had that giant bird that could cross extremely long distances in mere minutes. If he used that giant bird, he should be able to come from ¡¾Demonic Forest¡¿ to Akinashi territory in mere seconds. In short, our victory was guaranteed as long as we could reach ¡¾Demonic Forest¡¿. Naturally, we can¡¯t abandon Akinashi¡¯s defense, too, but Zack and Asta should be able to stall for the time being. In fact, Zack is really powerful. If not for Kai, he would be my first choice as a royal guard. It¡¯s the same for Asta. I can guess that she¡¯s also quite powerful from the way she moved a while ago, a completely bizarre movement. Although they wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat five hundred people, they could at least stall for Kai¡¯s arrival. ¡¸Is your royal guard strong enough to defeat five hundred strongmen?¡¹ Lord Oliver asked while looking at me. I had already told him that Kai was a young man who had received incompetent as his gift. Thus, my remarks about waiting for Kai¡¯s reinforcement might have sounded unbelievable to Lord Oliver. ¡¸Yeah. His Majesty¡¯s royal guard, Knight Leader Arnold, himself testified that Kai was far more powerful than him.¡¹ ¡¸¡­¡¹ The entire room fell silent. Knight Leader Arnold was well-known as the best sword master in the Amelia kingdom. Thus, it wasn¡¯t easy to imagine someone even stronger than him. That was the focus of everyone¡¯s attention right now. ¡¸Even then, it¡¯s still impossible¡­¡¹ The soldier who had reported the news fell to his knees, hanging his head down while muttering those words. Lord Oliver walked up to that soldier and grabbed him, who had seemingly lost all hope, by his shoulder. ¡¸What do you mean by impossible?¡¹ Sure enough, that was something I was also curious about. ¡¸We can¡¯t win even if we call for reinforcement!! How can we win when Akinashi is being surrounded by more than a thousand people!?¡¹ More than a thousand? Serpent Blood should have only around five hundred members. The only reason for this happening at such a time was¡­ ¡¸Are you saying that we¡¯re currently being surrounded by more than a thousand enemies!?¡¹ ¡¸Aah, maybe we can guess Shifu¡¯s plan by asking this man. Say, those enemies must be not your run-of-the-mill fellas, right? Did you see anything unusual about them? Spit all of it no matter how trivial it might be.¡¹ The soldier pointed toward his forehead with his trembling hand, but¡­ ¡¸If I¡¯m not wrong, one of those people was holding a flag with a crest that looked like a dragon and a jar.¡¹ He managed to speak only after much difficulty. ¡¸Crest of¡­ a dragon and a jar?¡¹ It might be the crest of a dragon coming out of a jar. I have heard about such a crest back in the royal capital. And that should be¡­ ¡¸KUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! He really did it! It¡¯s most probably the crest of the Tao family!¡¹ Zack didn¡¯t hold back his laugh as he pressed the palm of his right hand to his face. I suddenly recalled the information about them, which I had heard from the civil officials. The Tao family is one of the biggest underground syndicates in the east and is famous for its strength. Due to their extremely strict entrance examination, every single one of their members is a mighty warrior. They are hailed as one of the kings of the underworld, and their status is a cut above the likes of Serpent Blood. ¡¸So, we¡¯re calling the Tao Family to win over the Wind Cat!? You must be kidding, right!? That¡¯s too reckless!¡¹ I mean, from the perspective of the Tao Family, one of the kings of the underworld, Wind Cat is nothing more than a bunch of rogue thieves, the bottom of the barrel. Using the Tao Family to win over Wind Cat, a bottom-of-the-barrel organization is simply overkill, and it might even backfire on us. ¡¸Too late for saying that at this stage, Princess.¡¹ ¡¸Yeah. Master is a rare lunatic even amongst the oddballs, after all.¡¹ Asta said so as if she were giving up. ¡¸How can it be!? How can a powerhouse like the Tao family come so far just to attack a remote place like this!?¡¹ Jane screamed with disbelief on her face. Zack just pricked his ear with his pinky finger, an annoyed look on his face. ¡¸That¡¯s why I said that ¡°you guys are truly unlucky.¡± You guys are nothing more than disposable pawns, a group of clowns who dance in accordance with the scenario woven by a monster. Give it up! You guys are simply way too unlucky this time around.¡¹ His gaze filled with pity. ¡¸Uhm, I agree with him. The one who sent you guys to this place is much more sinister than me. He¡¯ll make you dance on his palm, suck your bones till they dry, watch your despaired face, and then let you die the most wretched death.¡¹ Even though she bent forward, placing her hands on her slender waist while looking down on Jane, Asta was smiling ear to ear. Her figure was just like the depiction of the devil who the demon race worshiped in the fairy tale. ¡¸¡­¡¹ Jane¡¯s eyes opened wide as stared at Asta for a while. She soon broke into tears while hugging herself. Lord Oliver and his other employees, who looked like they had yet to understand the situation, could only look at this spectacle with dumbfounded expressions. ¡¸I guess we have finished our role here. The only thing left is to watch the ending of the tales woven by the monster from the best position.¡¹ Thus, the show of the plan to recruit Wind Cat premiered with Zack¡¯s remark as its trigger. Volume 3 - CH 16 Act 3-16: The Big Three¡¯s Encirclement ¨DWasteland in the south of the Akinashi territory. ¡¸This is really the delivery place of the special-grade grimoire, right?¡¹ The question was asked with a doubtful voice. A brown-skinned girl with a bob hair-cut, Rinrin Raafan, asked that question with a frown on her face. In response, the man clad in black, who knelt beside her, replied, ¡¸The grimoire we found in the black market is a genuine special-grade grimoire. Moreover, we¡¯ve heard that the Amelia kingdom¡¯s first princess, Rosemary Loto Amelia, is staying in that city. There are also rumors that the world¡¯s largest sorcery society, ¡¾Lost Forest¡¿, and the most fearsome assassination society, ¡¾Crimson Raven¡¿, have also surrounded that city.¡¹ It was an on-the-spot precise answer. ¡¸So you¡¯re telling me that every one of us, the underworld¡¯s big three, went all-out, eh? I guess the rumor is true after all.¡¹ The underworld¡¯s big three had gone all out to trace the origins of the said grimoire. This wasn¡¯t a competition for a mere grimoire anymore. One might say that this was a battle to decide the true king of the underworld. ¡¸What shall we do?¡¹ ¡¸What shall we do? You already know the answer, right? KILL! We, the Tao family, will kill anyone who dares oppose us!¡¹ Rinrin¡¯s yell resounded in the wasteland, south of the Akinashi territory. Then, the group of people clad in black clothes started to move. ¨DA mountain range, north of the Akinashi territory. This area had become lively with nonstop yells. A man with a tattoo of a snake was fastened in the chair. Every other person was carrying a metal pole with them. ¡¸Although we¡¯re only doing an errand for a Count of this kingdom, we¡¯ve unknowingly entered the competition ground of the big three.¡¹ The one saying that was a blonde man with a tattoo of a crow and the sun on his right cheek, wearing a baggy attire developed by an otherworlder. Oboro was looking down on the members of ¡¾Serpent Blood¡¿, who he had already subdued. ¡¸K-Kill¡­ us¡­¡¹ One of the ¡¾Serpent Blood¡¿ members asked Oboro. ¡¸What are you talking about? The answer is ¡°No,¡± of course.¡¹ Oboro replied with a voice full of malice. ¡¸Boss, everything has been prepared.¡¹ Oboro¡¯s aide, a man with thick glasses and wearing the same, red baggy attire as Oboro, reported that they were ready. ¡¸Well then, this will be the battle to decide the true king of the underworld. There can be only one winner. Do you know who¡¯ll be the winner!!?¡¹ When Oboro placed his hands on his ears, ¡¸¡¸¡¸¡¸¡¸IT¡¯S US, THE ¡¾CRIMSON RAVEN¡¿!!¡¹¡¹¡¹¡¹¡¹¡¹ "" A reply came along with the sound of numerous people stomping on the ground. After repeating the same things a few times, Oboro continued with his speech. ¡¸We are the king! And the king has to be merciful! That place can provide only a meager resistance, after all!!¡¹ ¡¸¡¸¡¸¡¸¡¸Ou!¡¹¡¹¡¹¡¹¡¹ ¡¸Then, what about those who have the same smell as us?¡¹ Oboro placed his hands on his ears again. ¡¸¡¸¡¸¡¸¡¸AGONIZING DEATH!!¡¹¡¹¡¹¡¹¡¹ The people wearing those baggy attires replied with extremely loud voices as if they were trying to tear their throats. ¡¸Yes, no need to hold back against the same underworld citizens. WE¡¯LL KILL ALL OF THEM!!¡¹ The group wearing baggy attires then started moving toward the Akinashi territory¡¯s city. ¨DNear the base of the mountain, east of the Akinashi territory. A group of people wearing pointy hats and green robes overlooked the city from inside the forest. Among them was a girl around the age of 12-13. She was the leader of the world¡¯s largest sorcery society, the ¡¾Lost Forest¡¿: Alice Renren Lorelei. Alice was a former royalty of Lorelei, but she had ended up pursuing the taboo arts of eternal youth and longevity and was eventually banished from her motherland. ¡¸The highest-ranked darkness-type grimoire. It might be the legendary, ancient dark magic.¡¹ Despite her attempts, she failed to suppress her joy. Darkness magic and light magic were sorcery¡¯s two highest ranks of magic; otherwise known as divine magic. Not to mention it was the highest grade of dark magic. One might say that obtaining such magic was the dream of all sorcerers. ¡¸¡¾Crimson Raven¡¿ and the ¡¾Tao Family¡¿ are also participating in this competition.¡¹ ¡¸We absolutely can¡¯t lose this war. Use every means available to get the grimoire!¡¹ ¡¸HA!¡¹ The people in green robes saluted her, then charged toward the Akinashi territory. This was nothing more than the opening act of the nightmarish story woven by a monster. Volume 3 - CH 17 Act 3-17: Desperate Situation(Side: Felis) ¡¸We have confirmed their flags. The ones hunting in the forest are soldiers of Count Ketzer¡¯s army.¡¹ Lucas muttered with a bitter look on his face. ¡¸What about our evacuation route?¡¹ ¡¸They have completely encircled us. It¡¯s extremely strict around this place. Most of Wind Cat¡¯s folks are either too old or too young. I don¡¯t think we can escape while keeping all of them safe.¡¹ ¡¸I know that! But we don¡¯t know until we try!¡¹ If we don¡¯t do anything, it will be the end of Wind Cat. I really want to smash the face of that Pigzer, who tramples upon the smiles of his own citizens, to pieces. And worst of all, that pig is doing it just to satisfy his worldly desires! ¡¸There¡¯s another piece of news, Milady. Escaping with all members of Wind Cat is impossible. This is an absolute truth.¡¹ It was rather unusual for Lucas to make such a conclusion. When he did so, everything he said would come true. We can¡¯t save everyone? Since that¡¯s the case, what shall we do then? Did he tell me to choose who will go with me!? ¡¸Felis-sama, we¡¯ll stay behind. Please escape with the young ones.¡¹ An elderly from Wind Cat said so. ¡¸That¡¯s right. We¡¯ve lived long enough thanks to you, Felis-sama. We¡¯re happy to be able to hold our grandchildren. That¡¯s enough for us.¡¹ An elderly woman added. ¡¸Don¡¯t joke around! As if I can do something like that!¡¹ ¡¸If you don¡¯t, everyone is going to die, you know!¡¹ The moment Lucas muttered so, ¡¸SHUT UP!¡¹ I shouted at him while seizing his collar. ¡¸¡­¡¹ At that moment, Lucas and everyone else fell into silence. ¡¸MILADY!¡¹ ¡¸I KNOW! Stay where you are!!¡¹ I unsheathed the long sword hanging on my waist, then ran toward the entrance of the cave. At the entrance of the cave were the bloodstained citizens of Wind Cat and trampling over them were the mercenaries hired by that Pigzer. I almost couldn¡¯t hold back my anger the moment I saw that scene. ¡¸YOU BASTAAARDS!!¡¹ I stamped on the ground while letting out a bestial roar. The scenery around me blurred as I jumped at high speed toward the big mercenary wearing an iron mask that had an opening on the mouth part. That guy was kicking Maiya, a black-haired girl who was also a member of Wind Cat. The sound of metal grazing metal resounded in our vicinity. (¨D!!!?) I was shocked since this masked guy could easily deflect my all-out strike. The next second, I jumped back to dodge the slash of his greatsword. I managed to dodge the slash by a hair¡¯s breadth, yet my stance crumbled because of the wind pressure from his sword. I stabilized my crumbling stance immediately and got ready to unleash another attack, but¡­ ¡¸Stop right there!¡¹ A triumphant-like shout came from the man with the iron mask. He pointed his greatsword toward Maiya¡¯s windpipe. I stopped in my place. Upon a glance, I realized that all the other mercenaries were pointing their swords toward the other Wind Cats. The worst! Now they have hostages. With this, I really have no other choice but to stop moving. ¡¸MILADY, Forget about us! take the other guys and run from this place!!¡¹ Maiya told me to abandon her, and the other hostages immediately did the same. ¡¸Woops, you can¡¯t escape, Princess-sa~n! Now, throw that dangerous weapon in your hand.¡¹ The man with the iron mask said so as he added more power to the feet he used to trample Maiya. Maya¡¯s agonizing wail rang out the next second. ¡¸S-STOP! I won¡¯t escape!¡¹ The moment I dropped the long sword in my right hand¡­ ¡¸Good girl! You¡¯re our most, most important bait after all.¡¹ The man with the iron mask said so in a satisfied voice. Bait? What¡¯s this man talking about? ¡¸You may come out, Captain Lucas!¡¹ The yell of the man with the iron mask interrupted my train of thought. When he saw Lucas not coming out of the cave, he smacked his lips and pointed his greatsword toward me. ¡¸If ya ain¡¯t coming out now, I¡¯m gonna kill this Princess of yours. You know that I¡¯m coming to kill you, right?¡¹ Even the trees around the caves looked like they trembled at his voice. ¡¸Long time no see, Caesar.¡¹ Then, an old man with a longsword in his right hand, Lucas, came out of the cave. He looked at the man with the iron mask with an expression that sent a chill running down my spine. The man with the iron mask spat on the ground and threw his iron mask. The left side of the face beneath that iron mask was dissolved like batter. ¡¸It¡¯s throbbing! The face you burned back then is throbbing in pain.¡¹ He said so in a trembling voice as he scratched his burnt left face with his left hand. His expression was showing neither anger nor joy; it was filled with madness. I unintentionally gulped my spit upon seeing that maddening look on his face. ¡¸Thank God! It seems I did a really good job baking it. Well done.¡¹ When Lucas lightly replied to Caesar while pointing his long sword at him, countless thick blood vessels could be seen throbbing on Caesar¡¯s face. Then, Caesar glared daggers at the man wearing a navy blue robe and a pointy hat, who was looking at their exchange from the side. ¡¸Ruby! This guy is mine. Don¡¯t you dare interrupt our battle!¡¹ Caeser threatened the man in the navy blue robe to not intervene. ¡¸Kaykay, I understand. Our victory has already been guaranteed, after all. Do as you like.¡¹ The man in the navy blue robe chanted a short spell. The ground suddenly moved on its own, forming shackles around me, Maiya, and the other Wind Cat¡¯s folks¡¯ limbs. ¡¸You better not be doing something funny unless you want to see these monkeys get torn from limb to limb.¡¹ The moment the man in the blue robe finished his second chant, several magic circles appeared on the ground. Black scorpions crept out of every magic circle, heading toward the Wind Cat¡¯s folks and pointing the tip of their tails toward them. This man, he might be the same as me, a summoner. And that pendant with a phoenix carved on its surface is proof that he graduated from ¡¾Babel¡¿¡¯s tower. Since that¡¯s the case, I really can¡¯t do anything as he knows my ace in the hole. Moreover, his eyes are the same kind of eyes as those of that coldblooded prime minister. He¡¯s the kind of person who would kill anyone without even batting his eyes. They are the eyes of a cruel demon. He isn¡¯t joking. He would really kill Wind Cat¡¯s folks the moment I try to summon that child. This is a hopeless situation, but I still have a way out of this predicament. Yes, I am not contracted to just that child. Even amongst the royalties, the number of people who know about that can be counted on one hand. Thus, there¡¯s no way that this man knows about THAT. The only problem when I summon THAT is the possibility of me dying due to paying for the compensation of using THAT power. But, this isn¡¯t the time to hesitate. My family¡¯s life is on the line. I have to save them, my family. That will be my, Felis¡¯s, last duty. £¨When that happens, I can leave the rest to Lucas.£© Now I have to find a way to call THAT unnoticed. I have the advantage since the man in the navy blue robe seems to be focusing on the battle to the death between Lucas and Caesar. I closed my eyes as I started the ceremony, sending my wish to awaken THAT. Volume 3 - CH 18 Act 3-18: Past Connection(Side: Lucas Gijidoor) After confirming that my master, Felis Loto Amelia, had shut her eyes tight, I¡ªLucas Gijidoor¡ªfelt various emotions jumbled inside me: relief, pity, regret, and many others mixed into one. I absolutely can¡¯t let Milady summon THAT. Because having THAT grant Milady¡¯s wish means that many lives would be lost. It isn¡¯t something mortals should use. To be honest, THAT isn¡¯t supposed to be something that can be used by Milady, a mere human. Thus, if Milady¡¯s magical power isn¡¯t enough, THAT would demand the mana(life force). Naturally, if her magical power wasn¡¯t enough, Milady would offer her life force. But, unknown to Milady, Wind Cat¡¯s folks and I have secretly made a pact with THAT. Wind Cat¡¯s folks and I would offer a certain amount of our life force to reduce Milady¡¯s burden. In that way, we wouldn¡¯t kill ourselves. To begin with, we were already cornered, so we had even more reason to make that pact. The problem is our next course of action, but escaping from this place with all Wind Cat¡¯s folks is impossible. Even if we can get out of this place safely, we will turn into fugitives and lose our place in this kingdom. In this case, there¡¯s only one way out for Milady. It¡¯s to send a messenger to Her Highness Rosemary, who has been declared the feudal lord of East End. The reason Count Ketzer sent mercenaries and his private army to the East End is simply that there has been no formal declaration from Her Highness Rosemary yet. As long as Her Highness Rosemary makes a declaration, the private army of Count Ketzer will have no choice but to retreat from this place. Naturally, if Her Highness Rosemary lost in the crown contest, the governing of this land would go under Count Ketzer. Either way, Wind Cat is bound to be annihilated. But, we would at least have a guarantee of four years of peaceful life if we come under Her Highness Rosemary. We¡¯re running out of options here. At this point, our only way out is for Milady to ask THAT to protect this area while I run to Akinashi territory as her messenger. I will meet Her Highness Rosemary and declare our will to help her. In addition, Her Highness Rosemary has to send written messages to the royal capital and Count Ketzer that contain her public declaration about Wind Cat folks being her citizens. And for that to happen, I have to kill this fu*ker in front of me first. The man with the hideous burn scar on the left side, Caesar, pointed his great sword toward me and¡­ ¡¸Every single night since the day you burned my face, I always dream of the day when I burn you to de¨D¡¹ I pointed my long sword toward him, interrupting him from continuing, then said, ¡¸Cut the c*ap, Caesar! Let¡¯s end this farce immediately. Come at me! I¡¯m ready.¡¹ I spoke in a way that I used to handle rookies in knight order. ¡¸YOU BASTAAAAARD!!¡¹ And just as I thought, Caesar bellowed in rage at my provocation. Even though it has been a really long time since we met last, this man is as childish as ever. I recalled the past, when we received an order from the government to suppress an uprising in a remote region. At that time, Caesar had massacred countless innocent civilians for no particular reason. Killing innocent civilians for no reason was one of the prohibitions in the army. So I had thoroughly beaten Caesar¡ªwho had broken that taboo¡ªin front of all members of the knight order. ¡¸I won¡¯t make the same mistake this time. Today is the anniversary of your death.¡¹ I specialize in wearing down my opponent¡¯s mind and leading them to a trap with some provocation. I did exactly that in front of Caesar. Caesar brandished his greatsword toward the crown of my head with a speed that surpassed common sense, but I dodge it by a hair¡¯s breadth. ¡¸IT¡¯S FUTILEEEEEEEE!¡¹ As soon as Caesar shouted, I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my left arm despite having dodged the attack. When I made some distance with Caesar, I saw my left arm and realized that it was riddled with countless bloody holes. ¡¸I see¡­ water magic, eh?¡¹ It seems Caesar had fired countless, super compressed water droplets at a high speed from his sword. This was captain Geralt¡¯s most favored trick back in those days. It¡®s an extremely vicious, sure-kill move. ¡¸Aah, I¡¯ve been polishing this trick for a long time just to kill you. You might even say that I¡¯m more skilled than Geralt in using this.¡¹ Good grief! And this is all he has after polishing this trick for dozens of years. Truly a hopeless case! ¡¸Good grief! Do you really think that you can win against me by using another person¡¯s trick?¡¹ I heaved a sigh, flashing a mocking smile. ¡¸I¡¯m strong. Your left arm is useless now. Victory is mine!¡¹ ¡¸This right arm is enough to beat the likes of you.¡¹ ¡¸SHUT UUUUUUUUUP!!¡¹ I retreated to avoid Caesar¡¯s charge. ¡¸You cannot esca¨D¡¹ He might have been convinced of his victory. Thus, I kicked the soil beneath my feet with my all toward Caesar, who was rushing at me with a joyous expression. ¡¸Eh?¡¹ I casually swung my long sword toward Caesar, who stumbled to his feet while letting out that stupid voice. He barely managed to catch my blow but¨D ¡¸GUGAAAAAAAAAAA!?¡¹ Suddenly, a roaring flame exploded from my long sword and burned the upper half of Caesar¡¯s body. Then, I slashed again toward the roaring Caesar, who rushed toward me while trying to get rid of the flame that engulfed his body. Caesar just barely blocked that slash with his greatsword, but that made the flame burn even brighter, sending hot wind around. ¡¸Only a fool uses a technique as it is. You¡¯ll never get stronger as long as you never try to surpass the original technique.¡¹ I slowly walked toward Caesar, ¡¸W-Wait¨D¡¹ And slashed at him again, causing the flame to become even bigger than before. ¡¸S-Stop¨D¡¹ He seemed like he wanted me to spare his life, but it¡¯s far too late for that. I kept swinging my sword until Caesar¡¯s carbonized corpse fell with a thud. Then, I invoked the aflame ring. The flame ring instantly incinerated the scorpions threatening Milady and the Wind Cat¡¯s folks while undoing their bindings. After that, I pointed my sword toward the man in the navy blue robe and with an unshaved face, Ruby. ¡¸The table has been turned.¡¹ I declared our victory. The people surrounding our base trembled in fear upon seeing me easily dispatch Caesar, who was supposed to be their strongest fighter. Then, amidst the chaos¨D ¡¸Good grief! In the end, I have to do this myself. Had I known this was gonna happen, I would have just ignored that muscle brain, whose only merit is his stupidly high pride.¡¹ Ruby pointed his right hand toward Caesar¡¯s corpse while his other hand patted his stubble. ¡¸Freeze! I¡¯ll give you and your soldiers one last chance to leave with your lives intact!¡¹ I closed in the distance between me and Ruby, then pointed the tip of my sword toward his windpipe and threatened him with a cold voice. As long as a veteran sorcerer like Ruby flees, the rest is easy. Especially those hired mercenaries! They know that an idiotic feudal lord like Ketzer isn¡¯t worthy of them risking their life. ¡¸Me, escape? Are you joking?¡¹ I decapitated Ruby¡¯s neck the moment I felt a chill run down my spine, but¨D ¡¸N-NHAAAAAA!?¡¹ A skeleton clad in a vestment appeared right before the sword touched Ruby¡¯s skin and stopped my slash. Chills ran down my spine the moment I saw the ominous red light in the skeleton¡¯s eyes sockets. At that moment, I retreated in a hurry and stood in front of Milady to protect her. ¡¸M-Monster¡­¡¹ Maybe due to their survival instincts, the soldiers who had surrounded Wind Cat¡¯s cave retreated the moment that skeleton appeared. ¡¸Deimos Lich, it¡¯s my pledge! Take as much life force as you want from those soldiers, and end this farce immediately.¡¹ ¡ºSounds good!¡» The moment that low bass voice resounded in my head, the soldiers fell at once to their knees. Then, that skeleton monster raised his right bone hand. ¡º¡¾Undead Transformation¡¿¡» The moment he spoke those words of power in a cold, soul-freezing voice, countless black lumps appeared in front of his right hand. An indescribable sense of disgust took over me the moment I saw those wriggling black lumps. ¡¸KET! PROTECT MILADY!¡¹ I barely managed to shout. We were wrapped in a transparent, light blue membrane. The jet-black bone that stretched out from the countless black lumps at an extremely high speed was weathering right in front of our eyes. On the other hand, the poor unprotected soldiers and Caesar¡¯s corpses got stabbed by the jet-black bone from the black lumps. The skin of all the soldiers and Caesar turned blue. ¡¸Well then, round two!¡¹ Ruby snapped his fingers, and the corpse of the soldiers and Caesar stood as invisible strings were pulling them. As if that wasn¡¯t eerie enough, their bodies swelled up too. Thus, Caesar and the soldiers turned into blue-skinned undead in less than a minute. ¡¸Kill everyone except that girl!¡¹ Ruby¡¯s order became the trigger for the second round. Volume 3 - CH 19 Act 3-19: Transcendent Beings(Side: Lucas Gijidoor) Caesar¡¯s greatsword and my longsword clashed again, scattering sparks under the night sky. I used my flame to attack the undead Caesar again, but he brushed it off like nothing. £¨This is bad!£© I realized after a few clashes that my longsword wouldn¡¯t last any longer. The undead has inherited Caesar¡¯s ability, but his strength is far greater than before. The only reason I can trade blows with him is that Ket¡¯s barrier is protecting me. If Caesar has become so strong, I have to expect that the other undead soldiers are at least at the same level as him. As if that isn¡¯t bad enough, we still have to deal with that black skeleton. Ruby definitely said a while ago that he offered life force to that black skeleton. In short, that black skeleton is the same as THAT, a transcendent being. A transcendent being was a being outside human reach. In short, we have no choice but to rely on THAT. ¡¸¡¾TITAN¡¿! It¡¯s a pledge. AWAKEN FROM YOUR SLUMBER!¡¹ The soil suddenly rose, forming the appearance of a boy around ten years old with his arms crossed. This boy who had a daring smile on his face was Milady¡¯s trump card. The earth spirit king Titan. This spirit was one of the reasons Milady had to leave the Amelia kingdom. ¡ºUhm! It hasn¡¯t been that long since the last time, but things seem to have gotten interesting.¡» This fu*king spirit!! He¡¯s enjoying this situation, huh!! Honestly, I could barely suppress my rage while pretending in front of this bastard. The real battle is from this point. We wouldn¡¯t be able to survive this situation without Titan. ¡¸We offer our life force. Protect Milady for one week.¡¹ ¡ºI don¡¯t mind. But are you sure about this? That skeleton is strong. I have to put myself at risk to fight that guy. Your compensation isn¡¯t enough for even that, you know!¡» The moment I saw Titan speak with that malicious smile as he placed his hands on his waist, I felt as if someone had poured cold water on my head. ¡¸Be clear! How much do you need?¡¹ ¡ºAll of your lives, save for my contractor.¡» That means except for Milady, all of us are gonna die. Milady will be alone again if she doesn¡¯t save Wind Cat. I absolutely can¡¯t let that happen. ¡¸My life force, take all of it. That¡¯s the limit of what I can offer!¡¹ ¡¸NO, absolutely nooooooooooo! Even I have a line I should never cross. Yeah.¡¹ I almost exploded in anger when he said that with an annoying smug on his face. This malicious spirit won¡¯t fulfill our wish unless he gets a large amount of human life force. To begin with, this fu*king Titan doesn¡¯t even need life force to move. That compensation is nothing more than a useless offering for a transcendent being. And yet, Titan keeps demanding this offering at such critical moments, hurting Milady¡¯s feelings numerous times and driving her into depths of despair. "" ¡¸That¡¯s enough, Lucas-sama. We will gladly offer our life to save Princess.¡¹ When I turned around, I saw all the Wind Cat¡¯s folks, led by the elders, standing behind me. ¡¸Yeah, we¡¯re grateful for what Princess did for us. But now is the time for us to return this debt of gratitude.¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, we¡¯re happy enough.¡¹ Strangely, my anger spiked up again after these people said those words with resigned expressions as if they understood the situation. These people don¡¯t understand at all. The ones who will go will have an easier time. They wouldn¡¯t even have to try to resist and overturn the situation. But, they have no idea just how difficult it¡¯s for the ones left behind to accept that outcome. £¨I see! That kid might¡¯ve felt the same when I left him a long time ago.£© I chewed my lips as I suddenly remembered my son, who I had entrusted to my relatives, abandoning my duty as his parent to follow Milady. At this point, running away is the easier choice. These people didn¡¯t need to think so hard and fell into Titan¡¯s cajolery. Yet, the result would be that Milady will have failed to save anyone. That would definitely make Milady lose her mind and lose the reason to live. Do I really have the resolution to let Milady carry such a burden? Forget about resolution! Can she even live knowing that the ones who she wanted to protect gave their lives to protect her instead? ¡¸Titan, is that the only way?¡¹ ¡ºDon¡¯t make me repeat it.¡» "" ¡¸I see¡­¡¹ So this is the moment of truth. Shall we offer appropriate compensation to save our master, or challenge the impossible without Titan. After living with Milady and Wind Cat, I¡¯ve seen it so many times already; the haggard figure of Milady whenever this kind of situation happens. £¨It¡¯s impossible after all.£© From the very beginning, we weren¡¯t going to find salvation by relying on such a malicious spirit. I should¡¯ve realized this. Maybe I was overlooking the most fundamental thing due to the overwhelming challenge we are facing. ¡¸EVERYONE! Take your weapons!¡¹ I screamed till I felt that my throat was about to tear open. Then, I turned toward the undead Caesar and Ruby, who looked on with an amused expression. ¡¸B-But¡­¡¹ ¡¸Screw the pledge that forces us to offer our own lives. Do you want to have our princess carry the crime of murdering us all?¡¹ Wind Cat¡¯s folks shuddered, and bitter expressions appeared on their faces. ¡¸I REPEAT! Take your weapons! Let¡¯s show them what we¡¯re made of!¡¹ Wind Cat¡¯s folks just trembled nonstop, unable to move their hands. Yes, this isn¡¯t a fairy-tale that you often read in the books. It¡¯s not like these people, who¡¯ve never known about battles, would take their weapons just from mere encouragement. I, of all people, should know about this. But why I wonder? Why do their figures when they look down with the face of someone who has abandoned all hope look truly irritating and sad in my eyes? ¡¸So? What are you going to do now? Everyone, have you given up?¡¹ ¡¸AS IF! We¡¯re Wind Cat! We will never let you take our family, Felis Loto Amelia!¡¹ ¡¸Humph, it seems that great spirit-sama over there won¡¯t interfere with this matter. Well, it doesn¡¯t matter even if he does. Do it.¡¹ Caesar and the other undead soldiers moved at Ruby¡¯s merciless order. I can somehow manage Caesar, but if they come at once, I¡¯ll die. However, I¡¯m Lucas, the first vassal of Felis Loto Amelia. I¡¯ll struggle till the bitter end! I looked at the slowly approaching undead Caesar and the others and lowered my centre of gravity. Then, right before I could jump toward them¨D ¡¸UWA!?¡¹ A blazing black flame rose right in front of me. The black flame shot forward, enveloping the undead Caesar and the undead soldiers. It instantly turned them into ash. A muscular, red-skinned demonic being clad in a reddish-black flame stood in the centre of that purgatory. ¡¸W-Who are you!?¡¹ "" Ruby asked in a shocked voice, clearly flustered. On the other hand, Titan waved his right hand with a carefree expression as if he had met an old acquaintance. ¡ºIfrit, such a nice coincidence to meet you here! What are you doing here? You also made a contract with a human, right? Well it doesn¡¯t matter since the smell of death in this forest is can supply us with enough nutri¨D¡» ¡ºSHUT UP, you filthy planaria!¡» The flame demonic being looked at Titan as if the latter were nothing more than disgusting filth. Ruby and the black skeleton shuddered when they heard the flame demonic being¡¯s disdainful voice. ¡ºP-planaria, m-me!!?¡» The flame demonic being didn¡¯t even take a second glance at Titan, who looked at him with bloodshot eyes. Instead, he crossed his arms on his chest and took a deep breath. ¡ºOur supreme ruler is about to arrive!! All of you, kneel!!¡» Its deafening voice made a hot wind blow through the forest. Ruby¡¯s face spasmed when he saw this spectacle. And the black skeleton, Deimos Lich, also staggered for a moment. As for Titan, his enraged expression had vanished, replaced with curiosity, as he looked at Ifrit. ¡ºSkeleton, are you deaf? I said, KNEEL!¡» "" Pillars of fire rained upon Deimos Lich, who was trying to resist while glaring at the flame demonic being¡ªwho was already kneeling¡ªwith bloodshot eyes. ¡ºGUNUAAAAAAAAAAA!!¡» Seeing Deimos Lich still resisting, the flame demonic being approached it. The skeleton let out an agonizing scream as the fire burned its body. Then, the flame demonic being grabbed it by the collar of its vestment. ¡ºThis is the final warning. Kneel!¡» The flame demonic being gave an ultimatum toward Deimos Lich, then threw the whining skeleton to the ground. Thus, Deimos Lich had no choice but to hang its head down as it knelt, trembling in fear. ¡¸What are you doing, Deimos Lich!? Quickly, ki¨D¡¹ Those were Ruby¡¯s final words. A pillar of black flame descended on him, burning him down till not even his bones were left behind, all in a moment. Honestly, my brain couldn¡¯t even catch up with the situation seeing how easily that villain left the stage. ¡ºIdiot! I had told you that was my final warning!¡» After spitting to the ground, the flame demonic being looked around with his bright red eyes. His fiery gaze alone was enough to force me to kneel, let alone the Wind Cat¡¯s folks. Even that lump of pride called Titan had no choice but to kneel. It was sweating profusely like a waterfall. I never expected that I would see his pathetic figure so soon. ¡ºGirimekhala-sama, I¡¯ve completed the preparations to welcome our Supreme Ruler.¡» ¡ºGood job!¡» The flame demonic being bowed once. Then, a gigantic jet-black sword descended from the sky. It struck the ground beautifully. Then, other swords fell as well, forming a path of the sword. Beings with grotesque appearances walked on that path. They stopped after they reached the path¡¯s end and stood at the end of each side. Lastly, a monster with a long nose and jet-black skin walked closer as each of its steps caused a tremor. I could only see that bizarre spectacle with my open eyes. My teeth were rattling non-stop. That¡¯s only natural. After all, the smug face of that Titan, who loves to act like he owns the place, had turned as pale as chalk. Tears overflowed from his eyes, and his teeth also clattered non-stop. I looked at Deimos Lich at once for confirmation and found out that even though he didn¡¯t cry, for obvious reasons, his black bones were clattering non-stop as well. Honestly speaking, Titan is powerful enough to annihilate a part of an army if he rampages around at his full power. Even if he has to fight another being of the same kind as him, it would be only limited in this world. And that Titan is actually trembling in fear. Just what kind of status does this other party have for him to act so humble like this? Whatever it is, they are definitely not something a human can mess with! £¨J-Just what kind of being we accidentally messed up with!!?£© After arriving at the end of the path, the monster with the long nose stopped right in the middle, turned around, and knelt toward the forest. Following suit, all the transcendent beings who had lined up at the sides of the path also knelt at once. A-Are you kidding me? That monster with a long nose is just doing the opening of a performance? Just what in the hell is happening here!? ¡ºEVERYONE, bow down to our supreme ruler!¡» Upon hearing the loud, yet the solemn voice of the monster with the long nose, even I unintentionally bowed my head. It was as if that monster¡¯s words of power had affected me. A while later, the sound of footsteps approaching from the forest rang out. I gulped. Sweat wAs dripping from me non-stop as if my sweat glands were broken. In this situation, I even forgot about the matter of our survival. ¡ºRaise your heads.¡» Upon hearing the solemn voice of the monster with the long nose, all of us raised our heads at once. Then, I saw a black-haired youth. ¡¸Good day, everyone from Wind Cat.¡¹ The black-haired young man greeted us. Later on, I was told that this was a destined encounter that had been pre-planned. Volume 3 - CH 20 Act 3-20: Persuasion to The Point of Coercion We went deeper into the ¡¾Demonic Forest¡¿ after I extracted what I needed to know from the captured soldiers and mercenaries. They gave me a few pieces of information. One of those pieces of information was the news about a famous summoner, Ruby, participating in the siege. From the information I got about Ruby, he didn¡¯t seem to be the type who would be moved by money or authority. So I assumed the reason must be Felis. He might have wanted to acquire the possession of Felis¡¯s contracted spirit. If I¡¯m not wrong, Felis¡¯s contracted spirit has never been revealed to the public. But according to Mujina¡¯s information, Felis is rumoured to be contracted with a spirit king. And that must be the reason she had to leave the Amelia kingdom. And since even an information broker knew about it, I wasn¡¯t too surprised upon finding out that Ruby the summoner knew that too. Thus, I decided to use that information and that idiot called Ruby to prepare a trap to see the true face of Felis and Wind Cat. As for what that trap was, it was actually the barrier created by Girimekhala¡¯s cursed realm. Only us, Ruby, and his people were allowed to enter the barrier. And just like that, the stupid clown had played the drama in accordance with my script. As a gift for doing a good job in playing his role of a clown, I planned to honor Ruby-kun with being the test subject for several revolutionary torture methods. But before that could happen, he ended up getting burned to a crisp by the self-proclaimed maggot, Ifrit-kun. Well, that was just a trivial matter though. And just like that, for the sake of performance and dramatization, I suppressed my embarrassment and walked along the impromptu sword path prepared by Girimekhala. By the way, Anna, Faf, and Myu are currently house-sitting in another cursed realm of Girimekhala. Well, I asked Anna to take Faf and Myu for a walk around the forest in the cursed realm to kill some time. Anyhow, no one can infiltrate the cursed realm without Girimekhala¡¯s permission. So, I can do my job with fewer worries. ¡¸The lead actress is asleep, eh? Wake her up! I need to talk to her.¡¹ I spoke while looking at Girimekhala. ¡ºYes!¡» Girimekhala nodded and clapped his hands. ¡¸Munyaa¡­ eh?¡¹ The moment she woke up, the seemingly fifteen-year-old girl whose blonde hair was bundled to one side vigilantly looked at her surroundings. This person¡¯s name is Felis Loto Amelia. Despite her youthful appearance, the duchess is 30 years old. Good grief! No matter how youthful a woman can look, there should be a limit to everything. I¡¯ve heard that she¡¯s the holder of another joke-like gift called ¡¾Itako*¡¿, which no one knows about. [TL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itako] ¡¸My name is Kai Heineman, and I¡¯m the temporary royal guard of Rosemary Loto Amelia. I came here to make a deal with you people.¡¹ Everyone seemed to be relaxed after my introduction. ¡¸A-Are you really¡­ Kai Heineman?¡¹ The tall and lanky white-haired old man with a beard asked without hesitation. His name is Lucas Gijidoor. He¡¯s the ex-captain of the knight order of the sorcery kingdom and the father of the strongest hunter, Isaac Gijidoor. ¡¸Yes, my name is Kai Heineman. My apologies for putting you people through this test. The only one who passed this test is you, Lucas Gijidoor. As for the rest, well, they failed to get the passing mark.¡¹ ¡¸WE FAILED YOU SAY!!¡¹ Girimekhala¡¯s subordinates shot glances at Felis the moment she raised her voice in protest. That wannabe evil spirit who looked like a boy shrieked in fear. ¡¸Yes. The reason being your choice. It was the worst possible choice. Every one of you had planned to offer your life force and make that evil spirit fight for you, right?¡¹ Well, the fact that they were willingly offering their own lives¡ªeven if it was toward this malicious evil spirit¡ªwas enough for me to accept them though. ¡¸E-Evil spirit, you say! He¡¯s the spirit king of earth, Titan, you know?¡¹ ¡¸This fellow¡­ is a spirit king?¡¹ The evil spirit called Titan trembled non-stop upon receiving my gaze. It seems he didn¡¯t even put up a resistance. Good grief! How can a spirit king of the earth end up trembling non-stop as he kneels toward me, a human? Even the wannabe spirit king, Ifrit(now self-proclaimed maggot) had more guts than this boy over there. Really now! Things will get troublesome if all of those malicious, yet cowardly evil spirits start to call themselves spirit kings. ¡¸Y-Yeah, just¡­ what in the world¡­ Forget about it! I can¡¯t even follow this anymore.¡¹ Felis looked at Titan for an answer, yet she only ended up confused at the sight of the latter shrinking in fear as his line of sight matched mine. ¡¸Well, let¡¯s put that trivial matter aside. I won¡¯t accept loser dogs who abandoned their duty and responsibilities to Rose¡¯s subordinate. Thus, here¡¯s my offer for you guys. First, gentlemen from Wind Cat. There are still around 900 people left among Count Ketzer¡¯s personnel. Show me how you¡¯re going to repel them! Naturally, I forbid you from borrowing Felis¡¯s and Lucas-dono¡¯s strength.¡¹ ¡¸T-That¡¯s impossible!¡¹ A black-haired girl, along with other Wind Cat¡¯s folks, shouted in protest. What should I do now? They seem to be severely lacking in self-confidence. These people¡¯s loser dog mentality is the worst. ¡¸Kai Heineman! All of them lack combat experience! You cannot force them to fight those 900 people as it is!¡¹ I heaved a sigh upon hearing Felis¡¯s reasoning. ¡¸If you refuse, then we¡¯re going to withdraw from this place. Since that evil spirit over there is gonna lend a hand to you people, I guess he can pretty much curb-stomp those soldiers.¡¹ ¡¸As if Rose is gonna permit such¨D¡¹ ¡¸Hah, are you misunderstanding something here? I¡¯m Rose¡¯s temporary royal guard, not even her subordinate. Why should I need her permission to do this?¡¹ I again heaved a sigh upon seeing Felis glaring daggers at me while pouting. Then, I added, ¡¸Now, listen to me. I¡¯m the one to decide whether it¡¯s possible or not. You only have two choices. Will you accept my help and prove that you¡¯re capable of achieving the goal with your own hands. Or die a dog¡¯s death after giving your life force to that evil spirit over there. The choice is yours.¡¹ They had two choices to decide their fates. ¡¸B-But, Felis-sama and Lucas-sama are the only ones who can fight amongst u¨D¡¹ ¡¸I¡¯ve told you, right? it¡¯s not about possible or impossible. Are you going to do it or are you not?¡¹ A black-haired girl stood up first among the people whose heads were already hung down in despair. She glared daggers at me as if I were her parent¡¯s enemy. ¡¸These monsters are following you because you¡¯re strong, right?¡¹ ¡¸I won¡¯t deny that.¡¹ According to my analysis, my strength is supposed to be at the top of this world. ¡¸Then, repelling those soldiers should be a simple matter for you!¡¹ ¡¸Correct!¡¹ Even if I¡¯m incompetent, I won¡¯t lose against those mobs outside this cursed realm. That¡¯s the result of my training, after all. ¡¸THEN WHY ARE YOU NOT DOING THAT!? THIS¨D THIS IS JUST BULLYING!¡¹ ¡¸You seem to misunderstand me. Let me tell you in an easier way to understand. I have no duty or responsibility to save you guys. I¡¯m not one of those kind and soft-hearted heroes from legends. And there¡¯s no reason for me to eliminate the pieces of trash outside.¡¹ I carefully explained the matter to her. Although the black-haired girl looked like she was about to cry, she just sat back, crossed her arms, and looked away from me. The other folks also exchanged glances, but that was all. None of them dared to speak again. ¡¸Don¡¯t proceed with the conversation at your convenience! As if I¡¯m going allow my people to fight like this¨D¡¹ Felis approached me with an angry expression, grabbed my collar, and looked into my eyes. ¡¸Listen here! The kind of people I hate the most are those who give up on their lives with something like self-sacrifice, which sounds nice to the ears. Even if the situation is dire, don¡¯t give up on victory till the moment of your last breath.¡¹ This is the first and most important sense of value that I cultivated in that dungeon. It¡¯s similar to tragedies or difficulties that all people in this world feel. Only those who never give up can achieve their goal. Naturally, nothing is smooth-sailing in this world. But, the true loser is the one who gives up. Those lazy bones are not worthy of receiving my help. Good grief! Seeing the current Felis made me remember the unpleasant memory of my weak self who easily gave up on everything just because I was labelled as incompetent. I grabbed Felis¡¯s hand, and then threw her down. Felis landed on her rear and was seemingly about to voice a complaint, but¨D ¡¸Milady, Kai-dono is right in this regard.¡¹ ¡¸Lucas, what are¨D¡¹ ¡¸Let¡¯s trust Kai-dono for now. We¡¯ll get the chance to talk later.¡¹ Lucas stopped Felis from trying to say whatever she wanted to say as if he wanted me to proceed with the talk. People who know their predicament truly are helpful in these situations. ¡¸Felis, you¡¯re going to save Akinashi.¡¹ ¡¸Me? Save Akinashi?¡¹ She asked with a puzzled look on her face as her pretty eyebrows arched. Well, one will usually have the opposite reaction though. ¡¸Yes, Akinashi is under attack from more than a thousand thieves. Their number surpasses that of the soldiers surrounding you guys. The situation over there is worse than here. Now, you can feel at ease knowing that you¡¯ll have an even harder time than your people.¡¹ ¡¸N-No way¡­ Why are there so many¡­¡¹ After seeing Felis chew her thumb in frustration, I looked down on that evil spirit called Titan, who stood behind her. ¡¸Oi, evil spirit.¡¹ ¡¸Y-YES!¡¹ ¡¸To be honest, the only end of an evil spirit who I find committing such atrocities is death. But, let me give you a chance to repent.¡¹ It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t have a way to use this evil spirit. Maybe, I should put him in a boot camp like his acquaintance, Ifrit. ¡¸From this point on, you have to pledge eternal, absolute obedience to Felis. And then, show me that you can pass this test along with Felis!¡¹ And just like Ifrit, after this, I shall put him into Girimekhala¡¯s boot camp to train his rotten guts. ¡¸¡­¡¹ Titan stiffened, at loss for words, ¡ºOI, EVIL SPIRIT! OUR SUPREME RULER IS TALKING TO YOU! GIVE YOUR ANSWER!¡» One of the top brasses of Girimekhala¡¯s faction shouted at him. ¡¸Y-YES SIIIIIIIIIIR!!¡¹ Titan stood as he gave his answer. Next is that skeleton, but this one seems to be rather wise. Well, let¡¯s entrust both of them to Girimekhala. I looked at Wind Cat¡¯s folks, Lucas, and Felis, then, ¡¸Well, ladies and gentlemen, it¡¯s showtime. Don¡¯t worry! The worst you can get is death. That¡¯s why let¡¯s enjoy this festival.¡¹ I gave an encouragement that wouldn¡¯t reduce their worries. Volume 3 - CH 21 Act 3-21: Crimson Raven vs Battaman Oboro¡¯s team was composed of only handpicked elites. They infiltrated Akinashi from the small hill at the foot of the northern mountain range. A closely-packed forest grew between the small hill and the mansion of Akinashi¡¯s lord, hindering large-scale movements. Therefore, Oboro had chosen 30 veteran elites to go with him. They were taking the closest path to the mansion of Akinashi¡¯s lord, a straight line. Oboro and the others knew that no one in Akinashi could stop them, ¡¾Crimson Raven¡¿, and that was why they chose the closest, direct route. They ran like the wind in that thicket, which blocked even the moonlight. ¡¸Uhm?¡¹ Oboro suddenly stopped and signaled to his subordinates with his right hand to stop too. He had felt a presence ahead of them. ¡¾Crimson Raven¡¿ was aware that they were playing the role of villains, but even villains had their pride. They prided on the fact that they never harmed non-resisting people who lived on the surface. Despite their infamy as an assassination organization, ever since the founding of their organization, no one among them had broken this absolute rule. Thus, all they were going to do to the owner of the one walking toward their position as if they were taking a stroll was stun them without killing. However, their expectations were overturned in the worst possible form. ¡¸Eh?¡¹ The first person to let out a shocked exclamation was one of the upper echelons. No one blamed that person since what had appeared before them was a monster in the form of a bipedal locust. ¡¸FORMATION! Crane wing!¡¹ All of them moved at once upon Oboro¡¯s order, trapping the locust in a V-shaped formation. The monster, the battaman, made a beckoning gesture toward Oboro and the others as if it were telling them to come at once. ¡¸How dare you¡­¡¹ They felt enraged at that weak-looking monster underestimating them. All of them glared at it. ¡¸You lowly monster! You¡¯re gonna regret this!¡¹ Oboro¡¯s bestial roar became the gong of the beginning of the battle. ¡¸Monster¡­¡¹ The battaman turned out to be on par with Oboro. To be exact, on par with all members of ¡¾Crimson Raven¡¿, including Oboro. If only physical abilities were the basis, the monster was slightly inferior to Oboro. However, the monster was overwhelmingly skilled in martial arts, the combat skill that should be exclusive to humankind. The reason Oboro¡¯s and others¡¯ limbs were still intact was simply that the other party never showed killing intent. It was as if Oboro and the others were lowly insects that locust-headed monster didn¡¯t even deem worthy of killing. ¡¸Dammit!¡¹ Oboro trembled as he cursed due to rage and humiliation. We aren¡¯t even being considered as warriors by this monster. Like hell can we endure such humiliation! ¡¸Let¡¯s show this fella our guts!!¡¹ Oboro and his team couldn¡¯t accept such humiliation. They realized that their physical strength was pretty much equal, meaning Oboro could kill the monster as long as he could land a clean hit. That was it. The other party¡¯s martial arts mastery was overwhelmingly superior, so landing a clean hit was almost impossible for Oboro. Oboro took a stance with his sword in his hands as he lowered his center of gravity. His subordinates also prepared themselves. ¡ºGISHI!¡» In response, the battaman pulled back its right arm and leg while keeping its left fist in front. This was the first time this monster had shown a proper martial art stance. This was the stance of a master who had trained their martial arts for an extremely long period of years. When Oboro saw that stance, he just laughed. Only a handful of people could reach that realm of mastery even among first-class experts. So, it felt like a joke when he realized that the locust-headed monster before him had already reached that realm. ¡¸BE CAREFUL!! THIS FELLOW IS FAR MORE POWERFUL THAN US!!¡¹ Oboro focused all his nerves before making the next attack. This was Oboro¡¯s ace in the hole and the only way to land a fatal wound on the monster before them. ¡¸CHARGEEEEE!!¡¹ At that signal, half of Oboro¡¯s subordinates shot forth fireballs or fire pillars toward the battaman¡¯s face. The blazing flame illuminated the area as if it were turning the dark night into day. This was followed by the other half of Oboro¡¯s subordinates charging toward the battaman to stab it. £¨¡¾Shadow Clone¡¿¨DShadow Leap£© The battaman easily knocked the subordinates charging at it. £¨Too slow!!£© Using that momentary pause after the attacks, a shadow jumped by using the shadows of the knocked subordinates and arrived right behind the battaman, £¨Haze!!£© Then, he swung the longsword in his right hand, which was covered in flames, toward the crown of the battaman¡¯s head. ¡¸GUGI!¡¹ Even if the other party had twisted its body, trying to dodge the slash, the longsword in Oboro¡¯s left hand sliced horizontally. However, the monster dodged the horizontal slash too. £¨DAMMIT! MOVE LIKE A NORMAL MONSTER, WILL YA!£© Despite cursing inwardly, Oboro used Shadow Leap again to move behind the battaman, whose stance had crumbled. £¨CHECKMATE!£© He turned around as he slashed toward the head of the battaman. However, the battaman managed to block that slash with its right arm. The longsword severed the battaman¡¯s right hand, heading toward its head. Suddenly, the battaman¡¯s figure blurred for a moment. Oboro¡¯s line of sight instantly distorted. It turned around so fast and only stopped after his back struck a large tree. £¨What just¡­ happened?£© When Oboro forced his battered body to stand up and look at the battaman, he saw the monster standing in its place, looking at its severed right hand with a dumbfounded-like expression on its locust face. £¨N-No way¡­£© It took him just a moment to understand the reason he got blasted away. The battaman had unleashed a pressure incomparable to before Oboro severed its right hand. The current battaman was clearly far more powerful than Oboro and his team as if it had transformed into a completely different creature. ¡ºHou, the arm equipped with the ability-restriction bracelet got severed, eh? It seems you guys are quite skilled indeed.¡» Suddenly, a giant figure walked toward them from the dark forest. Oboro squinted to observe the newcomer. ¡ºIsn¡¯t this a good lesson for you, too? A cornered rat will bite the cat. You underestimating the weak and not going all out from the very beginning is the reason for your defeat.¡» The owner of that voice who appeared under the moonlight was a human-shaped monster with the head of a lion and donned in combat armor. ¡¸Uuh¡­ ¡¹ Just a glance at that figure was enough to drive Oboro into the deepest abyss of despair. This was only natural since the monster with the lion head unleashed an overwhelming majesty of a strongman, which couldn¡¯t even be compared to the battaman, who Oboro thought was invincible. ¡ºCarve this defeat into your chest! Now, go back to heal your wounds.¡» ¡ºKISHI!¡» The battaman performed something like a salute to the Lionman, then touched its severed right arm with its other arm. A while later, its severed right arm grew back at the speed visible to the naked eye. The next moment, countless other battamans appeared one after another as if they were ridiculing Oboro and the others. ¡¸HIIIII!¡¹ Oboro¡¯s subordinates screamed. ¡ºCongratulations! You people passed the test. You¡¯re qualified to participate in the festival My Lord is about to hold.¡» ¡¸Your Lord? Festival?¡¹ ¡ºYeah! This part is the plan of my Supreme Lord. Sorry, but you have no right to refuse! The plan is written in this invitation. Take a look.¡» "" The Lionman turned around after throwing a sealed letter toward Oboro, then stopped for a moment. ¡ºGodspeed to you guys.¡» After he said that, his figure melted into the darkness of the forest. The battamans¡¯ presence also vanished along with the Lionman. ¡¸Boss¡­¡¹ One of the top brasses ran toward Oboro with a worried expression. They no longer had their previous bearing of a warrior. In the first place, they were not even worthy of being considered enemies by the other party. In reality, Oboro wanted to leave this land as soon as possible, too. However, that Lionman had said that they had no right to refuse the invitation. Oboro knew that if they tried to escape, his group would get erased until not even records about them would be left in this world. Thus, they had no choice but to play along with the so-called plan. All kinds of repulsive imagination passed in his head as he thought about what kind of festival awaited them. After all, the one who invited them was such an otherworldly being. Still, Oboro at least saw a chance to survive by participating in the said festival. ¡¸We¡¯ll definitely survive.¡¹ After squeezing his throat to say those words, Oboro opened the sealed invitation and began reading its content. Volume 3 - CH 22 Act 3-22: The Tao Family vs Neo Cerberus Unit A residential area in the southern part of Akinashi. ¡¸Why have such atrocious monsters shown up right in the centre of the city?¡¹ The leader of the ¡¾Tao Family¡¿, whose black hair was bundled together to both sides of her head¨DRinrin Raafan¡ªkept asking the same question again and again. When she turned around, she saw a three-headed dog running toward her. The heads of the three-headed dog were firing blue flames, ice, and tornado, each. They even had black lightning as a bonus. This was the first time in her life Rinrin had met such an atrocious monster. She could still understand if they had met these three-headed dogs in an unexplored ruin or a den of monsters. However, the place where these three-headed dogs had shown up was right in the middle of Akinashi. As if that wasn¡¯t strange enough, the lighting in the houses around them had yet to be switched off. This meant that the people in Akinashi were still alive. ¡ª Does that mean these three-headed dogs are watchdogs prepared to overwhelm us, the Tao Family? Like hell it is! Rather, using such atrocious monsters as watchdogs sounds like a foolish idea. But, seeing the reality before her, Rinrin Raafan could only think that the citizens of Akinashi were strong enough to at least tame those three-headed dogs. £¨No wonder this place has been assigned as the transaction place for the grimoire!)£© She regretted that she didn¡¯t plan more carefully. A rumor about the transaction of a legendary-class grimoire in a remote city had suddenly spread out of nowhere. As if they had agreed before, the three kings of the underworld had ended up arriving in this very city, the city where Princess Rosemary was planning to stay for a long time. Rinrin realized just how ridiculous was the situation that led to their current predicament. The calm judgment of the three kings of the underworld had been impaired due to the bait called a legendary-class grimoire. Then, Rinrin and the others, who had been successfully baited into this city, were forced to participate in this sinister play. ¡ª Who¡¯s the culprit behind this plan? Is it that princess of the Amelia kingdom, Rosemary Loto Amelia? No, as if a mere princess like her can use such otherworldly monsters. ¡¸Leader, everyone is almost at their limit!¡¹ That was only natural since the three-headed dogs had been chasing them for almost three hours. The Tao Family¡¯s members, who took pride in their stamina, had reached their limits. ¡¸FORMATION! We¡¯re going all out!¡¹ Rinrin stopped, wiped her sweat, and unsheathed the blue blade strapped on her waist, pointing the tip of the blade toward a three-headed dog. ¡¸HA!¡¹ Seeing her point her sword toward the monster, all of Rinrin¡¯s subordinates nodded. And just like that, tens of dogs surrounded them. ¡ºOkay, that¡¯s enough! This is the order of our Supreme Ruler!¡» A little black swan flew around them as it shouted that. At that moment, among the three-headed dogs, a black puppy came forward and walked toward the Tao Family with a scroll(letter) in its mouth. It threw that scroll(letter) toward the Tao Family. When Rinrin caught the scroll, the figures of the monster dogs vanished like an illusion. ¡¸What the¡­ hell is that?¡¹ The absurd change of situation left Rinrin dumbfounded for a while. ¡¸Leader!¡¹ After snapping back to reality at the calling of her subordinates, Rinrin opened the scroll(letter) with trembling hands. Written inside was¨D Volume 3 - CH 23 Act 3-23: Lost Forest vs Silver Fox Squad Mountain and Forest Region west of Akinashi¡ª £¨What a blunder! We have been caught in such an obvious trap!£© The leader of the sorcery association ¡¾Lost Forest¡¿, Alice Renren Lorelei, couldn¡¯t help but contemplate again and again the grievous mistake she had made to come to the forest, which turned out to be a den of otherworldly monsters. At this point, she couldn¡¯t help but realize that the rumor about that grimoire was nothing more than bait to lure them into this trap. Someone, possibly an extremely powerful transcendent being, might have been the one who spread that rumor. Alice was almost convinced that this transcendent being might be an assassin from her homeland. £¨Since when did Lorelei(Elven capital) gain a magic circle that enables them to make a contract with such powerful transcendent beings?£© The reason she knew she was facing a transcendent being was that she had met one before. Thus she knew that transcendent beings were beyond common sense. And the powerful transcendent being before them might be the most powerful one in the long history of the elves. £¨No, something doesn¡¯t feel right.£© The transcendent beings before them were abnormal. And seeing their number, Alice guessed that some sort of mutant had been born in the elf tribe, which explained why they could have a contract with many transcendent beings. If that were truly the case, the power balance in this world would change in a single night. ¡¸Alice-sama, we¡¯re surrounded.¡¹ Upon hearing the report from one of her veteran subordinates, Alice gritted her teeth as she refused the temptation to just sit and cry. ¡¸No holding back! We¡¯re going to charge forward with our everything!¡¹ She shouted to raise her subordinates¡¯ morale despite it seeming impossible. ¡ºOkay, you guys passed the test.¡» At that moment, a beautiful voice that came from the forest shook their eardrums. Then, silver-haired foxes came out of the forest. Standing in their center was a woman with nine tails behind her. Her skin was as white as pristine snow. Her glossy, silky silver hair grew until it reached her knees. Given her beautiful appearance along with moonlight shining over her, it looked as if a goddess descended on this world, truly an ephemeral spectacle. ¡¸P-Passed?¡¹ ¡ºThis was a test for you by My Dear Hubby. And right now, you people have gained the qualification to become a hero.¡» She arrived in front of Alice and gave a scroll to her. ¡¸What is this?¡¹ ¡ºWritten in there is an imperial edict. Do your best to play your role as per that script.¡» After she said so, her presence vanished as if she never existed in that place. That female transcendent being¡¯s voice convinced Alice that the other party had nothing to do with her homeland. Rather, one could say that being able to make a contract with a transcendent being of that level was the greatest fortune in one¡¯s entire life. In these situations, the reverse would happen. The contractor would become the servant of the transcendent being due to the overwhelming difference between the two sides. Thus, it was impossible for the elves to get the attention of such a high-level transcendent being. Since the other party wasn¡¯t an assassin from her motherland, Alice had a chance to survive this situation. Thus, Alice untied the string that fastened the scroll and read its content. Volume 3 - CH 24 Act 3-24: Tales Woven By A Monster(Side: Serpent Blood LeaderSnake) The Akinashi territory. £¨DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT AAAAAAAAAALL! I never heard that the big three are here too!!£© They had been chased around for an entire night in this devilish city. As if that wasn¡¯t bad enough, the ones chasing after them were ¡¾Crimson Raven¡¿, the ¡¾Tao Family¡¿, and the ¡¾Lost Forest¡¿, the big three of the underworld. The big three were absolute kings who ruled the underworld. The difference between them and Serpent Blood, a mere mafia in the Amelia kingdom, was like that between heaven and earth. Thus, it made him wonder why these three mighty underworld organizations had stooped as low as to hunt down weak organizations like their Serpent Blood. Most of his comrades had been either arrested or killed. Only ten odd were left, including himself. Suddenly, numerous fire pillars rose to heaven, and their pursuers stopped. Finally, he felt that he had been released from the nightmare. But, he had no idea that their nightmares had just begun. ¡¸We don¡¯t have any choice but to keep going on.¡¹ The ¡¾Tao Family¡¿ appeared from the blocked passage behind them to prevent any escapes. Thus, they had no choice but to move forward. £¨Had I known this would happen, I wouldn¡¯t have accepted the commission from that Pigzer!£© For the nth time today, Snake cursed his decision of accepting the commission. This city, Akinashi, was a reward given to Kotetsu Akinashi, the otherworlder who had defeated the evil dragon that had wreaked havoc and brought the Amelia kingdom to the brink of destruction. At least, that was what they said in the papers. "" However, if that were the case, the city should¡¯ve long been plundered by the greedy nobles in the central region. And yet, the city had stood safe for the last three hundred years. It was one of the Amelia kingdom¡¯s seven wonders spread in the underworld. A terrifying secret lay in this city that made even the greedy nobles of the Amelia kingdom, who did things as they pleased, hesitate. Snake had guessed that the three kings of the underworld might be pursuing that secret too. £¨Are you fucking kidding me? As if I¡¯m gonna die in this place for that fu*king pig!!£© He couldn¡¯t accept that. Snake had just been a starving orphan in the Amelia kingdom. Yet, he had become the boss of one of the kingdom¡¯s ten biggest mafias. He was a man with real abilities. He did everything to survive, even if he had to drink muddy water, do dirty jobs that even he didn¡¯t want to, or bow his head down even if disliked that. After having reached his current position experiencing countless hardships, he refused to return to that miserable past. £¨I¡­ will survive¨D£© They arrived in a plaza after coming out of the alley. £¨Haha¡­ I see! This is my final resting place, eh?£© The big three had already lined up in that plaza. The first group was one with the mark of jar and snake. The second had the mark of the sun and a crow. And the last had the marks of withered three and moon. This was more than enough evidence to convince him that these were the underworld¡¯s big three. Comparing them with Serpent Blood was like comparing the kings of giants with a normal human. ¡¸We have lost. That¡¯s a fact. Ain¡¯t gonna care what happens to me! That¡¯s why after I die, please spare my subordinates!¡¹ The first thing Snake said when facing ultimate despair was words he had abandoned a long time ago. ¡¸Sorry, but we¡¯re not the ones who can decide that.¡¹ A tall, lanky, and blonde man wearing a baggy attire said so while looking at a certain place with a stiff expression. The other members of the big three also looked at the center of the plaza instead of Snake and his subordinates. Over there was a giant man with a lion head and a gorgeous beastwoman with nine tails. Both of them were kneeling in front of a black-haired youth who carried a black puppy. ¡¸You guys finally arrived.¡¹ The black-haired youth said so as he looked in the direction of the main street while patting the black puppy in his embrace. Soon, a blonde girl with traces of childishness on her face entered the plaza, heavily breathing as if she had just been running as fast as possible. ¡¸You! What are you trying to do?¡¹ ¡¸What am I trying to do?¡¹ ¡¸Akinashi isn¡¯t under attack at all!¡¹ ¡¸You¡¯re just too slow. It ended already. Look, the three over there are ¡¾Crimson Raven¡¿, the ¡¾Tao Family¡¿, and the ¡¾Lost Forest¡¿. And the ones isolated over there are ¡¾Serpent Blood¡¿.¡¹ The blonde girl¡¯s face twitched when she saw the people gathered in the plaza. ¡¸You¡¯re not a decent person, after all!¡¹ She screamed as if to let out her frustration. ¡¸Well, since all the actors and actresses have gathered in this place, it¡¯s time to start the real festival!¡¹ ¡¸Festival? What festival? Are you telling this mistress to fight them?¡¹ The black-haired youth shrugged, then squinted as he looked at Snake and his subordinates and the members of the big three behind them. ¡¸Nay! There¡¯s nothing interesting about a battle between greenhorns. Even more so against those who have lost their fighting spirits.¡¹ He said so as if it was a matter of fact. £¨Hahaha! What in the hell is THAT?£© The expression of every person from the big three stiffened just by looking at the black-haired youth. It was as if they had seen the end of the world. Snake felt it was strange that the kings of the underworld could make such faces. ¡¸Well, apparently, no one from Serpent Blood has received the explanation about the rules of the festival yet. In my original arrangement, you people were supposed to die wretched deaths and become the human pillars of this festival along with that Pigzer, who has already entered the countdown of his life. But, I¡¯ve changed my mind after hearing what you said¡­¡¹ The black-haired youth paused for a few seconds, and¡­ "" ¡¸Do your best to survive this festival. After that, reveal all the evil deeds committed by that pig in the public along with evidence. After you have done all that, I¡¯ll guarantee your subordinates¡¯ safety.¡¹ He listed those requirements with a solemn expression. ¡¸Nemea, how¡¯s the evacuation of the citizens?¡¹ ¡ºEvery breath in this area has been transferred into my domain. That lizard won¡¯t be able to catch even a glimpse of their shadows.¡» ¡¸Uhm! And what about that giant lizard in question?¡¹ ¡ºUhm! I¡¯m doing my best to wake that lizard from its slumber. I¡¯m holding back properly so that I won¡¯t kill it by accident! I¡¯m so amazing, right!?¡» The jet-black puppy in the youth¡¯s embrace said so while puffing its chest. ¡¸I see! Good job on holding back, Fen!¡¹ The black-haired youth brushed the head of the jet-black puppy with a smile on his face. ¡¸W-wait a minute! What were you talking about just now? Why am I getting only bad feelings about this!?¡¹ The blonde girl shouted at the black-haired youth. The youth gave the puppy to the silver-haired beastfolk woman on his side, then turned to the blonde girl. Raising his hands to the sky, he let out an extremely sinister, demon king-like smile, like the ones in a fairy tale, and shouted. ¡¸Ladies £¦ gentlemen! The deathmatch between humankind and the giant lizard that has been sleeping in this land is about to begin!!¡¹ Even Snake could feel the atmosphere trembling as the youth raised his voice. At that moment, the summit of the mountain that was used as a mine exploded, and a black silhouette came out. ¡¸Giant liza¨D Are you referring to the legendary evil dragon that has been sleeping here for 300 years!?¡¹ The colour drained from the blonde girl¡¯s face as she asked the black-haired youth in a shrill voice. ¡¸Hou! As expected of royalty! You lot do know about the existence of that giant lizard, eh. Corre~ct! Now, our special guest has made its entrance to the festival.¡¹ ¡¸A-Are you insane!? That thing is a mindless being that will slaughter everything once it¡¯s awakened¨D¡¹ ¡¸Correct! That giant lizard¡¯s favourite dish is freshly-baked meat belonging to women and children. Its hobby is destroying cities. The music it loves the most is the chorus of agonizing humans! In short, that sh*tty lizard is humankind¡¯s enemy. Don¡¯t hold back! Use everything in your arsenal. Show no mercy!¡¹ ¡¸Listen, the problem is¨D¡¹ ¡¸Now let the festival begin, Kyuubi.¡¹ ¡¸My pleasure!¡¹ When the silver-haired beastwoman raised her right hand, numerous light spheres appeared around her, heading toward the monster trying to crawl down from the mountain summit. "" ¡¸Well then, godspeed to you all.¡¹ The black-haired youth and all the other otherworldly beings vanished from the plaza, leaving behind those words. ¡¸T-t-that fu*cking madman!! Even a joke has a limit, you knooooooooooooooooooow!!¡¹ The black silhouette¡¯s face twitched as it heard the blonde girl¡¯s scream, which was filled with complicated emotions like irritation and madness. Then, it spread its giant wings. ¡ºGugyoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!¡» Its roar reverberated in the entirety of Akinashi. The legendary evil dragon that had been sleeping for 300 years had finally awakened. The tale woven by a monster had finally headed toward its climax. Volume 3 - CH 25 Act 3-25: Start of the Subjugation of the Evil Dragon Deboa After I persuaded (nearly coerced) Wind Cat and Felis to play a part in my plan, Felis finally headed toward Akinashi along with Titan. Although, she was obviously reluctant to do so. Naturally, the pig¡¯s army, who had surrounded this place, consisted of only small fries. Breaking through their encirclement with that evil spirit¡¯s power shouldn¡¯t be that difficult. Just in case, I had that evil spirit called Titan or whatever he was become Girimekhala¡¯s subordinate so that if he wanted to betray us, we would immediately know that. If he did so, I would show him what a true hell really was. After finishing that matter, we proceeded with the reinforcement plan of Wind Cat¡¯s folks. They were under attack right now, so martial arts aside, we didn¡¯t even have the time to teach them magic, like Zack had learned. The goal I had set for Wind Cat¡¯s folks was them gaining their freedom with their own hands. The only problem in this was that they were powerless civilians. Thus, I decided to use some underhanded techniques. To be exact, I was going to let the Subjugation Picture Book¡¯s residents give their blessing to Wind Cat¡¯s folks. It seemed that ¡ºDivine Protection¡» from a superior being allowed the weaker being it blessed to become a part of the former¡¯s strength. Thus, Wind Cat¡¯s folks were limited with a part of the strength of the Subjugation Picture Book¡¯s residents. Nevertheless, it was only a part of the power. It would never surpass the original owner of the power. As the Subjugation Picture Book¡¯s residents are weaker than me, they wouldn¡¯t be able to beat a true strongman. Though, most of the people who had surrounded this place were weak, for us that is. I needed a proper plan to let Wind Cat¡¯s folks put up a good fight. Thus, I set up the first condition for Wind Cat¡¯s folks to clear a test prepared for them, namely forcing the army to withdraw and preventing a head-on collision. Any more help for me would only render this test meaningless. Instead, I would provide them with tactical training, emergency treatment, and base and provision to prevent the worst possible situation. I entrusted the rest, such as self-defense training, to Girimekhala, then headed to Akinashi territory. The test I had imposed on Felis was the evil dragon subjugation. This was another old story about an otherworlder, which I had heard from that information broker, Mujina. Three hundred years ago, by some ill fate, an otherworlder called Kotetsu Akinashi had been left stranded in this world. Despite struggling with so many things like different cultures, different common sense, etc, Kotetsu had saved the Amelia kingdom from several dangerous situations with his special power. And the gravest of them all was the invasion of the evil dragon¨DDeboa. In a certain way, Deboa was also a visitor from another world, like Kotetsu. One day, it had suddenly appeared in the eastern part of the Amelia kingdom, burning towns and demanding that the kingdom offer it 500 young women and 500 young children every year. Naturally, the government of the Amelia kingdom at that time had refused to pay such an offering. Thus, they had formed a subjugation squad. Kotetsu had refused to join the subjugation squad since he had a lover in this world, but after the government had threatened him that they would choose his lover if he refused, he had finally agreed to join the subjugation squad. Nevertheless, the evil dragon had been way too powerful for them. The squad was easily defeated. And consequently, the evil dragon¡¯s retaliation killed Kotetsu¡¯s lover. Consumed by hatred, Kotetsu sealed the sleeping Deboa with a seal that borrowed the power of the sun god, Skoll. However, the bloodline of Kotetsu Akinashi had to continue in the territory to maintain the seal. For this reason, despite its abundance of mining sites, no one had dared to touch the Akinashi territory for the last three hundred years. The story about Kotetsu subjugating Deboa was a lie the Amelia kingdom¡¯s government had spread to prevent any chaos. Well, no one would be able to sleep in peace at night every time they remembered a country-destroying monster was sleeping on the summit of a mountain rich in mineral resources. From a ruler¡¯s point of view, appointing the Akinashi house as the ruler of that plot of the land was also the most obvious choice. But that myth was frightening. Therefore, I had decided to check the truth after hearing about this from Mujina. I quickly found the seal located in the small shrine built at the summit of the mountain. Inside that shrine was a barrier where a giant lizard lay asleep. Since Wolfkin were the monsters most skilled about barriers, I ordered Fenrir and Fen¡¯s kins to slip into the barrier and use Satori¡¯s mind-reading to read the thoughts of the lizard inside. And that giant lizard, Deboa, turned out to be nothing more than an evil, man-eating giant lizard. Although the Deboa described in the Amelia kingdom¡¯s literature was a mighty dragon, Deboa was a far cry from that easy dungeon¡¯s dragons and became member of the Subjugation Picture Book. I mean, even the weakest spirit, Satori, could literally instakill that Deboa in one punch. The dragons were truly enraged upon finding this and refused to call a being so weak to the point that even Satori with the weakest amongst us physical strength could instakill it as a dragon. So we decided to call it a lizard instead. Yeah, I decided to play along with them to prevent them from causing another ruckus like the one they had done to Girimekhala¡¯s faction. As a result of this finding, the dragons started competing with Girimekhala¡¯s faction during this festival. Those dragons were fundamentally loyal to Faf and me, but they seemed to be proud creatures by nature¡­ Thus, I gave them the task to bestow their blessings on Wind Cat¡¯s folks to satisfy their pride and prevent them from going on strike again. If I play it right, we could gain enormous profits from butchering this hopeless giant lizard. Currently, we are watching the battle between the giant lizard and humanity from inside Nemea¡¯s realm. In fact, we have stored the entire Akinashi territory in this special realm, which has allowed us to see the fight from various angles. Yup, a desperate fight is worth watching only when both sides are equal in power and experience. ¡¸Big Sis Elise leading the three kings of the underworld to subjugate the evil dragon Deboa! That¡¯s the core of Kai¡¯s current plan, is it?¡¹ Rose asked a trivial question in a trembling voice as we looked up at Felis and the others¡¯ battle against Deboa. ¡¸Yup. That giant lizard will become the greatest toy that will give us a whole lot of profit. Rejoice! We can finally put a full use of that lazy giant lizard.¡¹ ¡¸TOY!? That evil dragon Deboa, who almost brought ruin to this kingdom?¡¹ ¡¸Not ruined from my perspective. It must have been an exaggeration. Even Arnold can single-handedly kill that lizard.¡¹ It looked menacing! I¡¯ll give you that. However, in my opinion, any hunter above the B-rank can easily win against that lizard, pretty much unscathed. Myth is nothing more than myth, after all. ¡¸Kai, can you subjugate Deboa?¡¹ Looking at her expression, it seems she really thinks that, that giant lizard is a strong and menacing existence. Well, it¡¯s big, can breathe fire, and as much as I hate it, it does look like a dragon. Thus, Rose¡¯s reaction is only natural as she is an amateur when it comes to combat. ¡¸Don¡¯t worry about it! I¡¯ll cancel the festival if things get really dangerous. Fen?¡¹ ¡ºYeah! I can kill it without any problem!¡» The fluffy little wolf, who was resting in Kyuubi¡¯s embrace¨DFen, said so as he showed his small paw. Fen seems to be quite frustrated since he rarely gets the chance to go out and play nowadays. And that giant lizard happened to be just the right toy for him. ¡¸I¡­ I see. Since Fen-chan can dispose of that Deboa¨D¡¹ Rose was pondering something after hearing Fen¡¯s reply when the lord of this territory, Oliver Akinashi, approached us with an enraged expression. ¡¸STOP KIDDING AROUND! That¡¯s the evil dragon Deboa! It¡¯s a powerful evil dragon that not even the hero Kotetsu could defeat. Sealing it was the only option! Are you trying to bring back that nightmarish monster into this land!?¡¹ He yelled as if he wanted to push me. In response to Oliver¡¯s action, Nemea¡¯s eyebrows twitched aside; even Kyuubi was literally sharpening her claws. £¨Wait, stop!£© I quickly raised my right hand to stop them before they butchered Oliver. ¡¸Indeed. I know what you want to say since I have also read that exaggerated legend about this giant lizard. Do you know why I made Felis and the others fight that lizard?¡¹ ¡¸To get amnesty for Wind Cat¡¯s folks and to clear them of their crimes by defeating the evil dragon, right?¡¹ Zack butted in from the side. ¡¸Exactly! And add the three underworld kings in that too. If we had recruited them as Rose¡¯s subordinates as they are right now, it would have only caused future problems. Thus, why don¡¯t we spread their names as the heroes who have subjugated the evil dragon?¡¹ ¡¸Yup, Shifu is the only one who can come up with such a plan, after all.¡¹ ¡¸Is that so? I mean, anyone with enough knowledge will naturally come up with this plan, you know!¡¹ ¡¸And the fact that you say all this as if it¡¯s natural makes you more and more abnormal.¡¹ Zack shook his head as he replied with an expression containing both exhaustion and dumbfoundedness. ¡¸Y-You guys¡­ don¡¯t tell me¡­¡¹ Oliver said as if he were squeezing his throat. ¡¸Worry not! That earth lump-like worm is dominating the battle. Unless there¡¯s an unexpected interruption, victory will definitely go to Miss Felis.¡¹ Asta declared that despite yawning due to boredom. I agree with her. It isn¡¯t just an empty statement. This whole time, Titan had gone all out and managed to overpower that giant lizard. Contrary to my expectations, the giant lizard could barely show its power, thanks to the superb combination of the three kings of the underworld. However, in my opinion, Titan can kill that giant lizard by himself. The reason for that might lay in the black clay Titan had prepared. The space distorted when it appeared, and the place it grazed turned into sand. Darkness and destruction were Girimekhala¡¯s traits, so Titan¡¯s power might have been upgraded after he became Girimekhala¡¯s kin. That was why Felis and the others¡¯ victory was guaranteed as long as there were no irregularities during the battle. ¡¸It seems Big Sis Asta is right on the money.¡¹ When I looked up, the screen was projecting the scene where the three kings of the underworld and Serpent Blood were attacking the giant lizard, which let out a bestial roar. This lizard was unable to move at all due to the numerous black earth spikes growing from the ground that had pierced its body. Volume 3 - CH 26 Act 3-26: Subjugation of Evil Dragon Deboa(Side: Titan) TN: Short chapter, but definitely a full chapter. === Carrying Felis on my shoulder, I dodged the relentless tail sweeps and fire breaths of that idiotic lizard(Evil Dragon Deboa). Then, I unleashed the black soil of destruction toward its soft, unprotected abdomen. Deboa wailed non-stop as it vomited a rain of blood. ¡ºYOU FU*KING WORM! How dare you spit at me!¡» An earthen spear of destruction manifested in the air, rushing toward the open jaw of Deboa, who kept wailing resentfully. The black earthen spear of destruction pierced even Deboa¡¯s fire breath and penetrated its huge lower jaw, destroying it in the process. ¡ºHAH! Now it won¡¯t let out that annoying scream anymore!¡» Suddenly, a strange flash of light appeared in the eyes of Deboa, who had lost its lower jaw. The next second, countless black spheres appeared in the air, rushing toward me. I jumped in the air in an attempt to dodge the incoming attacks while clicking my tongue, but the black spheres could track my movement. So I conjured a black earthen shield that was already enhanced with the power of destruction to block the incoming black spheres, but¡­ £¨Tch, too slow, eh!£© That didn¡¯t make it in time. A few of the black spheres slipped in my defense and attacked us. However, a transparent, pale-blue membrane of light suddenly appeared in front of us, stopping the black spheres. ¡¸IT¡¯S OUR TURN!¡¹ The people clad in black clothes, led by the brown-skinned girl whose black hair was bundled like a dumpling made a gesture with their hands. This transparent, pale-blue membrane seemed to have been conjured by them. However, it was a human technique after all. The black spheres could easily tear through it, but that momentary pause gave me the chance to readjust my shield. Thus, by the time the spheres got past the membrane, they struck my shield and vanished. Moreover, I shot down the remaining black spheres in the air with my black spear of destruction. ¡¸How frightening! Those people might have already made a plan to cooperate with us to defeat Deboa.¡¹ At first, the little girl freeloading on my back had whined non-stop, but she seemed to have gotten used to this right now. She had already stopped whining and was giving a concrete order to ensure our victory. ¡ºYeah, I also realize that.¡» That personage had ordered us to work together with those humans. Going against that personage¡¯s order was truly the pinnacle of idiocy. The me from before would have felt nauseated just at the thought of working together with these weak humans, but the current me doesn¡¯t have such feelings at all. The reason I pledged absolute loyalty to this girl(Felis) is the order of THAT PERSONAGE, who rules those transcendents. I know that they only needed a single moment to erase my existence from this world had I dared refuse that personage¡¯s order. But, even when I have to live in such a situation, I can¡¯t help but feel delighted. Moreover¨D £¨Too overwhelming! So this is what it means to submit under that personage!£© My body was brimming with power. And then, this destruction trait! Just becoming the kin of that personage¡¯s subordinate had allowed me to become far more powerful than before. Rather, it was as if I was reborn. If it were the previous me, I would have had no choice but to escape from a fight with this otherworlder dragon. And yet, the current me didn¡¯t feel a single threat from this so-called evil dragon. Surely, the black spheres were enough to critically injure the current Titan if he fought by himself. ¡ºOI, HUMAN! This is an order from that personage! Show no mercy! Trample that giant lizard under your foot!¡» I shouted at the humans looking up on the ground. I have already felt the wrath of that personage once before. There will be no future left for me unless I regain that personage¡¯s goodwill with my own hands. I conjured a lot of sand and formed jet-black stakes. ¡ºBOGOGE!!¡» Deboa was trying to charge toward me, its eyes filled with indignant rage. But¡­ ¡¸¡¾Vine of Spirit Tree¡¿¡¹ Countless vines were conjured from a magic circle, unleashed by the group clad in green robes. The vines filled the place where Deboa was heading and trapped the dragon. At the same time, countless bird-shaped flames rained down upon Deboa, sending its body crashing to the ground. These humans seem more useful than I expected. "" ¡ºThis is the end.¡» I pointed my middle finger and index finger to the ground. Conjuring countless jet-black stumps in a single moment, I fired them toward the fallen Deboa, making the monster suffer another wave of pain. ¡¸CHARGEEEEEEEEEE!¡¹ The moment the blonde, slim man in a baggy attire swung down his long sword while shouting at the top of his lungs, all the humans rushed toward Deboa. Volume 3 - CH 27 Act 3-27: Girimekhala Boot Camp 1 TN: Fumoffu-like scene === £¨What is the so-called beginning?£© As per Kai Heineman¡¯s order(coercion), Felis-sama departed toward Akinashi along with Titan. Left behind were me and the entire Wind Cat¡¯s folks, who soon entered a seemingly endless wasteland with a warped sky. Following that, we got surrounded by many transcendents. More than dozens of them had embarked onto the path of the sword. Those transcendents were looking at us as if they were appraising us. Yes, we looked like frogs being stared at by a snake. I mean, even that black skeleton transcendent, Deimos Lich, trembled nonstop like a newborn calf. Thus, I was convinced that every single one of the transcendents surrounding us was far more powerful than the likes of Titan. At that moment¨D ¡¸What are you going to do to us!?¡¹ The black-haired girl, Maiya, asked in a shrill voice. Her question was directed at the monster with a long nose who stood there as if he was leading the transcendents. She didn¡¯t get an answer from him. Instead, the other party turned around. ¡ºLet¡¯s give them our blessings and train them! This is the divine providence of our great Supreme Ruler. Understand! This is an exchange! This is divine providence! Our duty is to fulfill the divine will of our great Supreme Ruler!¡» He was delivering that speech with bloodshot eyes as he spread his arms. And the air trembled as he spoke. ¡ºWe know that even without you telling us in such a loud voice!¡» A seven-headed golden dragon who led many dragons knitted his eyebrows and replied in an annoyed voice. ¡ºWe don¡¯t really mind, but look, there are around only eighty of them. Who will give their divine protection? Judging by their appearances, they might only be able to have one divine protection, right? And since it¡¯s our Supreme Ruler¡¯s order, we¡¯re not going to back down from this, right?¡» The air tensed the moment a tall man with an angular forehead and an intimidating look on his face finished his words. Deimos Lich¡¯s bones crackled even louder. ¡ºUnderstood. Let¡¯s decide with a lottery. No one has a problem with this, right?¡» ¡ºHa~h, in the end, it came to luck, eh! Well, we used the same method tens of thousands of years ago when we were rubbing each other.¡» The man with an intimidating face and an angular forehead yawned and drank liquor from the gourd in his right hand. ¡ºGirimekhala, what are Our Supreme Ruler¡¯s instructions about the kind of power that should be given to them?¡» The seven-headed golden dragon asked with a curious expression. ¡ºFor now, I guess it¡¯s just enough for them to annihilate the human who surrounded my cursed realm.¡» The monster with a long nose, Girimekhala, immediately replied. ¡ºHuman? Why did he ask us to give these people divine protection just to annihilate those weaklings? Are those humans outside that powerful?¡» Girimekhala shook his head as if to answer the seven-headed golden dragon. ¡ºThey are weak.¡» He replied with short but precise words. ¡ºUhm, what he¡¯s trying to do then?¡» Girimekhala¡¯s face warped like a mad fiend the moment he heard the seven-headed golden dragon ask that. ¡ºThe answer is simple right, Ladon? Our Supreme Master wants these people to trample upon those humans outside, all of them with overwhelming might. And make them suffer and regret forever for their foolish act of pointing their blades toward our great Supreme Ruler. Moreover, divine protection isn¡¯t a big deal. It was cheap!¡» He spread his arms as he gave such a fervent speech. A moment of silence followed Girimekhala¡¯s speech. And then, cheers erupted. ¡ºINDEED! Even if the enemies are worms, we won¡¯t hold back. We¡¯ll crush them with our full power! As expected of our great supreme ruler!¡» ¡ºAs expected of our great master! That¡¯s what makes us follow him!¡» ¡ºSound good. Let¡¯s train them thoroughly too!¡» "" Even with such a strange atmosphere, Girimekhala didn¡¯t seem to care about the matter and just gave a satisfied look. ¡ºWell then. Norn, it¡¯s your turn!¡» All of them then lowered their gazes toward their side, the place where a white-haired little girl, whose appearance resembled a girl in her early teens, stood in silence. ¡ºYee! This is No-chan¡¯s realm. The flow of time in this place is 1/5000 times that of outside.¡» The transcendent looked delighted at the white-haired girl¡¯s explanation. I got a terrible premonition that I couldn¡¯t explain, but¡­ it was as if millions of maggots were crawling on my skin. ¡¸What are we going to do?¡¹ I tried to ask. Or rather, I had no choice but to ask in such a situation. Girimekhala revealed a smirk and turned around to face the transcendents behind him. ¡ºI have received divine order from our Supreme Ruler to supervise your training. You lot have no objection in this regard, right?¡» He asked as if he wanted to get the acknowledgment from the other transcendents. ¡ºIt can¡¯t be helped. It¡¯s Supreme Ruler-sama¡¯s order after all.¡» ¡ºSince that¡¯s the case, let me get a bit of the time. Just like what we experienced before, we have to make sure first that there¡¯s no problem with them even if they have received our divine protection.¡» The transcendents nodded at once, then dispersed after heaving a sigh. After all the other transcendents disappeared, Girimekhala turned around toward us. The moment his three eyes locked on us¡­ ¡ºMY NAME IS GIRIMEKHALA!¡» The monster¡¯s loud voice made the air tremble. ¡ºLET ME TELL you that right at this moment, you lots are maggots! We hate your rotten guts from the bottom of our hearts! I¡¯m gonna crush that sissy personality like a rotten fruit until nothing of it remains! Your sorrow and hatred are my greatest joy!!¡» Thus, the torture in the name of training had finally started with those devilish remarks. Volume 3 - CH 28 Act 3-28: Girimekhala Boot Camp 2 I wondered how long it had been since this hell began. He had made us carry luggage and run while booing us. The worst part about this training was that time flowed differently in this space. In short, no matter how many years we spend here, we wouldn¡¯t feel hungry or sleepy. It was an evil place where only pain and fatigue existed. The only solace for us was that, that the day-and-night cycle in this space was normal. The training could only be described as hard and painful even for me, who had spent a majority of my time in the army. For Wind Cat¡¯s folks, it was simply a hell; every one of them was weeping as they ran in the first several months. Then, at the end of that hellish marathon, we received a power called divine protection. It was only after that we received the real training, namely combat training. The transcendents thoroughly beat up everyone with a stick, forcing them to escape from a rain of fireballs. As a result, everyone mastered divine protection and gained the basics of close-combat and hand-to-hand combat. Although we lived in that nightmare every day, when the night came, we would listen to the great exploit of the existence called Kai Heineman. That was one of the few times we could relax our minds. Such days repeated over and over until I forgot the passage of time. ¡ºEVERYONE, assemble!!¡» At Girimekhala¡¯s yell, all the Wind Cat¡¯s folks, who were in the middle of training, stopped at once. They formed beautiful ranks. ¡ºHear me out! You lot have been oppressed up until now. Am I right?¡» ¡¸¡¸¡¸¡¸¡¸¡¸HA!¡¹¡¹¡¹¡¹¡¹¡¹ The air and ground beneath their feet shook as Wind Cat¡¯s folks raised their voices. ¡ºYou all are maggots with no values. You don¡¯t even have the right to live in this world!!¡» ¡¸¡¸¡¸¡¸¡¸¡¸HA!¡¹¡¹¡¹¡¹¡¹¡¹ Wind Cat¡¯s folks replied with a loud voice and a steady gaze. ¡ºBut, from today onward, all of you are the subordinates of the great Supreme Ruler. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?¡» ¡¸¡¸¡¸¡¸¡¸¡¸HA!¡¹¡¹¡¹¡¹¡¹¡¹ Some people started to cry. ¡ºThen, as subordinates of the Supreme Ruler, it¡¯s only natural for you to pay back the humiliation you received from your enemies thousands of times over. UNDERSTAND!?¡» Girimekhala screamed. ¡¸¡¸¡¸¡¸¡¸YES SIR!¡¹¡¹¡¹¡¹¡¹¡¹ All of us saluted at once. ¡ºThose scum that came here to oppress you lot have already been waiting outside. What are you going to do to them?¡» ¡¸KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL!¡¹ A gentle youth who previously couldn¡¯t even hurt a bug released killing intent as he shouted. ¡ºWhere¡¯s the destination of those pieces of trash amongst the scumbags who dare to spit on the great Supreme Ruler!?¡» ¡¸HELL! HELL! HELL! HELL! HELL! HELL! HELL! HELL! HELL! HELL!¡¹ A young girl who looked the best with a gentle smile on her face replied with bloodshot eyes and a maniacal grin. ¡ºGood! Now let me ask you again. What are you going to do to them?¡» ¡¸¡¸¡¸¡¸¡¸¡¸¡¸KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILL!¡¹¡¹¡¹¡¹¡¹¡¹¡¹ The beautiful chorus of the declaration of ¡ºKill¡» by Wind Cat¡¯s folks reverberated in the entire forest. Their voice became louder and louder¨D ¡ºYou¡¯re free. No one will stop you anymore. NOW, go and show those pieces of trash who¡¯s the boss!!¡» Hearing that, the Wind Cat¡¯s folks let out bestial roars. This change marked the moment when newly-minted and extremely dangerous fanatics had been unleashed in this world. Volume 3 - CH 29 Act 3-29: Wind Cat¡¯s Folks Trampling ¡¾Demonic Forest¡¿. The territorial army of Count Ketzer had gained total control over the forest with its overwhelming number. This army was composed of soldiers with terrible personalities or lowly mercenaries hired with a lot of money. Although mobilizing a lot of people as fast as possible was quite hard, they showed an extremely high aptitude for guerilla-like tactics inside the forest. Thus, there were no doubts about their success in gaining total control over a settlement that was even smaller than a village in a quick sweep. Therefore, when dozens of men and women of all ages, which the army assumed to be the people belonging to Wind Cat, appeared in front of them in a formation, the soldiers assumed that the other party was about to surrender. ¡¸All of you have saved us from the trouble of searching for you guys. Let¡¯s enjoy the young women, and kill the rest.¡¹ The soldiers replied with creepy smiles upon hearing the bandit-like order from their captain. Weapon in hand, the soldiers approached Wind Cat¡¯s folks as if they were enjoying the moment. The latter¡¯s expression turned into fear. However, the old man with a long, white beard, who stood in the front, raised his right hand without even changing his expression. ¡¸Trample them down under our foot!¡¹ He shouted in a deep voice. The next moment, the bodies of the soldiers approaching Wind Cat¡¯s folks got blown in the air. ¡¸Eh?¡¹ That voice soon turned into a shout as the limbs of the soldiers who were blown away got pulverized. This was the beginning of the trampling. ¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô ¡¸There you a~~~~~~re.¡¹ The voice of a young girl filled with ecstasy was getting closer by the moment. ¡¸D-don¡¯t come!!¡¹ ¡¸M-monsteeeeeeeeeeer!!¡¹ The veteran soldiers were screaming like madmen as they slashed toward the blond girl who approached them from the dark gap between the trees. Soon, the soldiers¡¯ bodies got encased in ice along with their weapons. The ground beneath the girl¡¯s feet became frozen with every step she took. ¡¸Is that all? All I did was just freeze them over though!? Shouldn¡¯t you at least tear away your frozen limbs to attack me!? You useless piece of sh*t!!¡¹ The moment she approached them, all the veteran soldiers had already lost their fighting spirits. Thus, she could only grab their frozen collars to vent her anger. ¡¸F-Forgive us.¡¹ The blond girl clicked her tongue upon hearing the soldier begging for his life. She threw him to the ground. The soldier¡¯s despaired wail resounded in the forest as his limbs broke upon impact with the ground. The girl¡¯s figure then vanished into the darkness of the forest after sending a last, scornful look toward the soldier. ¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô ¡¸Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Dammit, all! How did this happen!?¡¹ The bald mercenary leader, who trembled nonstop, asked that question to himself for the nth time today. It was supposed to be an easy win. Or rather, a one-sided hunt by the army. And yet, the one being hunted down right now was the subjugation army of Count Ketzer. ¡¸CAPTAIN, the retreat path has been sealed!¡¹ ¡¸ I know that dammit!¡¹ The leader slowly lost his composure, but the encirclement was getting narrower and narrower. His subordinates had been hunted down, one by one a while ago. By now, only a few of them were left. ¡¸Impossible¡­ Like hell can we win against those monsters. Had I known this, I would¡¯ve never stepped into this den of those devils.¡¹ Finally, one of his subordinates dropped his sword, his teeth clattering non-stop. The limbs of that subordinate moved on their own as if they had gotten tied up by something. ¡¸N-NOOOOOOOO¨D¨D¡¹ The subordinate was dragged into the darkness of the forest without even being able to finish his scream. ¡¸¡­¡¹ Among the sound of clattering teeth, a boy of tender age walked out of the dark of the forest with his hands in his pockets. ¡¸I-It¡¯s just a bra¡ª¡¹ The soldier who just heaved a sigh suddenly found that all his limbs hung in the air. He then found his body thrown up, his scream resounding in the night sky. ¡¸You should try to attack me if you have such a leeway to scream in pain, you weak f©–¡Á¨Œer!¡¹ The soldiers rose in the air as the boy cursed with his enraged voice. The next moment, despaired screams of the soldiers resounded in the night forest. ¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô At a glance, he looked like an oily middle-aged man whose belly was exposed to the air. And that very same middle-aged man was covered in a red-coloured membrane. He ran at a high speed in the forest, blowing Count Ketzer¡¯s soldiers in the air with a single blow. The soldiers who got blown in the air ended up twitching like a dead frog after they fell back to the ground. ¡¸Eh?¡¹ Maybe because he still couldn¡¯t believe what had just happened, he grabbed the head of a nearby soldier who stayed outside of the attack range of the first blow and slammed it on the ground. The impact of that slam created a small crater. ¡¸FU, HAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡¹ White vapor came out of the middle-aged man¡¯s mouth as he exhaled a breath, his bloodshot eyes locking on to the next target. ¡¸UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA¡¹ All the soldiers finally snapped back to reality upon seeing that nightmarish spectacle. However, at that moment, the middle-aged man had already closed in and grabbed the heads of two soldiers. The poor soldiers were thrown into the air, one after another, and then twitched like dead frogs as they fell back to the ground. ¡¸HIIIII!¡¹ The middle-aged man closed in very quickly and stopped right in front of a soldier who was trying to escape and grabbed his head with his hands. ¡¸GIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!¡¹ With that scream as the BGM, the middle-aged man¡¯s knee landed straight on that soldier¡¯s face. The middle-aged man then crouched and ran back to the darkness of the forest, searching for more prey. ¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô Bright spheres flew at high speed, illuminating the dark forest. Each of those bright spheres mercilessly hit on the noses, ears, legs, or arms of Count Ketzer¡¯s soldiers who participated in this operation. ¡¸KIHYAHYAHYAHYAHYAHYA! Look! Targets(enemies) everywhere no matter where you look! There¡¯s not even a need to look for them! It¡¯s hit no matter which direction I¡¯m firing at!¡¹ A rain of blood painted the night sky. In the middle of such pandemonium was a blond boy who looked like he couldn¡¯t even hurt a bug, firing his magic while laughing maniacally. It was an omnidirectional attack. The soldiers who desperately tried to escape could only crouch down in fear whenever that boy came toward them. That was definitely something that could be described as a devil¡¯s parade in a fairy-tale. ¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô ¡¸S-STAY AWAY, YOU MONSTER!¡¹ Veteran soldiers screamed in fear as they fired arrows or fireballs toward the black-haired girl with a bob-cut who had appeared from the darkness of the forest. However, the arrows were burned by a black flame and reduced to fly ash; as for the fireball, it popped when it hit the black-haired girl. ¡¸N-No way¡­¡¹ The blond captain¡¯s teeth clattered non-stop when he saw such an unbelievable spectacle. The next moment, his limbs burst into flames, charred till they became charcoal. The captain¡¯s wails echoed in the forest, suffering from the pain of his charred limbs. ¡¸A¡ª¡¹ Like grease oil poured into the gears, he regained the clarity of his mind when a white mist covered his field of vision. And finally, the captain, who should be the strongest in his team, had finally realized his sorry state, writhing like a worm on the ground. ¡¸NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!¡¹ ¡¸H-HE¨D¡¹ Sparks appeared before the soldiers trying to escape. These sparks transformed into a black firewall that surrounded them. It charred their arms in less than a second. ¡¸P-Please spare u¡ª¡¹ The black-haired girl with a bob cut approached the captain, who had lost his limbs, and was begging for his life with tears and mucus smearing his face. ¡¸We shurrender! Pwease, spare our liveeeeeeeeeeees!!¡¹ The girl approached the captain who was desperately begging for his life, ¡¸SPARE YOUR LIVES!? What did your lord do when my father and mother begged him to spare their lives!? What did you do to my powerless father back then!? Aren¡¯t you the b*stard who just laughed at him as you burned him alive!!¡¹ The black-haired girl seized the captain by his collar and shouted right on his face. ¡¸HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!¡¹ After shoving away the captain, who started to cry like a girl, the black-haired girl looked at him, trembling in rage. However, she bit her lips and ran back into the darkness of the forest. ¡¸It seems your worries haven¡¯t come true, Lucas.¡¹ ¡¸Indeed.¡¹ Two men appeared soundlessly, sending glances toward the soldiers who heaved a sigh of relief for barely escaping death. ¡¸Is there a need to impose the ¡°Don¡¯t kill anyone who has lost their fighting spirit¡± rule? Personally, I think it¡¯ll be faster to kill all of them.¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, they need such a rule so that they can stay as they are instead of someone drunk on their newfound strength.¡¹ ¡¸The so-called warrior¡¯s pride by Supreme Ruler-sama, is it?¡¹ ¡¸No, I think it¡¯s the opposite. These people aren¡¯t warriors, nor did they receive proper training as one. That¡¯s why some stop-gap must be there to stop them from killing non-resisting people.¡¹ One of them, the flame majin, grimaced. ¡¸Yup, I really can¡¯t understand after all.¡¹ He heaved a sigh as he said so with a dejected look on his face. ¡¸Hahahaha! In the end, this is akin to my stunted chivalry. Different from that personage, I failed.¡¹ ¡¸Indeed! The one who understands the Great Supreme Ruler the best is us after all!¡¹ The flame majin clenched his right fist, and when Lucas opened his mouth¡­ ¡¸Well, it¡¯s about the time for the clean up.¡¹ They walked toward the territorial army that was rolling around on the ground. ¡¸My bad, your end was decided long ago. All of you will die by our hand.¡¹ Lucas¡¯s eyes turned black as he sneered at the soldiers. Then, a sinister, jet-black aura enveloped him. The incapacitated territorial army raised despaired screams upon witnessing a form that couldn¡¯t be called human. Their despaired wails echoed in the entire forest. === Volume 3 - CH 30 Act 3-30: Complete Defeat(Side: Mudaito) Southwest of ¡¾Demonic Forest¡¿, ¡¾Demon Lake of Sirauso¡¿, the headquarters of Count Ketzer¡¯s army. ¡¸We have received several messenger birds. All of them are asking permission to withdraw! We have also lost contact with several teams!¡¹ They keep receiving such baffling reports. ¡¸Just what in the world is happening here!?¡¹ The commander of the territorial army, Mudaito, shouted and struck the table with his fist. According to the information they had, Wind Cat¡¯s folks were composed of the relatives of the people who had committed treason toward the Amelia kingdom and who didn¡¯t have a place to live in most parts of the kingdom. In short, they were like illegal citizens. Business aside, their lives had been ruined after the bigshot nobles had targeted them. The dispatched soldiers didn¡¯t need reinforcement to subjugate Wind Cat¡¯s folks. Mudaito pondered the matter. ¡¸Have they by any chance asked the great spirit to make his move?¡¹ He then asked a wild-looking youth who wore a blue robe and was drinking liquor in the corner of his tent. The name of this young man was Onyx. He was the big brother of Ruby and was an over-class mage. Onyx and his brother, Ruby, had been hired after they received a mysterious piece of information about Duchess Felis being in a contract with a great spirit. Since Count Ketzer had paid a huge sum of money to hire them, it would be extremely troublesome if the siblings ended up doing nothing. ¡¸Impossible!¡¹ ¡¸How can you say that? The spirit contracted to Duchess Felis should be quite powerful, right?¡¹ ¡¸Maybe. But Ruby is participating in the subjugation squad. The great spirit should¡¯ve asked quite a hefty price if they were to fight Ruby¡¯s Deimos Lich. Which meant that they would have no choice but to offer the entire life force of Wind Cat¡¯s folks.¡¹ ¡¸Since that¡¯s the case, if Duchess Felis offered the life force of all of Wind Cat¡¯s folks to force the great spirit to make his move and won¨D¡¹ ¡¸Even if it managed to beat Deimos Lich, it should already be close to running out of gas. It won¡¯t be able to beat a thousand soldiers in this forest.¡¹ ¡¸THEN HOW CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE CURRENT SITUATION!? We have already lost half of our soldiers!?¡¹ ¡¸Maybe, the reason for this situation lies in the former commander of Casael¡¯s mage knight. Worry not, no human can win against Deimos Lich. It should be about time for us to receive good news from Ruby and co. ¡¹ ¡¸But¨D¡¹ ¡¸AAH, quit with yer yapping!! If the worst happens, I¡¯m going to be their opponent. You got no problem with that, right?¡¹ Onyx was a summoner. In terms of ability, he was an over-class summoner contracted to several legendary beings. He alone was enough to annihilate the entire territorial army in Demonic Forest. ¡¸Understood.¡¹ Mudaito turned around toward the messenger. ¡¸No one shall withdraw. Anyone withdrawing from battle will be considered a deserter. And don¡¯t ever think that they¡¯ll be able to work for the army again! Deserter shall be executed!¡¹ Thus, the commander gave such an order. A while after that, no more reports entered the HQ. ¡¸Any contact from any squad?¡¹ ¡¸Not yet. But, they didn¡¯t ask for reinforcements after that, so they might have suppressed Wind Cat¡¯s folks.¡¹ ¡¸I see¡­ Well, that¡¯s natural.¡¹ Although he was slightly puzzled by the reason Count Ketzer went so far just to annihilate a community composed of nothing but small fries, the commander stopped thinking about it since it wasn¡¯t his part to think about this matter. His tension finally loosened after he realized this. However, as he heaved a sigh of relief and poured liquor into his glass¨D ¡¸©`£­!!¡¹ A soldier suddenly tumbled into the tent, his teeth rattling non-stop as he pointed outside the tent. The color had drained from the soldier¡¯s face, and he had a hard time speaking. ¡¸What¡¯s the matter!? Tell us quickly!¡¹ Mudaito didn¡¯t doubt his victory a little bit. All that was left was secretly bringing Duchess Felis to Count Ketzer. Then, he could kiss goodbye to this boring job. "" Onyx, who had been enjoying his liquor until now, smacked his lips and stood up from his chair. He walked out of the tent. ¡¸We have been surrounded.¡¹ He muttered with an annoyed look on his face. ¡¸Haah? You mean a surprise attack? What about the soldiers stationed around this place?¡¹ ¡¸Who knows! There have been no reports about them leaving their posts until now.¡¹ Mudaito¡¯s aide shook his hands while replying. ¡ª Have they left their posts to plunder Wind Cat¡¯s folks? Well yeah, they are no different from wild animals once we let loose of their reins. Could it be that the other party used that to surround us? £¨Haah, this is why I hate such a mishmash army that has been put together in hurry!£© Mudaito couldn¡¯t help but curse his undisciplined subordinates. ¡¸Onyx, can you kill those thieves?¡¹ He decided to dispatch Onyx to solve the predicament. ¡¸Okay. But you have to pay more since there are a few of them.¡¹ ¡¸No problem.¡¹ He had no choice but to pay more to escape from their current predicament. The moment he stood from his wooden chair, the tent got torn into pieces. ¡¸UWOOOOOOO!?¡¹ When confusedly looked around, dozens of people appeared around them as the moonlight shone over them. £¨What the¡­ They¡¯re supposed to be amateurs!£© Young women aside, this group also had old men and children in the mix. And none of them looked strong. Part of that was because most of them had never even held a sword in their entire lives. Although he had to raise his vigilance against the magic that they used to tear his tent to shreds, his side still had a trump card called Onyx. And there was no way Onyx would lose against these amateurs. Despite feeling something was amiss since he should¡¯ve arranged many skilled mages around his tent, Mudaito wondered whether those mages did their job properly or not. After all, they had allowed such amateurs to slip into the vicinity of his tent. ¡¸How can they allow these amateurs to get this close to the HQ!?¡¹ He shouted at the guard soldiers who were trembling non-stop since a while ago, but then his eyes went wide. ¡¸FUHI! HIHEHEHE¡­ These people¡­ are monsters.¡¹ Naturally, the soldier who had witnessed the event started crying. He then laughed with tears and drool staining his face as if he was losing his mind. ¡¸MONSTER!? These?¡¹ Onyx squinted, looking at the people who had surrounded the tent. An old man walking with a cane then came forward. ¡¸You have been surrounded by us, Wind Cat¡¯s folks. You have two choices. Surrender obediently and expose all of the Count¡¯s evil deeds. Or else, enjoy a journey to hell.¡¹ He told them to surrender obediently. ¡¸Surrender!? To amateurs like you?¡¹ Onyx asked in a low voice as he took out his knife. ¡¸¡­¡¹ But the threat apparently couldn¡¯t even scare the children who had never experienced battle, All of them just stood in silence, waiting for Mudaito¡¯s reply. ¡¸Don¡¯t get cocky, amateurs! Oi, armored dragon! Wake up!¡¹ Onyx snapped his fingers, looking irritated at Wind Cat¡¯s folks¡¯ fearless attitude. Then, a giant lizard manifested in front of him. It had no wings, but a sharp mouth and black luster scales. Its appearance was unique to a dragon. As the strongest species, dragons were harder to control than spirits, but their strength alone was enough to turn the table. At that moment, Mudaito was convinced of his side¡¯s victory. "" ¡ºYou have prepared the compensation, right? I¡¯m not going to work for free even if the opponents are just small fries, you know?¡» The wingless, armored dragon looked around, gazing at Wind Cat¡¯s folks with a bored look on its face. He looked at Mudaito and his subordinates, before asking that question as it turned to look at Onyx. ¡¸Yeah, there¡¯s a huge amount of life force over there. I¡¯ll give you eight for now. It should be enough to kill the likes of them, right?¡¹ ¡ºEnough. Contract established.¡» The armored dragon opened its mouth as if it were sucking something. At that moment, Mudaito¡¯s aides fell one after another. ¡¸O-Oi!¡¹ ¡¸Can¡¯t be helped, Armored Dragon is a big eater after all. Now, prepare yourself. The price of your stupidity is¡­ death.¡¹ It was equal compensation a summoner had to offer to their summoned beast, namely life force. Mudaito didn¡¯t care even if he had to sacrifice his aides, as long as it could ensure his safety. ¡¸U-Understand. I¡¯ll leave this matter to you.¡¹ The moment Mudaito nodded¡­ ¡¸You, you actually sacrificed your comrades?¡¹ The old man asked with a devilish look on his face. ¡¸Comrades? They were just disposable pawns. And those pawns have fulfilled their role. Right?¡¹ Onyx scornfully asked while turning to Mudaito as if he were making fools out of the old man from Wind Cat¡¯s side. ¡¸Yeah. They should be happy that they died as the sacrifices needed to turn the tide of this battle.¡¹ ¡¸Happy, eh? So you fellas are that kind of people, eh. I¡¯m glad to hear that. Since I don¡¯t have to show mercy against such kind of trash.¡¹ ¡¸You think you can defeat this guy? Dream on.¡¹ Onyx¡¯s face distorted as he spoke. Then¡­ ¡¸Armored Dragon, kill them all!¡¹ He ordered the wingless dragon to attack Wind Cat¡¯s folks. ¡ºI know already. It¡¯s a contract, after all. I want to enjoy human mana-less flesh every once in a while, too. Well, the meat of this old human seems to be tough and unappetizing though.¡» The Armored Dragon walked toward the old man as it said so. It was as if the dragon were taking its time to enjoy the dreaded expression on the old man¡¯s face. The dragon was causing the ground to quake due to its sheer weight. ¡¸Old man, let me¨D¡¹ The old man stopped the black-haired girl with a bob cut with his cane. ¡¸I¡¯m alone enough for this lizard.¡¹ The white-haired old man muttered as he looked at the approaching Armored Dragon. The next moment, his eyes became dyed in golden color as his body underwent a dramatic change. The old man¡¯s body swelled up several times its original size. Golden scales appeared on his skin, sharp claws and fangs grew out from his limbs, and a pair of wings appeared from his back. He transformed into a member of the strongest species in a mere moment. ¡º¡­¡» The Armored Dragon could only look up dumbfoundedly with its mouth half-open at the golden dragon, who was tens of times bigger than it. ¡¸I-impossible¡­¡¹ The same could be said for Onyx. The moment that golden dragon made its appearance, his face became devoid of color Suddenly, a pillar of fire rushed out of the golden dragon¡¯s mouth and covered his entire field of view. When his eyesight returned, the area around the tent had already transformed into a scorching ground. ¡¸Such a thing¡­¡¹ Mudaito fell on his rear upon witnessing such unreasonable power. That was only natural since the ¡¾Demon lake of Shirauso¡¿, which happened to be right behind the army HQ, had evaporated with not even a speck of water left. In place of the lake was now a giant, scorching crater. ¡¸¡­¡¹ Onyx could only tremble non-stop in front of such irrational power. And then¨D ¡ºGIHIIIII!¡» Maybe because it had lost its fighting spirit after the opening attack, the Armored Dragon escaped at its top speed. Unfortunately¡­ ¡ºYou think I¡¯m going to let you off.¡» The eyes of the golden dragon, who spoke in a low voice, shone for a moment. Then, the huge body of the Armored Dragon stiffened. ¡ºI should¡¯ve told you, right? There¡¯s no mercy for you guys. I¡¯ll make sure that you¡¯ll pay the ultimate price for every single cruelty you have committed until now!¡» The golden dragon then looked up at the starry sky, which could be seen very clearly after he transformed part of the forest. ¡ºGUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!¡» Then, he unleashed a roar that shook the forest. The air shook and turned into a ravaging storm with that roar. Inside that raging storm, Mudaito¡¯s fat body was no different from a weightless leaf. It rolled around in that chaos, knocking one uprooted tree after another until finally, the back of his head hit something. His consciousness fell into darkness. Volume 3 - CH 31.1 Act 3-31.1: An Unidentified Dragon From The World Boundary The attacks kept raining down on Deboa, who was pinned down under the earth stakes. The giant sword of destruction that Titan was preparing was finally completed. It decapitated Deboa, ending that giant lizard¡¯s pitiful life. ¡¸Did we¡­ win?¡¹ The lord of Akinashi territory, Oliver Akinashi, quietly muttered as if he were asking himself. ¡¸Yeah, now rejoice. It¡¯s Felis and co.¡¯s and humankind¡¯s victory!¡¹ I raised my arms as I shouted. Then came the cheers from the citizens of Akinashi like a tidal wave. ¡¸Kotetsu Akinashi¡¯s dearest wish has been achieved¡­¡¹ Oliver fell to his knees, tears overflowing from his eyes as he said that with a smile. If that legend was correct, the thing Kotetsu Akinashi wanted the most was to kill the one who had killed his lover, the evil dragon(lizard) Deboa. I could imagine how vexed that man must have been seeing the target of his revenge sleeping quietly while he was powerless to do anything to it. Thus, if I believe that story, the subjugation of Deboa should be the dearest wish of all citizens of the Akinashi territory. Most of all, they had also borne the responsibility of guarding the seal of a monster that would bare its fangs toward them when the seal weakened. Thus, their wish to be freed from the burden imposed on them since their birth was far greater than any normal person outside the Akinashi territory could imagine. ¡¸Everything went according to Kai¡¯s plan, right?¡¹ Rose, who stood beside me, asked with her eyes half-open. "" I received a message from Girimekhala just a while ago, which informed me that Wind Cat¡¯s folks had crushed Count Ketzer¡¯s territorial army and captured their general, Mudaito. The plan went well to the point that it became boring. ¡¸No, we¡¯re not done yet.¡¹ There was still the matter of forcefully exposing the idiots who planned this farce. Until East End, which was under Rose¡¯s management, was on track, there was still a chance that someone outside of the crown contest would interfere with her. Moreover, Count Ketzer was a plain hindrance. I had to arrange a plan to make him disappear. ¡¸Well then, let¡¯s go and appraise the situation. We might have to compromise with the Akinashi house but, the reward should be enough to fund our activities.¡¹ We could use the exaggerated legend about Deboa, the evil dragon that ruined the kingdom, as the banner for our activities. The subjugation reward aside, everything from Deboa¡¯s scales, claws, and fangs, to its entrails would sell for huge amounts of money. ¡¸So this must be what you mean by greatest profit, right?¡¹ Rose heaved a deep sigh, and her line of sight returned to Deboa. ¡¸Master, something big is coming by using that giant lizard as an intermediary.¡¹ At that moment, Asta cut in with her usual flat voice as if that wasn¡¯t a big deal. The next moment, Deboa¡¯s corpse shone with a bright red light as a three-dimensional magic circle appeared with the dragon as its centre. I recognized the letters written in that magic circle. If I¡¯m not wrong, it¡¯s a letter from an ancient divine language in a fairy tale. ¡¸Nemea, evacuate Felis and co. into your realm.¡¹ ¡ºYes! What are you going to do, My Lord?¡» ¡¸Deal with that. That guy might be a little bit too much for you guys. Just focus on protecting everyone inside your realm for now.¡¹ ¡ºYour wish is my command.¡» Nemea placed his right fist on his chest as he gave me a salute, seeing that I turned around and entrusted Fen to Kyuubi. After that, I left Nemea¡¯s realm and descended to the ground. Deboa¡¯s blood evaporated, forming a sphere in the air. Maybe this is the ¡°Incarnation¡± they mentioned in the book. Anyhow, it was an outlier skill that allowed its user to create a living body by using the entrails of a living creature meeting the requirement. Then, the user would move their soul from the spirit world to their new body. In short, we got a guest from another world. There was a high possibility that the guest might be strong. At this rate, the first thing to happen after that outlier skill finished its work would be a battle. And then¨D ¡¸You seem to be happy at this, Master?¡¹ When I turned around upon hearing such an unusual tone in her voice, I saw Asta frowning and glaring at me, something she had never done before. ¡¸Happy? It¡¯s your imagination. I just feel that this fellow is going to be troublesome.¡¹ ¡¸Then can you explain that face, which makes it seem like you¡¯re looking forward to a picnic?¡¹ ¡¸Looking forward to this, eh?¡¹ When I tried to touch my face, I realized that Asta was right; the tips of my lips were raised, forming a huge child-like grin on my face. Sure enough, no matter how you looked at it, I DID look like I was enjoying this situation. Seriously! Do I crave a fight against strong beings so much that it¡¯s showing on my face? And now that I¡¯ve regained my youth memories, I do remember that I wasn¡¯t this kind of battle junkie back then. It seems this personality of mine got suppressed after I pretty much abandoned the notion of finding someone stronger than me in this world. But upon finding the possibility of a being outside of this world, the personality re-emerged. Well, I guess there¡¯s no need to risk my safety in this place. ¡¸As expected, you¡­ really haven¡¯t realized it after all. Master, you somehow remind me of my former lord. No matter how much you try to behave normally, it won¡¯t change the essence of your personality.¡¹ ¡¸How cruel.¡¹ Maybe because she was ignoring my reply, Asta looked at me with an extremely sad look on her face. ¡¸He went mad since his dearest wish didn¡¯t come true.¡¹ She said so with a melancholic expression. ¡¸What are yo¨D¡¹ I was about to ask her to explain, but¡­ ¡¸Master, please do as you like.¡¹ Asta interrupted me, placing her right hand on her ch*st as she bowed. Then, she retreated into Nemea¡¯s realm. Something was amiss about her, but the eve of my battle with the ¡°Incarnated being¡± was around the corner. Since I have no target comparison to measure my strength in this world, this visitor from another world should be able to provide some enlightenment to me. That was how it was supposed to be, and yet¨D ¡¸Seriously¡­¡¹ My right hand touched only the hilt of ¡¾Murasame¡¿. Looks like Asta was right on the money, Maybe, I really do wish for this useless battle to the death. Well, I still have to kill this guest anyway. Doing that might be able to provide me with a hint of the place of my strength in this world. Yeah, this isn¡¯t a useless conflict at all. The sphere with white and red spots slowly formed a giant creature. And as if it were acting in concert, the creature¡¯s magical power increased in amount density. The being that incarnated with the giant lizard as a medium was a three-headed lizard. Size-wise, this being easily surpassed Deboa. It was almost as big as the mountain; it had three pairs of wings and three heads with sharp fangs growing out of their mouths. Appearance-wise, it resembled a dragon. The strangest part about the three-headed lizard was that each of its heads wore a giant military cap from another world. ¡ºIs this¡­ the world of men? Since my incarnation appeared from the corpse of my kin, that means that the game has started. Can I regard it that way?¡» The ultra-sized lizard asked puzzling questions with its uselessly huge body. ¡¸Whatever.¡¹ Dammit¡­ Volume 3 - CH 31.2 Act 3-31.2: An Unidentified Dragon From The World Boundary ¡ºMy name is Azi Dahaka. As per the covenant, I shall commit the ultimate atrocities in this world of men. ¨DI shall burn your fields, your cities, and every country of every race, ¨DI shall trample your dignity under my foot, ¨DAnd bring down absolute despair upon and ruin to all races. For that is, Our¨D¡» ANOTHER ONE OF THAT! ¡¸Well, whatever. I have no interest whatsoever in your reckless proclamations that you can never achieve. In the first place, can you even defeat me?¡¹ I mean, this guy is just a bigger lizard than the previous one. It would be another matter if this fellow¡¯s true strength was restricted right now, but the chance of that happening was approaching imaginary numbers. Why do I always end up encountering such idiots lately? Previously, I arrived too late and the strong one who had defeated Arnold had already left, and what I get now is this fu*king giant lizard, whose only merit is its size. This has become more and more annoying. ¡ºUs, defeating you? Are you serious?¡» From its shaken voice, this lizard seemed to feel like it had just been humiliated. Well, not that I¡¯m interested in this reptile¡¯s psychology. I don¡¯t care about what this giant lizard feels right now even one bit. ¡¸Yeah, from my perspective, you¡¯re just a small fry boasting its weak strength.¡¹ ¡ºW-We are weak small fry¨D¨D¡» Heaving a sigh, I kicked the ground and instantly closed the distance between the giant lizard and me. Then, I brandished ¡¾Murasame¡¿, severed one of the lizard¡¯s three heads that kept speaking nonsense, and returned to my original position. ¡¸Look, you can¡¯t even react to my simple slash.¡¹ The giant lizard, Azi Dahaka, finally reacted and unleashed a deafening roar. ¡¸As expected¡­¡¹ Repulsive! Too repulsive! This fellow¡¯s entire being is getting on my nerves. Just how selfish this lizard can be. Seeing this guy made me recall the feeling of resentment that I hadn¡¯t felt for a really long time. ¡ºHOW DARE YOU LOWLY CREATUREEEEEEEEEEEEE!!¡» A bright red liquid incessantly rained down from this fella¡¯s severed neck. Then, from the blood or pieces of meat of the severed head appeared lizards of various sizes. These lizards, whose number reached a few hundred, bared their fangs toward me. Besides, a new head regenerated from the severed neck as if it had never been severed before. ¡ºEAT THAT INSECT TILL NOTHING IS LEFT OF HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIM!!¡» The army of lizards that were filling the ground rushed toward me. ¡¸¡¾Commandement Sword Art, One Sword Style¡¿¡¢1st Form¡ªDeadline.¡¹ The lizards immediately popped up. The next moment, dozens of demi-dragons, whose number surpassed the one that I killed, appeared from their flesh and blood. ¡ºIT¡¯S FUTILE! MY KIN WILL BE BORN FROM THE SEVERED PARTS!¡» Looks like this giant lizard called Azi Dahaka could reproduce its offshoots from its flesh and blood. ¡¸Useless struggle.¡¹ Did this idiot really think it can beat me with size and numbers alone? That was so ridiculous that I wanted to cry due to this creature¡¯s sheer idiocy. I mean, the monsters in that easy dungeon, which had the same abilities as them, were at the bottom of the barrel. Such an ability was so common that I had gotten bored of it. I could easily kill this fella with my polished swordcraft. I mean, I had nothing to do but polish my swordcraft for hundreds of thousands of years, after all. I took ¡¾Murasame¡¿ and held it by its sheath in my left hand. My right hand was touching its hilt as I closed my eyes and lowered my stance. A dome-shaped membrane spread out from my body, covering that idiotic giant lizard entirely. That idiot had yet to realize that it was already in my realm. I gripped the hilt of ¡¾Murasame¡¿ with my right hand and loaded my magical power into it amid the sound of the distorted air. My crimson magical power started to leak from ¡¾Murasame¡¿, spun, then formed a vortex. ¡ºWhat¡¯s the matter? Give up alrea¨D¡» ¡¸¡¾Neo Commandement Sword Art; One Sword Style¡¿, 6th Form¨DZero¡¹ I muttered the words of power, targeting the idiotic clown, which didn¡¯t even realize that it was already in my realm. ¡¾Murasame¡¿¡¯s blade swung at godspeed. The first thing to vanish was sound. Then it was colour, dyeing the world in pure white. Everything had vanished in this pure white world. And then, the sound returned, followed by colour; till finally, the world came back to life. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! Along with a tornado-like blast that mowed down everything and the deafening roar that shook my eardrums, a concentric, circle-shaped hole formed in the meadows north of Akinashi. ¡ºGuh¡­ Ga¡­¡» I stood right before the bottomless hole my sword art had created. Floating right above that hole was the only head left of that giant, three-headed lizard. ¡¸Heh! It seems you finally become a little bit smarter.¡¹ Maybe it was some escape mechanism like how a lizard detaches its tail. Nevertheless¨D ¡ºWhat¡­ happened just now? You¡­ what are you¡­ doing to us?¡» Far from having recovered, the creature¡¯s form had already lost its previous grandeur; right now, it was no different from the other dying lizards. ¡¸Simple. I just unleashed a slash filled with my compressed magical power.¡¹ Living beings aside, magical power dwelled in inanimate objects, too. In short, magical power acted like the blueprint of existence itself. And by nature, strong magical power naturally would erase weak magical power. And this 6th Form¨DZero was a skill I had created by utilizing that fundamental nature of magical power to the fullest. This form allows me to unleash innumerable slashes of my compressed magical power as long as my mana allows that within my realm. In short, it¡¯s a long-range deadline filled to the brim with my compressed magical power. It can invalidate miracles caused by my opponent¡¯s magical power. Moreover, the firepower of this skill has been raised to its utmost limit due to the loaded magical power, shaving the ground, and leaving behind a huge hole as a result, making it a slightly troublesome skill. ¡ºI-M-P-O-S-S-I-B-L-E¡­ This great me is¨D¨D¡» ¡¸Still trying to escape from reality before your eyes, eh. Your idiocy is incurable indeed.¡¹ I shrugged, then pointed the blade of ¡¾Murasame¡¿ at that incurable, idiotic lizard head. ¡ºWhat¡­ are¡­ you¡­ trying¡­ to do¡­ to¡­ us?¡» ¡¸Why bother asking? I have to literally cut you down till you die, of course. Weren¡¯t you the one who said that you¡¯re going to trample our dignity under your foot and bring upon absolute despair on us, right? Since that¡¯s the case, you have to be prepared to experience that yourself, right?¡¹ Now, it was the time to finish off this fella who annoyed me. ¡ºS-Stooph!¡» ¡¸No way! Blame yourself for being such an eyesore for me.¡¹ ¡ºH-Help¨D¡» Thus, I began the dismantling process with that despaired wail of that giant lizard called Azi whatever-it-was as the cue. Volume 3 - CH 32 Act 3-32: Transient After Taste of Victory(Side: Rosemary) ¡¸¡­¡¹ ¡º¡­¡» Akinashi¡¯s citizens, the three kings of the underworld, and even Kai¡¯s subordinates could only look absentmindedly at the gruesome trampling act being projected in the air. ¡¸Is that three-headed dragon stronger than Deboa?¡¹ It was a dragon much bigger than Deboa, and its blood and flesh could give birth to new evil creatures. Thus, from a common-sense point of view, it was natural for me to have such a guess as I had seen how Big Sis Felis and co. had defeated Deboa. But then, the battle between Kai and that giant dragon got over way too quickly. Or rather, you couldn¡¯t even call that a battle; it was akin to a giant trampling an ant under his foot. Even an inexperienced person like me could see that a hopeless gap of strength lay between Kai and that dragon. ¡¸Yeah. And I¡¯m not just referring to the main body. All those lizards formed from that giant lizard¡¯s flesh and blood can kill Deboa with a flick of their fingers.¡¹ In this situation, where everyone was in awe of that scene, Asta was the only one to reply to me with a look as if she had expected this situation. ¡¸Those dragons¡­ are stronger than Deboa¡­¡¹ I realized that a cramped smile had made its way to my face at this very moment. Deboa was widely known as an evil dragon who could single-handedly destroy a country. Did Kai just slay hundred¡ª no, thousands of Deboa-class monsters in a single hit? He just showed a strength that was outside of the human realm. ¡¸Rose, just who in the world is that person?¡¹ ¡¸I also want to know about that.¡¹ Only now did I realize that maybe, I only know the human called Kai Heineman on a superficial level. ¡¸As if a lowly human like you can understand our master, who is a mystery to even us.¡¹ Asta said that as she pointed her thumb finger at Nemea and the others and Zack, who was still mesmerized by the scene of Kai¡¯s battle. Upon seeing the spectacle on the screen, even Nemea, who seemed to know a part of Kai¡¯s secret, Kyuubi, and the others were drenched in cold sweats as they stood still like unmoving dolls. Among them, the puppy in Kyuubi¡¯s arms, Fen, was the only one to look at Kai¡¯s battle with gleaming eyes as if he were a child seeing his hero fight in front of him. ¡¸Regardless of his will, this world is already revolving around him. And¨D¡¹ Asta seemed to be hesitating for a moment, but¡­ ¡¸It seems the slaughter has ended. I have to proceed to the next part of the plan.¡¹ After confirming that Kai had truly defeated the three-headed dragon, Asta turned around and vanished. ¡¸Big Sis Felis, I have something to tell you after this.¡¹ ¡¸Uhm. It¡¯s the plan concocted by that Devil over there, right? Honestly, it sent a chill down my spine.¡¹ She might be telling the truth. Big Sis Felis wrapped her arms around her as she looked up at the scene that showed the figure of Kai returning his sword to its sheath. ¡¸I finally understand the meaning behind the remarks of Zack-dono and the others.¡¹ Lord Oliver interrupted our conversation with a helpless, yet refreshed look on his face. The citizens were also looking at us with mixed looks, ranging between expectation and anxiety. Maybe I could use this situation to our advantage. ¡¸Lord Oliver, in the name of this Rosemary Loto Amelia, I look forward to your cooperation with my territory in East End.¡¹ With a gesture befitting that of royalty, I straightened my back and placed my left hand on my waist; it was a gesture asking for cooperation. In response, Lord Oliver knelt in front of me. ¡¸We, the Akinashi house, pledge our allegiance to Her Highness Rosemary.¡¹ He declared so with a loud and clear voice. Lord Oliver had officially joined me as an ally. But, even if the Akinashi house pledged their allegiance toward me, it didn¡¯t mean that I would become the lord of their territory. It just meant that they supported me in this crown contest. Nevertheless, I managed to gain the first support from a territory lord. This was a huge first step to realizing my goal. The citizens of Akinashi territory let out deafening cheers upon hearing their lord¡¯s declaration. I clenched my right fist, feeling the joy of this transient victory. Volume 3 - CH 33 Act 3-33: An Extremely Unbelievable Report(Side: Edward Loto Amelia) The Amelia Kingdom, first conference room. ¡¸What? Can you repeat what you said just now?¡¹ The king of the Amelia kingdom, Edward Loto Amelia, unexpectedly asked the intelligence officer to repeat their report. ¡¸Count Ketzer¡¯s attempt to attack the Akinashi territory, where Her Highness Rosemary is staying, by hiring Serpent Blood has been thwarted by the three kings of the underworld¨D¡¹ ¡¸AIN¡¯T THAT O¡ª Cough! I mean the part after that!¡¹ Edward couldn¡¯t help but strike at the armrest of his throne to show his irritation to ¡ºGrass¡», who tried to repeat their report for the second time. ¡¸Duchess Felis worked together with the three kings of the underworld, the ¡¾Tao Family¡¿, ¡¾Lost Forest¡¿, and ¡¾Crimson Raven¡¿ and subjugated the revived Evil Dragon Deboa. Although an unidentified dragon from another world then appeared from Deboa¡¯s corpse, Her Highness Rosemary¡¯s royal guard, Kai Heineman, slaughtered this dragon as if he were trampling on a mere lowly bug. After that, Duchess Felis, who represented Wind Cat¡¯s folks, and all the leaders of the three kings of the underworld pledged their allegiance to Her Highness Rosemary.¡¹ That news was akin to a storm blowing into the frozen conference room. Rather than getting shocked, most people in the conference room were filled with confusion. They had no idea whether the reputable Grass, who was known for almost hateful accuracy, was joking when reporting this matter. No one in that room had any idea. But, the current Edward had no such leeway to worry about his vassals. Thus, when he kept his silence. ¡¸You¡¯re all too noisy. Be quiet.¡¹ A tall, black-haired man, the Amelia kingdom¡¯s prime minister Johannes Roosevelt, who was standing beside the king from the very beginning raised his voice to control the situation. Even though his voice wasn¡¯t that loud, everyone in the room could hear it. They immediately turned silent. ¡¸Grass, I believe in you. At least until a moment ago. Now let me ask you for the last time. Is that information credible?¡¹ The one who had sent Grass to Akinashi territory was none other than Edward himself. The reason was to escort Rose. Rose was a political enemy of the high-ranking nobles of the Amelia kingdom, who over-followed tradition. The high-ranking nobles hated Rose enough to have even someone of Fracton¡¯s status sell her to the empire. Thus, it wasn¡¯t just Grass; Rose¡¯s escorts were also standing by near Akinashi. In fact, the best option was to send Arnold to escort Rose, but unfortunately, Arnold was currently attending an anti-demon race conference in the neutral city ¡¾Babel¡¿ as Edward¡¯s representative. Thus, Edward had no choice but to entrust Rose¡¯s protection to the kingdom¡¯s strongest force, Saint King Sorcery Knight Order. Kai Heineman was far more powerful than Geralt. Thus, he had assumed Kai Heineman could at least buy some time till the reinforcements from Saint King Sorcery Knight Order could arrive. And yet, the emergency turned out to be a literal over-the-top national crisis. ¡¸Yes. I swear upon the god in heaven that my report contains no falsehood!¡¹ Grass didn¡¯t even try to lie. Reporting falsehood was the biggest taboo for an intelligence officer. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t do that kind of job filled with danger. ¡¸What do you think about this situation, Johannes? Do you think such a feat is possible?¡¹ ¡¸Your Majesty, this is no longer the matter of possible or impossible. IT HAS ALREADY HAPPENED.¡¹ ¡¸But, this is the revival of the legendary evil dragon that has been sealed for three hundred years, you know!? And of all the time, it just happened to take place when that tomboy daughter of mine HAPPENED to stay in Akinashi. As if I can take that as a MERE coincidence!¡¹ ¡¸Yes. That¡¯s why this was most likely the plan of Rosemary¡¯s faction.¡¹ ¡¸You mean they planned to revive the evil dragon that almost destroyed this kingdom in the past from the very beginning!?¡¹ ¡¸The only ones who can become citizens of East End are the people of Wind Cat. But, they are famous thieves who pillage Count Ksar¡¯s house for their food and wealth. If they wanted to be pardoned, Count Ksar¡¯s house had to commit a felony toward the kingdom or Her Highness Felis had to gain an achievement big enough to cancel the charge they have committed until now. Look, it¡¯s exactly what happened this time, right?¡¹ Surely, by attempting to assassinate Rose, Ketzer Ksar had pretty much committed a felony toward the kingdom. Not to mention that the kingdom had long since been aware of the crimes he had committed in his own territory. Once the government used that as a charge against him, not even someone of his status could protect himself. As if the charge alone wasn¡¯t enough, the achievement of subjugating the legendary evil dragon alone was enough to free Felis and the Wind Cat¡¯s people from their crimes and overthrow the Ksar house and send them to the gallows. But, that was only possible if Felis and co. managed to defeat the evil dragon. Normally, such a plan should have failed. ¡¸Doesn¡¯t seem like a plan made by a sane person.¡¹ ¡¸Because even that legendary evil dragon is nothing more than a slightly bigger lizard for the one who made that plan.¡¹ ¡¸Kai Heineman, huh¡­¡¹ ¡¸Yes. He might be slightly disrespectful, but his skill to draft such a bold, dangerous, yet rewarding plan for Her Highness Rose and the ability to accomplish that plan is enough proof of his calibre.¡¹ ¡¸I know that! We¡¯re talking about the legendary evil dragon that almost drove this kingdom to its destruction in the past, you know!? No sane person will draft a dangerous plan that involves such a dangerous creature, not to mention that he involved the three kings of the underworld in that operation too!¡¹ ¡¸Your Majesty, this is simply the difference between his recognition and your recognition. The three kings of the underworld aren¡¯t bound by the limit of a race like many other humanitarian organizations. But, they can¡¯t subjugate the evil dragon Deboa by themselves. They¡¯re akin to freebies from a street stall that happened to have caught Kai Heineman¡¯s attention. But, their allegiance to Her Highness Rose guarantees enough manpower for Her Highness Rose to manage her own territory. That¡¯s their only value to Kai Heineman.¡¹ ¡¸So the key player of this plan is none other than Felis¡¯s Titan, eh. But, that spirit isn¡¯t a reliable force. Could it be that Felis has finally understood how to use Titan properly?¡¹ One of the four great elemental spirits, the spirit king of the earth¨DTitan. Despite his tremendous power, he needed a large amount of life force from many humans to use his power. A long time ago, due to the intense power struggle in the kingdom, a maid who was a childhood friend of Felis ended up in a comatose state for many days after she gave her life force to Titan to protect Felis. Ever since that incident, Felis had become extremely reluctant to use Titan¡¯s power. Thus, no one had ever expected that Kai Heineman could force Titan to work for Felis for free. He looked at Grass. ¡¸This is just my personal opinion, but I don¡¯t think Felis-sama can control an unbridled horse like Titan without outside interference.¡¹ It was a shocking remark. ¡¸The report also mentions that Kai Heineman might be a summoner, too. Does that mean he offered great compensation in order to let Felis unleash Titan power?¡¹ An equal compensation was indispensable to use a higher-ranking existence¡¯s power. This was the absolute truth for all summoners. ¡¸No, that¡¯s wrong. How should I say¡­ Rather than offering compensation, it¡¯s more like¡­¡¹ ¡¸NO COMPENSATION YOU SAY! Don¡¯t beat around the bush and just tell us already!¡¹ An old man wearing a navy blue robe, the chief of the court of sorcerers, ended up losing his usual composure and pressed Grass to answer. The normally gentle-looking old man wasn¡¯t the kind of person who would scold others for this matter. That showed just how important the contents of the report, which involved summoning arts, were and how essential it was for the sorcerer. ¡¸It looked like Titan was frightened of Kai Heineman.¡¹ "" As if a bomb had exploded in the throne room, that piece of information set the room abuzz. ¡¸HOW RIDICULOUS!! I can still understand if the spirit king liked him!! And yet, frightened? Of a mere human on top of that!!¡¹ Upon hearing the chief of the court of sorcerers shouting like that, ¡¸That¡¯s something you can say since you have never seen the one called Kai Heineman MADE HIS MOVE IN PERSON. THAT is no longer a human. Anyone who was there and saw that scene will naturally understand why Titan is so frightened of THAT.¡¹ Grass¡¯s outburst, which was filled with his raw emotions, was enough to cause another hustle and bustle in the throne room. But all of it was shut down with a single glance from the prime minister. ¡¸We have strayed from the topic. What are you going to do, Your Majesty?¡¹ Johannes forcefully changed the topic. ¡¸Any evidence of the subjugation of the Evil Dragon?¡¹ ¡¸The body has already vanished since it was used as a medium for divine possession, but fortunately, Deboa was decapitated before that happened, and its head didn¡¯t get used as a medium.¡¹ There was no doubt left if there was clear evidence of the subjugation. ¡¸Since that¡¯s the case, let¡¯s show that head and recognize the achievement of those who fought Deboa.¡¹ ¡¸Does that mean you¡¯re going to recognize the three kings of the underworld and Wind Cat as official citizens of East End?¡¹ ¡¸Yes, they subjugated that disastrous evil dragon, after all. And that¡¯s just one of the rewards.¡¹ One could say that allowing the three kings of the underworld, whose power rivaled a part of an army division, was a huge windfall for the Amelia kingdom. Originally, such an event could flip the kingdom upside-down. But the uproar could be avoided with their achievements in the subjugation of the evil dragon Deboa. Edward could only marvel at Kai Heineman¡¯s brilliant countermeasure. ¡¸But, is there any evidence about Ketzer Ksar¡¯s attempt to kill Rose? Even if the people employed by Ksar have confessed about this matter, punishing him is going to be difficult if he insists that he¡¯s not involved in this matter, you know!¡¹ ¡¸Regarding that matter, we have received a secret message from Kai Heineman.¡¹ Johannes was the one who replied instead of Grass as he took out a letter from his pocket and handed it over to Edward. Contrary to his usual expressionless face, Johannes now wore an extremely malicious smile as he handed the letter to Edward. Seeing that, Edward couldn¡¯t help but wonder what was written in the letter that was enough to make his monster-in-human-skin prime minister, who was famous for his mind of steel, show such a sinister smile. Going by his experience, Edward guessed that the things written in that letter were an extremely malicious plan that could ruin the target. £¨Dammit, like hell I want to see that kind of malicious plan.£© By now, Edward had already been convinced. Both Johannes and Kai Heineman were the same kind of people: those who enjoyed such malicious schemes more than three meals a day. Edward resolved his heart as he broke the seal, then scanned the content of the letter. ¡¸Is this, true?¡¹ Edward unconsciously asked Johannes while doing his best to suppress the boiling hot rage that almost drove him to the point of madness. ¡¸In the letter that Kai Heineman sent me containing the details of this matter, he wished for Your Majesty to confirm it by yourself.¡¹ ¡¸Understood.¡¹ Edward understood that he had to confirm that with his own eyes to prevent any mishaps. A mere count! How dare he plot against royalty¡­ I guess it¡¯s about the time I taught Ketzer Ksar of his position. Edward tried his best to suppress the rage in his heart. ¡¸Johannes. Tell Kai Heineman that I¡¯ll play along in his little game.¡¹ ¡¸Yes, Your Majesty!¡¹ Johannes replied while placing his right hand on his chest and bowing respectfully. This might be the first time in the Amelia kingdom¡¯s long history where a mere count dared to plot against a royalty to such a point. Fine then! If the content of this letter is true, then the real culprit must be hiding in the dark. If other princes or princesses are involved in this matter, then all of them would receive severe punishment for their crimes. £¨Okay, calm down now. Confirming the truth comes first.£© Fortunately, only Edward¡¯s close aide was in the throne room right now, so outsiders had no idea about this situation. But this didn¡¯t mean that it wouldn¡¯t leak outside. Thus, he desperately suppressed his rage and acted like usual to prevent any traitors amongst his aide from suspecting his behavior. After he somehow regained his composure, Edward looked at Johannes, who stood by his side. ¡¸Well then, time to do our daily duties.¡¹ And so, the government¡¯s affairs resumed along with Johannes¡¯s command. Volume 3 - CH 34 Act 3-34: Ridiculous End A certain mansion in Ksar territory¡¯s royal capital ¡¸I see. You¡¯ve captured the two targets, eh? So, what about cleaning up the aftermath?¡¹ ¡¸We replaced them with burnt corpses. Her Highness Rosemary¡¯s subordinates have already spread wanted posters for Serpent Blood, who were responsible for the attack in Akinashi territory. Moreover, Lord Oliver Akinashi also died of natural the raid on Serpent Blood. Now the kinashi family will be crushed due to them not being able to protect Her Highness Rosemary.¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, that¡¯s it. I can feel at ease then.¡¹ Location wise, the Akinashi territory was inside count Ksar¡¯s territory. So, if Akinashi house falls, the territory will without a doubt be added to count Ksar¡¯s fiefdom, and that decision would be finalized when the achievement of elimination of Serpent Blood, who killed Rosemary and captured the Wind Cat, is added to the count¡¯s achievements. ¡¸What about Serpent Blood¡¯s disposal?¡¹ ¡¸Please rest assured. Following your instruction, after eliminating Wind Cat in ¡¾Demonic Forest¡¿ and reorganizing, every single one of them was killed on the spot. The truth has already been buried in the forest.¡¹ With this tactic, he got the achievement of slaying a murderer of royalty, and got his hand on Akinashi territory. ¡¸What about the contracted spirit of duchess Felis?¡¹ ¡¸Both Titan and Ket were plundered by Onyx siblings. Her Highness Felis is only a frail and powerless woman right now.¡¹ Everything went according to my plan. ¡¸So where¡¯s the two of ro¨C no, the two slaves right now?¡¹ To him, they were no longer Rosemary and Felis, and had become his slaves, so there was no need for him to use honorifics on them. ¡¸They¡¯re been waiting for you in the next room.¡¹ ¡¸I see. I guess it¡¯s time to shower them with love.¡¹ Well then, what should I do to them? Simple torture isn¡¯t interesting.. So let¡¯s have a fill of their youthful bodies first. Nothing would beat the despaired look on their beautiful faces. He walked in a hurry towards the room where the two women were bound, with an undisguised, excited look on his face. In the inner side of the room, beside the window, two beautiful women were bound to chairs. The pink-haired girl clad in pure white dress, Rosemary, and the youthful, blonde-haired girl, Felis. Both are considered the two most beautiful women in Amelia kingdom. ¡¸Great, this is the best.¡¹ Every day, he dreamed of when he would be able to trample the two princesses under his foot. But dream alone wasn¡¯t enough to excite him to this extent. When he was about to run toward the two slaves to lick their body, the two suddenly stood up from their chairs. ¡¸You can¡¯t escape from me, Rose~, Feli~s. I¡¯ll love you both so much, to the point that you can¡¯t stand anymore.¡¹ He sidestepped, trying to corner them. ¡¸Nay, we¡¯ve no intention to escape.¡¹ Though he felt something was amiss upon hearing Rosemary¡¯s rude remark unbefitting of a princess, her beautiful face, snow white skin, and beautiful voice was the same as the one that always appeared in his dream. Thus, he ignored the doubt in his mind. ¡¸That¡¯s quite a nice resolution. I¡¯m your master, after your futile attempt, you¡¯ve to call me Ketzer-sama.¡¹ He declared so to the two slaves. ¡¸Are you insane? The one you¡¯re trying to assault are royalties you know?¡¹ Upon hearing the man, Felis spoke with trembling voice, ¡¸Former royalty. From today onward, you¡¯re my slaves. Nothing more than livestock¡¹ He declared so, as if asserting his current dominant status over the two. ¡¸So? What are you going to do to the two of us? Upon hearing Rosemary slightly peculiar question, he decided to declare his future plan for the two slaves. ¡¸Naturally, I¡¯ll enjoy every nook and cranny of your pure, innocent, beautiful and young bodies,. After I¡¯ve my fill, you two will become my playthings.¡¹ ¡¸Your playthings?¡¹ ¡¸What I love the most is seeing the despaired face of a woman as I ra*pe them. And then cutting of their fingers and limbs, one by o¨D¨D¡¹ ¡¸Okay, that¡¯s enough. I understand just what kind of trash you are. That basta*rd Kai Heineman! Just what in the he*ll is he trying to show me! Isn¡¯t he basically asking me to get rid of this pig for Rose¡¯s sake!¡¹ Rosemary¡¯s voice suddenly interrupted Ketzer¡¯s speech as she cursed someone. ¡¸But, I guess we have to thank him for this event. Thanks to him, Her Highness Rose and Felis-sama didn¡¯t have to meet this filthy pig.¡¹ Felis also stood up from the chair, clasping a long sword in her right hand as she glared at Ketzer, as if the latter was her lifelong enemy. ¡¸Eh? S-Sword?¡¹ Ketzer then realized that Rosemary and Felis wrists, which should¡¯ve been tied to the armrest of the chair with metal chains were now free and the lock around Felis¡¯ hand vanished into thin air, and was replaced with a long sword. Rosemary sent a sidelong glance toward the awfully dumbfounded Ketzer, who was looking at Felis with his eyes half open. ¡¸Geralt, you don¡¯t want this pig to meet Felis right?¡¹ She asked a completely incoherent question. Ketzer had never learned or trained in martial arts. He had no way to counter even a martial artist greenhorn. ¡¸S-SOLDIERS, RESTRICT THESE TWO SLAVES IMMEDIATELY!¡¹ Ketzer shouted at the top of his lungs, calling for his soldiers and yet, the one who came into the room was the mysterious group wearing brown mantles. The group wearing brown mantles blocked the entrance of the room, preventing Ketzer from escaping as all of them glared at Ketzer with an enraged look on their faces. ¡¸W-WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE!? DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM!? I¡¯M THE LORD OF THIS TERRITORY, KETZER KSAR!!¡¹ Upon hearing Ketzer speak in desperation, ¡¸I know. Right, Geralt?¡¹ Rosemary replied with sinister smile on her face. ¡¸HA!¡¹ Felis¡¯ figure blurred for a moment. The next moment, Ketzer felt something like heated iron rod descending from above, which was then followed by pain. When Ketzer saw his right hand, the place where the searing pain came from, he saw red liquid gushing out like fountain. ¡¸GIHYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!¡¹ Ketzer writhed in pain like a pig about to be slaughtered, holding onto the wound on his arm as someone grabbed his hair. When his head was forcefully yanked up, he saw the figure of Felis crumbling down, replaced with the figure of a man with long sideburn, he was the one who grabbed Ketzer by his hair and glared at the latter like an enraged demon. ¡¸Oi, don¡¯t kill him.¡¹ ¡¸Naturally. I almost blow my top when I hear what he tried to do. A swift and painless death is too comfortable for this disgusting pig who dared to concoct such plan against Her Highness Rose and Felis-sama, I won¡¯t be satisfied till I put him into series of most painful tortures. ¡¹ ¡¸I think you don¡¯t have to hold back on this occasion.¡¹ ¡¸¡­¡¹ That remark rendered the blonde-haired man with long sideburn speechless, he then raised his right hand and snapped his fingers. The other men then threw the brown mantle they wore on their body, revealing the pure white armor beneath. A crest was engraved on the chest part of that particular armor. It was the crest of royal family. In short, they were royal guard under direct control of the king. ¡¸N-N-N-NO WAY¡­¡¹ And the only one who could mobilize royal guard was none other than the king himself. His first assumption was, Rosemary begged king Edward to mobilize royal guards. Could it be that the king was long since aware of my plan? That should be impossible with all the preparation I made beforehand. Such situation should be impossible. Thus, he wondered for what reason did Rosemary mobilize the royal guard? Rosemary sneered at him as the count fell into doubt, bewilderment and impatience. ¡¸This ring is specially borrowed from Kai Heineman. By wearing this, one can change their figure, voice, even their presence. Now take a look.¡¹ The next moment, Rosemary figure was replaced with a handsome, middle-aged man overflowing with wild aura whose blonde hair growing like a mane. ¡¸N-No way¡­¡¹ It was the figure that every noble in the kingdom knew about. Ketzer raised a desperate wail upon seeing the man¡¯s figure, as if trying to escape from reality. And then, the sneer of the man turned into the expression of an enraged beast, ¡¸AS A BROTHER, AND A FATHER, I ABSOLUTELY CANNOT TOLERATE YOUR TRANSGRESSION WHICH KNEW NO BOUND!! WORRY NOT, I SHALL MAKE YOU REGRET THAT YOU WERE EVER BORN IN THIS WORLD BEFORE I SEND YOU TO THE WORST POSSIBLE DEATH!!¡¹ The guilty raised a scream filled with indignation, and resentment. ¡¸UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!¡¹ The royal knights ignored the wailing Ketzer, apprehended him, and dragged him out of the room in the most humiliating way. Volume 3 - CH 35 Act 3-35: The Reason for Duchess Escape From Royal Capital After seeing the end of the festival, I spared no time and headed back to the ¡¾Demonic Forest¡¿ to reunite with Anna, who was babysitting Faf and Myu. Sure enough, Faf was suffering from withdrawal symptoms due to my absence, and her mood took a nose dive. Thus, I had to pat her head till she was satisfied, and carry her back to Akinashi territory, by riding on Phoenix after she got her fill of ¡°Master¡¯s Element¡± and fell asleep. Two weeks have gone by since that festival. I flew toward the royal capital with Phoenix right after the subjugation of Deboa. I received a contact from the prime minister of Amelia kingdom, Johannes Roosevelt, and handed over the item I previously mentioned to him. Since that black bellied prime minister was truly interested in the said item, my plan went rather smoothly. The first step was the elimination of the hindrance called Ketzer Ksar. The plan to make the king witnessing the trashiness of Ketzer went without a hitch, that idiotic pig exposed his own malicious intentions right in front of the king and got arrested as a result. After such revelation, it was only natural for him to be receive the worse part of the punishment, the torture. He was then executed after all of his wicked deeds were revealed to the public. Naturally, no way would the king spare Ketzer house from receiving punishment as well, moreover, he didn¡¯t stop with just that, but also crushed all corrupt government officials and wealthy merchants in Ketzer territory. In the end, the vast Ksar territory was handed over to the lord of Akinashi territory, Oliver Akinashi, for his cooperation during the subjugation of the evil dragon Deboa. Thus, I got rid of troublesome trash that might create unnecessary trouble in future. Well, that was only one of Rose¡¯s enemies though, or should I say that she is surrounded by enemies from all sides. Getting rid of Ketzer Ksar alone wasn¡¯t enough to make her feel relieved. The second step was turning Wind Cat¡¯s folks and three kings of underworld into citizens of the territory governed by Rose, and that was approved easily thanks to their merits in subjugating Deboa. The important factor that made the king to approve of the Wind Cat people might be because he wished for Felis to return to the main stage. It seems he flexed his authority in this matter. In short, one might even say that the king had been personally rigging the crown contest for the Wind Cats, who were sheltered by Felis. And what surprised me the most was the approval for the citizenship of three kings of underworld. I mean, they¡¯re rowdy fellas who called themself as the ¡®underworld¡¯s royalty¡¯, and not everyone of them was a native of Amelia kingdom. Thus, I expected the government to reject the request for citizenship of East End since their merits in subjugating the evil dragon were likely far from enough to gain the government¡¯s approval. In the end, all back-up plans that I had prepared for such situation had to be scrapped. The third step was the treatment of the surviving members of Serpent Blood. Those fellas followed my instructions properly and exposed Ketzer Ksar¡¯s wicked deed in an official court. Additionally, in regard to their merits in subjugating Deboa, they were spared from execution and only sentenced to work to manage the development of western region. As long as they did their job properly, they would receive proper salary (varying with region) and have total freedom at the end of the fifteenth-year sentence. It was an extremely benevolent punishment considering the crimes they had committed. The fourth step was regarding the giant hole that suddenly appeared beside Akinashi territory. Anyhow, according to the messenger dispatched from the royal capital, the formal negotiation with Amelia kingdom would be held in Akinashi territory. Thus, I thought that I had to do something about that hole before the appointed date, but the hole was filled up in just few hours with the help of the earth attribute monster in ¡¾Subjugation Picture Book¡¿. However, my original plan was for Felis to use Titan¡¯s power to fill the hole with soil, but she returned to Wind Cat¡¯s secret hideout as soon as she had the chance since she was worried about her people. Even considering her escape drama, it appeared she really tried to get away this time, but Felis was an indispensable asset for the incoming negotiation with the kingdom. Naturally, I didn¡¯t have any intention to keep playing along with the selfishness of that spoiled princess. Thus, after various considerations, we decided to bring her back by force. A white-haired gentleman entered Akinashi lord¡¯s mansion carrying a huge sack on his back. ¡¸Sorry for the trouble, Lucas-san¡¹ ¡¸Please sir, Your Wish is Our command¡¹ The white-haired gentleman, Lucas, then gently placed the rampaging sack from his back on the floor, and bowed with his right hand on his left chest. Soon, the gazes of all figures present in the room shifted to Lucas, a human figure leapt out from the said sack. ¡¸LUCAS! YOU, HOW DARE YOU TO PUT ME IN A SACK! I ALMOST DIE FROM THE SHO¡ªEH!?¡¹ The person shouted vehemently for a while before realizing that she was the centre of attention. ¡¸Your seat is over here, big sis Felis¡¹ Rose pointed toward the chair prepared for Felis with a smile on her face, not allowing the latter to refuse. This was something that I realized recently, but Rose shows a whole-faced smile when her stress level reaches the cap. The version of Rose in front of me was from right before she exploded from stress. Thus, Faf and Myu didn¡¯t dare to go near Rose whenever she showed such a smile. ¡¸Y-Yes ma¡¯am.¡¹ Felis obediently sat in the chair opposite to Rose. ¡¸Long time no see, big sis Felis.¡¹ Seriously, stop showing that kind of smile that would make children cry. I mean, Faf had already been clinging to me, while Myu was hiding behind Anna, occasionally peeking at Rose. ¡¸L-Long time no see.¡¹ Felis stared at the figure standing behind Rose, sweating profusely. The ones who stood behind Rose was a blue-haired maid with braided hair and a man clad in armour with sideburns and long blonde hair, the man showed a strained smile on his face. I¡¯ve met with that man once before. If I¡¯m not mistaken, his name was Geralt, the leader of the kingdom¡¯s royal knights. It seems he had a deep connection with Felis in the past. ¡¸There are so many things that I want to ask you. But first, let¡¯s start with hearing your side of the story, big sis Felis¡¹ The depth of Rose¡¯s scary smile had increased. To be honest, that smile was scary enough to send a chill running down even my spine. Felis¡¯ current mental state was like an open book right now. ¡¸I mean if I stay in the royal capital¡­¡¹ Felis¡¡kept murmuring, staring at the floor. And just as I expected, Rose¡¯s hand chop descended on her head soon enough. ¡¸I think you owe us an explanation before you make such excuse.¡¹ I tried to send a lifeline to save her, since I realized that Rose¡¯s mood would only worsen if Felis kept making excuses. Felis kept playing with her hands, hesitating, but didn¡¯t answer. ¡¸I¡¯m sorry.¡¹ Long story short, she ended up with bowing her head. And then, she explained the reason why she suddenly left the royal capital and joined Wind Cat. At that time, when the war against demon race intensified, Felis discovered that part of Amelia kingdom¡¯s upper echelon made a plan for her to use Titan¡¯s power during the war by sacrificing citizens. Thus, she made a plan to escape from the royal capital after gaining the cooperation from several people in the kingdom, and Lucas had just recently withdrawed himself from the mage knight division. It seems she decided to execute her plan after she was ambushed by Amelia kingdom¡¯s government in the royal capital. After that, they hid themselves in East End and decided to look after the Wind Cat¡¯s folks after witnessing the cruelty befell upon the latter. Led by those two, the group then moved into the cave that became their hiding place until recently. Though their community-led a peaceful life in the beginning, the two of them who witnessed the extreme inhuman conduct in Ksar territory finally lost their patience and initiated their resistance plan. ¡¸So it was done on impulse, without any proper planning? eh. Such a simple-minded girl¡¹ They repeated their acts at random, and survived until now in this world filled with strong people (from normal standard), their sheer dumb luck simply had me baffled. ¡¸Humph.¡¹ Felis replied facing me with a sulking look on her face. Contrary to her frail-looking appearance that looked like it would break upon touch, she might be a cheeky girl with nerves of steel. ¡¸I¡¯m really glad that you¡¯re alright, Felis-sama¡­¡¹ The maid with braided, blue-colored hair hugged Felis¡¯ petite body as she spoke with a trembling voice. ¡¸Uhm, Sorry.¡¹ Maybe this blue-haired maid was the very same person who was put in a comatose state after she paid the price to allow the Titan to use his strength and save Felis from the thieves who ambushed her. The knight leader with sideburns was also looking at the two with a tender look on his face, it seemed there was a deep connection between the three of them. Well, not that I¡¯m interested in that. I shall not poke my nose where it doesn¡¯t belong. ¡¸We¡¯re going to the hideout of Wind Cat in East End early in the morning. And we might have to live in the mountain after that. Get ample rest for tomorrow.¡¹ After saying that to Felis and co, I left the Akinashi mansion along with Faf and co. Volume 3 - CH 36 Act 3-36: Another Batch of Fanatics Early morning the next day, we departed from Akinashi and headed to the hideout of Wind Cat¡¯s folks. Naturally, the knight with long sideburn, Geralt, and the blue-haired maid with braided hair bid their farewell in Akinashi. I was cornered by those two until right before our departure. They requested me, almost to the point of threatening, to take care of their beloved Felis-sama. I mean, they literally asked me with bloodshot eyes. Upon arriving in the Wind Cat hideout, we witnessed all of Wind Cat¡¯s folks kneeling. After observing Girimekhala, who was nodding in satisfaction to the current scene, I knew that they¡¯re not kneeling to Rose, but me. ¡¸We¡¯ve been waiting for you, Our Reverence Lord.¡¹ The white-haired old man in the middle bowed respectfully, his attitude reminded me of Girimekhala. Seeing how Felis acted like she was used to this treatment, I guess these fellows behaved in a similar manner since very beginning, yes, even without my interference. That bas*tard Girimekhala! How dare he brainwash these people who were already fanatics, into even more zealous and stronger fanatics! What I want isn¡¯t another batch of fanatics, I just want normal citizens. If he couldn¡¯t even do that, he shouldn¡¯t have taken the job. I glared at Girimekhala, but he closed his eyes in ignorance, nodding with a satisfied look on his face upon seeing the old man¡¯s attitude. ¡¸Kai, what did you do to them this time?¡¹ Upon hearing their devoted words, Rose asked me such a sentence with a complicated look that oscillated between surprise and resign, ¡¸About that, I am (should¡¯ve)just showing the path that they have to take, that¡¯s all! I swear!!¡¹ For some reason, it sounds like I¡¯m trying to make an excuse. Rose squinted her eyes as she stared at me and observed the Wind Cat¡¯s folks. Soon, she heaved a deep sigh. ¡¸Maybe it really can¡¯t be helped, it¡¯s Kai after all.¡¹ Rose shook her head as she muttered that rude remark. ¡¸Yup. You¡¯ll be exhausting yourself if you keep getting surprised by what Shifu did.¡¹ Zack, who walked towards us while slowly sipping a mysterious liquid from a container in his hand, hurled that remark. I heard from Nemea that the liquid was a special medicine to strengthen muscles. The moment Nemea heard that I took in Zack as my disciple, he started giving Zack an intense martial arts training session so that Zack¡¯s strength would reach appropriate level to be called my disciple. Those two muscle brains truly had the same kind of personality. It didn¡¯t take a long time for Zack to be completely absorbed in the training given by Nemea. ¡¸Well then, follow me.¡¹ Led by the white-haired old man, the representatives followed after us. ¡¸What is your real identity?¡¹ ¡¾Crimson Raven¡¿¡¯s £Ô£Ï£Ð, who wore baggy attire and round glasses¨D¨D Oboro, asked in a low voice as he sent a glance toward Girimekhala¡¯s surrounding and the members of his faction. ¡¸Uhm, I¡¯ve introduced myself to you, right? My name is Kai Heineman, former eldest son of Heineman family who was just kicked out from his house a while ago. And by the way, I¡¯m currently working as (Temp)royal guard of that shorty over there.¡¹ ¡¸Shorty?¡¹ I ignored a certain response from the shorty princess who seemed to have received a shock upon ¡®accidentally¡¯ hearing my remark. I continued with a smile on my face, ¡¸By the way, you won¡¯t get anything even if you try to gather more information about me.¡¹ I gave my honest answer to Oboro. ¡¸Nah, I won¡¯t overstep my boundaries¡­¡¹ Rose seems to be hesitating while looking at Oboro, ¡¸And the said person insisted that he¡¯s a HUMAN. No one here going to believe that though.¡¹ Good grief, what¡¯s with that nonsense explanation. This shorty Rose seems to be vexed by my treatment. What a petty girl! ¡¸Yep. Basically, Shifu is the only one who regarded himself as a human, right?¡¹ ¡¸I agree. Or rather, it¡¯s literally the limit of idiocy to treat this GENUINE MONSTER the same way as those of lower races(human).¡¹ Asta agreed with Zack while still reading the book in his hand. ¡¸Master is Master, nodesu!¡¹ ¡¸Oniichan is oniichan!¡¹ Faf and Myu joined the fray as they raised their right-hands. ¡¸So you really AREN¡¯T a human.¡¹ Oboro nodded in agreement with those fellas. No matter how much I thought about it, it is a misunderstanding on their part. ¡¸If you¡¯re not a human, then what are you?¡¹ This time, the girl with the pointy hat, the leader of ¡¾Lost Forest¡¿, Alice Renren Lorelei, asked in a timid voice. ¡¸I am a human! Look, even this girl ended up believing the nonsense that you¡¯re spouting!¡¹ When I glared at those people, they averted their gaze from mine. Good grief, these fu*ckers¨D¨D === Volume 3 - CH 37.1 Act 3-37.1: East End Development Meeting ¡¸I think you¡¯ve pretty much already guessed about this, but let me clear it up. From this point on, you guys are going to live as the citizens of East End, which is governed by Rosemary. That¡¯s why finding a new hiding place is the least of your worries.¡¹ ¡¸Thank you very much.¡¹ The old man, who was the representative of Wind Cat, stood from his seat, straightened his back, and bowed deeply as he expressed his gratitude to the entire Wind Cat. The other representatives from Wind Cat followed after him. I thought that everyone would be bewildered, unable to believe their current situation, but they seemed to be pretty chill. Rather, what is this emotion that I feel from these fellas? Aren¡¯t their eyes far too steady and firm? ¡¸First, about the defence of this place. ¡¾Crimson Raven¡¿, I¡¯ll leave the defences of this place to you guys.¡¹ ¡¸Lord! Please allow this insolent, disrespectful fool to interrupt your speech!¡¹ Suddenly, an old man with brown-coloured cropped hair interrupted my statement. ¡¸Uhm? Is something the matter?¡¹ ¡¸We don¡¯t need the protection from the likes of such weak and unknown humans. Please leave the defence to us!¡¹ ¡¸W-Weak¨D¨D¡¹ Oboro stood from his seat the moment he heard that remark, ¡¸SHUT UP! YOU FU©–¡Á¨Œ¡ôRM!!¡¹ The brown-haired old man with crop cut spouted such an intense remark, that shouldn¡¯t be said by any good kid, with an indignant voice. Soon, a human-shaped smoke appeared and grabbed Oboro by the nape of his neck, and slammed his face down on the table. That seemed like the divine protection from one of the members of the subjugation picture book. ¡¸Enough. They¡¯re citizens of East End too. You aren¡¯t allowed to fight.¡¹ ¡¸Yes! My apologies for the discourtesy! ¡¹ The old man straightened his back immediately, with his heels touching, and bowed towards me upon my reminder. These guys! Until just two weeks ago, they were feeble-minded fellas who didn¡¯t even want to fight for themselves and lost their will to fight even before the battle. I mean, isn¡¯t their transformation a little bit too much? Complete inside-out. Now, every one of them had this scary look in their eyes. That Girimekhala, just what kind of training did he give to these people to transform them into this? ¡¸Sorry. It seems we went a little overboard with their training.¡¹ Lucas revealed a strained smile on his face while Felis wore a perplexed look on her face as she groaned with a stifled voice,¡¸Where¡¯s my innocent and kind families?¡¹ ¡¸Are you serious!? I mean, do we really need to protect a city in which a monster who can clip our wings easily lives in?¡¹ ¡¸I can¡¯t deny that I guess. I received the report about your combat from Nemea. You guys barely managed to come out as victor thanks to your combat tactic and battle sense that comes with years of training and experience. It¡¯s the reason why I choose you guys to do this job. Nemea, train them until you feel they¡¯re ready to do their job!¡¹ I mean, it¡¯ll turn into magic remodeling containing mysterious techniques if I leave this to Girimekhala again. I think leaving this matter to him would only make things more troublesome in various ways. In short, he might create another batch of fanatics. Some people who had already trodden the point of no return. ¡¸As You Wish! Let¡¯s start immediately! ¡¹ The lion beastman, Nemea, gave a bow and then seized Oboro by the nape of his neck, dragging the latter out with him. Oboro¡¯s subordinates followed from behind like calfs about to be sold. ¡¸Next is our funds. As all of you may know, we can¡¯t do anything without ample funds.¡¹ ¡¸Saving money is much easier than gathering it, the total number of the citizen is two thousand, and that¡¯s including the three kings of the underworld. Naturally, there¡¯s a cost for maintenance and daily meals, do you have any idea regarding this situation?¡¹ Rose rubbed her chin as she asked for my opinion with a meek look on her face. ¡¸Well, about that. Tao Family, this is the medicine that I developed. Can you sell this?¡¹ I placed a jar containing red liquid in front of the girl with tanned skin with black hair bundled into a bun¨D¨D Rinrin Raafan, which startled her. ¡¸Developed?¡­ What is this?¡¹ ¡¸Low-grade potion.¡¹ Amongst the books that I found in that easy dungeon, a lot of them described the method to create magical equipment. Aside from the fountain that gushed out elixir infinitely, ¡¾Panacea¡¿ was the exclusive skill that couldn¡¯t be affected by any person aside from me. Thus, I, who was in dire need of an alternate way to heal my wounds started countless experiments during my free time in that dungeon. Finally, I secured a few other methods to heal myself during the emergency. The main ingredient for that potion was a grass called Toul grass. Moreover, this grass mainly grew en masse in an area rich with mana as it naturally grew by absorbing mana in the air, thus the mana concentration in its parts was high upon maturation. In this regard, the concentration of mana in this ¡¾Demonic Forest¡¿ was simply abnormal. I could think of various reasons that might cause this situation, but that was a trivial matter compared to the fact that we could literally get the endless supply of superior-grade Tulu grass for free. There¡¯s nothing to waste from the Tulu grass since everyone could literally make advanced grade potion as long as they followed the manufacturing step properly. ¡¸Low-grade potion?¡¹ I guess letting her see the effects was the fastest way to explain this particular item. I sent a side-glance to Rinrin, whose beautiful eyebrows frowned as she demanded more explanation. I pulled Murasame from its sheath, loaded my mana into it and made a shallow cut on my finger. The next thing I did was scoop the red liquid from the jar with the ladle and gulped the liquid. As if time was rewound, the cut on my finger healed at a visible rate. ¡¸¡­¡¹ Though Rinrin could only stare dumbfoundedly upon seeing the healing process of the cut on my finger, she took out a knife from her waist with a swift movement, cut her finger after a slight hesitation, then took the ladle from my hand and drank the remaining red liquid in the ladle at once. And similarly, the cut on her finger healed at a rapid pace. Beads of sweat started to appear on Rinrin¡¯s healthy tanned skin the moment she tried the effect of the potion herself. ¡¸Uhm, are you surprised since the potion is so sweet and tasty? Yes, the taste of a normal potion is so horrible. And that¡¯s already common sense that the potion¡¯s taste is horrible. BUT, THIS POTION OF MINE IS SWEET AND TASTY! With this evolved potion of mine, from those noisy gourmands to children who hate bitter medicine, none of them could resist its tempta¨D¨D¡¹ ¡¸I DON¡¯T CARE ABOUT THE TASTE!!¡¹ Upon hearing Rinrin blatantly denying the fruits of my research as she stared at the pot of potion with bloodshot eyes, ¡¸I see¡­ even though it was the point that I spend so much time to improve its taste¡­¡¹ My shoulders dropped in dejection. Actually, the most troublesome part was changing the taste of the potion that was so horrible to the point that no one wanted to drink it. I mean, the book about the method to make a potion never said anything about its taste. Naturally, a potion of intermediate grade or above could show its effect just by sprinkling it over the wound, but, in my personal opinion, drinking it would maximize its effect. ¡¸WHAT IS THIS!?¡¹ Rinrin seized my collar and asked as she shook my upper body. Rinrin¡¯s subordinates raised a scream upon being exposed by the storm of killing intent from Girimekhala who got pissed off by Rinrin¡¯s actions. The eyes of a giant monster with a long nose had already been killed with killing intent. In a normal situation, she would¡¯ve trembled in fear at this point. But, the current Rinrin had already forgotten about the situation around her. ¡¸Okay, calm down.¡¹ ¡¸ANSWER ME, WHAT-IS-THIS!?¡¹ Upon seeing that Rinrin was too excited to notice the current situation, I quickly raised my right hand, signalling Girimekhala who was enraged to stop him from killing Rinrin. ¡¸I¡¯ve told you that this is POTION. The sweet version.¡¹ After releasing my collar, she walked back to her seat and grabbed the pot of potion with her hands. Volume 3 - CH 37.2 Act 3-37.2: East End Development Meeting ¡¸MY QUESTION IS, WHAT IS POTION!?¡¹ ¡¸Eh, you don¡¯t know about potion? Have you never seen one before?¡¹ In that dungeon for the weak, potions were one of the trash items that gathered dust in my item box from early stages of first floor. There were also enough books to fill several hundred book stores. Though it became a common item for the current me, now that she mentioned it, I realized that I also never heard about the item called potion prior to entering that dungeon. ¡¸Potion is an item with healing effect.¡¹ Asta¡¯s explanation concluded the uproar caused by Rinrin in just a moment. ¡¸Well, as expected.¡¹ ¡¸Yup.¡¹ Zack and Asta nodded in unison, while Rose heaved a sigh. And here I thought that the reason why the old me had no idea about this potion was simply because it was precious, but as it turned out, this item never existed in this world before. That¡¯s why they couldn¡¯t hide their shock. ¡ºBE QUIET IN THE PRESENCE OF OUR GREAT LORD!!¡» Girimekhala¡¯s roar shook the air made everyone, except Asta-, stiffen at once. The only sound remaining was the sound of Asta sipping my special blend black tea, and it felt surreal. ¡¸So Rinrin, can this potion be released in the general market? ¡¹ ¡¸Forget about general market. Even I have no idea how high the price we should set for this item right now.¡¹ Seeing her helpless expression, I knew that she wasn¡¯t lying. ¡¸I see. Even though this potion can potentially become our biggest source of income¡­¡¹ Come to think of it, with the existence of healer, this item was a literal junk. So it might be dirt cheap item. ¡¸How long it take to make this potion? ¡¹ ¡¸Uhm? The manufacturing process of this low-grade potion is really simple. With division of labor composed of 300 people, you should be able to procure¡­ around five hundred potion in one week, and double that number once the workers are used to the manufacturing process. But, since intermediate and advanced-grade potion had more complex manufacturing process, it might take one full month to procure dozens portion. I have yet to develop its mass production plan.¡¹ ¡¸F-Five hundreds, in one week¡­¡¹ Rinrin¡¯s aide raised a groan. ¡¸LEAVE THE TRANSACTION AND MANUFACTURE OF THIS POTION TO OUR TAO FAMILY!!¡¹ ¡¸Huh? But, didn¡¯t you say that we can¡¯t sell this item to general public?¡¹ ¡¸Master, she only said that we absolutely cannot sell this to the general public. If we carelessly let this item that has healing effect out in general market, it will most likely become the trigger for a war because each nation would plunder each other for the stock of this potion. And you don¡¯t want that to happen, right? ¡¹ Upon hearing Lucas¡¯ remark, ¡¸It¡¯s exactly as he said! ¡¹ Rinrin nodded in agreement. ¡¸Plundering nations? This low-grade potion? It can only heal scratches you know? ¡¹ ¡¸And this will lessen the burden for healer. The healer can focus on seriously ill or critically injured patient. This item is just that useful. Lifestyle aside, it can literally reform the tactics used during war itself! ¡¹ The girl with pointy hat, Alice, clenched her fists as she explained with excited look on her face. Reformation of the war and lifestyle eh. This is low-grade potion you know. But I guess they were right about the fact that taking help from a healer is the most efficient way for healing someone. And the existence of this potion that could replace them for minor cases would definitely cause a huge chaos. I could literally picture the spectacle of the idiots who are blinded by their greed rushing to plunder this land. I guess this item was unsuited to become our main source of income. ¡¸Rinrin, you may take 15% of the profit we get from selling this potion if it sells well.¡¹ ¡¸R-REALLY!!?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah.¡¹ The ingredients were tulu grass-literally grass-, water, and small amount of alcohol. We could literally procure grass and water for free, and alcohol could be purchased in bulk for cheap price from cheap liquor. Except for labor cost, there was no other additional cost for the ingredients. So we still profit a lot even if I gave them 15% of the profit. ¡¸Alice too, let me to handle the matter of potion too!¡¹ Upon seeing Alice nominating herself in excitement, ¡¸Nope, I¡¯ve another job for you and your group. If I¡¯m not wrong, the elves in ¡¾Lost Forest¡¿ are skillful at magic, right?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, I think we¡¯re much better than human race. ¡¹ ¡¸Let¡¯s skip the chit-chat then. I want you guys to build the city by using THESE.¡¹ I took out several dozen grimoire from my item box. ¡¸Are these¡­ grimoire?¡¹ Alice stood from her chair and walked with unsteady steps toward the grimoires that I placed on the table. ¡¸Yes, this is grimoire related to earth and wood. I¡¯ve gathered the one that can be contracted with few people. Every single one of them is advanced-grade magic, it should be enough for you to finish your job.¡¹ According to the strength of the manifestation of miracles, otherwise known as magic, magic is divided into six grades from weakest to strongest: beginner-grade, intermediate-grade, advanced-grade, supreme-grade, legend-grade, and lastly, mythical-grade. By the way, my ¡¾Herculean Strength¡¿, ¡¾Panacea¡¿, ¡¾Magic Clad¡¿, and ¡¾Divine Eye¡¿ were originally supreme-grade of attribute-less magic, but after repeated improvement and modification in the long years I used them, I later noticed an additional [Revised] beside their name until they upgraded to mythical-grade. And the one I gave to them this time was only fraction of mountains of advanced-grade grimoires that I owned. Anyhow, since the incompetent me wouldn¡¯t be able to contract the grimoires, it just useless junk in my item box. "" ¡¸¡­¡¹ Alice stared silently towards the grimoires with sparkling eyes, ¡¸I want your group to build the city in accordance to my blueprint. I¡¯ll even give extra bonus once you completed the construction. First, most of the income from potion will be given to yo¨D¨D¡¹ ¡¸I want the grimoires¡­¡¹ ¡¸Uhm?¡¹ ¡¸And the grimoire ranked above these! That will be the payment! ¡¹ She stood in front of me as she raised her voice till, she reached a height unthinkable for small girl like her. ¡¸Sure, it¡¯s deal.¡¹ I did have collection of supreme-grade grimoire which could be contracted with several people. Let¡¯s use this chance to take them out. I had tens of thousands of those supreme-grade grimoire after all. Losing few hundreds were cheap price. ¡¸YEAH, YEAH, YEAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!¡¹ When Alice started to do a strange dance with bitter smile on her face, ¡¸Well then, I¡¯ll explain the concrete development plan of the city. Clean up and listen close. ¡¹ My plan was about to begin. Volume 3 - CH 38 Act 3-38: Ultimatum Amelia kingdom, duke Ignister¡¯s mansion. The members of the faction gathered in a luxurious guest room. ¡¸The matter regarding my elder sister has failed, you say?¡¹ A handsome, blonde-haired youth wearing luxurious red clothes asked with modest face. ¡¸Yes. Ketzer was punished with death penalty for his assassination attempt towards Her Highness Rosemary. His territory (Ksar) has also been transferred to the Akinashi house.¡¹ ¡¸Are you kidding me! Ksar house has pledged their allegiance to His Highness Gilbert. Thus, in accordance to the tradition, the right to the territory should belong to us!¡¹ ¡¸It seems to be a special reward granted to them for their cooperation in subjugating Deboa.¡¹ The room was instantly filled with various voices resembling a bunch of insects in a cage. ¡¸They defeated that evil dragon! That legendary evil dragon that even the hero had to risk his life to subdue!?¡¹ ¡¸I received the report from the central government that Her Highness, duchess Felis, subjugated Deboa using the Titan.¡¹ ¡¸Felis-sama, whose whereabouts were unknown did that¡­¡¹ Upon seeing the old nobles showing distant look on their faces, The ones present in the room started getting convinced. ¡¸If that¡¯s true, then this news must be credible. She¡¯s using the legendary spirit king after all.¡¹ ¡¸Oh right. How about we use this chance to pull the duchess to join His Highness Gilbert¡¯s faction? ¡¹ ¡¸I agree. With the addition of spirit king, we will definitely gain an advantage in this crown contest.¡¹ ¡¸What do you think, duke Ignister?¡¹ Upon hearing prince Gilbert¡¯s question, the creepy smile on duke Salpo Ignister¡¯s angular face vanished. ¡¸After subjugation of the evil dragon, Her Highness duchess Felis pledged her allegiance to Her Highness Rosemary.¡¹ ¡¸My big sister again! Why it always her? Why does that woman always get what I want!?¡¹ Prince Gilbert¡¯s face showed deep sorrow as he said those words. ¡¸I received a letter from His Excellency, the Prime Minister, regarding this matter.¡¹ Everyone in the room held their breath upon seeing the letter in duke Ignister¡¯s hand, as if the temperature in the room dropped below zero degree. Even prince Gilbert gulped his saliva in anticipation upon hearing about the letter. ¡¸R-Read it aloud.¡¹ The duke ordered to read the letter, his voice trembling. Duke Salpo Ignister nodded lightly as he unsealed the letter and started reading. ¡ºYour Highness Prince Gilbert and all his backers, good day to you all. First, let me to praise you for your frantic effort in this crown contest. However, do remember that there is a limit to everything. I sincerely hope that you won¡¯t try to break the rules of the crown contest again. ¡» Amelia kingdom¡¯s prime minister, Johannes Roosevelt, was the only figure in the entire kingdom that none of the nobles dared to offend. This had already become one of the few unwritten laws in Amelia kingdom among the nobles. It was clearly stated in the letter that this was Johannes¡¯ ultimatum for Gilbert¡¯s faction. Johannes was a just and upright man who always stood up to his words. If he said that he will purge someone, not even the next king of Amelia kingdom could stop him. ¡¸Dammit! Now we cannot use a direct approach again!¡¹ Gilbert stood from his chair, walked to the window, and cursed as he kicked the wall. After venting his anger, he took few deep breaths to calm himself, and then moved his gaze to Salpo. ¡¸Whatever. How¡¯s our cooperation with the hero party? ¡¹ ¡¸We received advice regarding territory management from Hero-sama. Implementing it in the West Land can undoubtedly boost its revenue. ¡¹ ¡¸So it¡¯s doing alright. Anyhow, my elder sister won¡¯t have that much citizens in her territory. Even her royal guard is that leftover incompetent, who can¡¯t change anything no matter how many of such are bundled together. The biggest factor to win this contest is the development our territory. Since that¡¯s the case, victory is ours. ¡¹ ¡¸Yes, as long as there¡¯s no unseen factors, the one who win the crown contest is surely you, prince Gilbert. That¡¯s why you¡¯ve to endure this situation for now. ¡¹ ¡¸I know. Once I become a king, I¡¯ll return this humiliation to that woman many times over. ¡¹ Gilbert, whose eyes glowed with fury and humiliation, muttered as if to remind himself. === V2 cover: Kai and Pantiless Rena Grotte Volume 3 - CH 39 Act 3-39: Conduct of Absolute Evil ===£¿£¿£¿=== A round table in a seemingly endless gigantic space. The floor and the vast expanding sky overhead were dyed in blood-red color. There were six seats placed around the table, prepared for six transcendents. ¡¸Is the news about the annihilation of the son of Hanbi, Pazuzu; and Angra¡¯s aide, Azi Dahaka true?¡¹ Upon hearing the question of Clown-like man, ¡¸Yes, the report did say so.¡¹ Hanbi, a monster with the head of a ferocious tiger, nodded with crossed arms. ¡¸Oioi, whats with this series of loses in less than ten years?¡¹ The red-skinned fierce god with three faces muttered so in amusement while shrugging. ¡¸Yeah, major Pazuzu aside, the being who defeated that vice admiral Azi Dahaka is definitely a huge threat, right?¡¹ Upon hearing the question of the handsome youth with long red hair and conspicuous canines, ¡¸Well, he was a semi-immortal dragon after all. Even this mistress found his power really annoying. ¡¹ A beauty with a pair of black wings and long horns growing from her forehead threw her seemingly appropriate opinion while trimming her nails. ¡¸So Angra, this report is coming from that useless three-headed dragon subordinate of yours, right?¡¹ The fierce god with three faces asked the youth with red geometric patterns painted on his skin, in response, the youth crossed his arms with a sulking look on his face ¨D¨D Angra. ¡¸Well, I mean, even I haven¡¯t figured out anything about the attacker. That fella is in absolute fear. It is as if he was beaten to instill absolute fear.¡¹ ¡¸Absolute fear? Just what in the hell can overwhelm that Azi Dahaka to that point?¡¹ The clown asked with a frown on his face but, ¡¸Just as I said, I have no idea about it!¡¹ Finally, Angra couldn¡¯t hold his irritation anymore and shouted at the clown as he turned his face away. ¡¸Huuhm¡­¡¹ The clown didn¡¯t get perturbed by the outburst and only stared at the red sky with crossed arms. ¡¸Are you trying to say that they were beaten by the heavenly army? This will be end the of story if that god is the one who subjugated that useless dragon. Following someone¡¯s rule is not my thing! Let me go against him next! ¡¹ The fierce, red-skinned three headed god stood from his chair as he cracked his neck. ¡¸This idiot, it doesn¡¯t really matter if we lose small fry like Pazuzu, but you think we can just intervene with a set game board?¡¹ The beauty with black wings chided the three-faced god with a surprised look on her face. ¡¸Well, we¡¯ve an interesting piece in the game board, right? I don¡¯t think it¡¯s impossible for Asura to enter the world boundary. ¡¹ The clown pondered who stared at the sky till just a moment ago joined the conversation. ¡¸Hou, it that even possible!?¡¹ The red-skinned fierce god ¨D¨D Asura, didn¡¯t even bother to hide the expectant look on his face as he asked the clown. ¡¸Yeah, if things go well, it should be possible for all of us to enter the world boundary.¡¹ The handsome youth with long red hair and protruded canines whistled upon hearing the possibility, ¡¸Ain¡¯t that interesting. How will you do that!?¡¹ Asura brought himself closer. "" ¡¸Well, the method is¡­¡¹ The clown¡¯s face formed a sneer. It was an extremely malicious sneer, like an evil god depicted in the legends. === V1 Colour: Elysia-look-a-like first appearance¡­ Volume 3 - CH 40 Act 3-40: A Lifetime Goal(SIde: Oboro) The bipedal monster with a lion head, who brought me along with my subordinates from Crimson Raven, Nemea, led us to enter a realm with a huge grassland. Nemea stood in front of us all and declared in a domineering voice, ¡ºA protector can¡¯t be weaker than the one they¡¯re protecting! That¡¯s why you people are going to undergoes special training here. Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯re currently inside an independent realm called ¡®Norn¡¯s domain¡¯. Here, time flowing differently, that¡¯s why you don¡¯t have to worry too much about the time spent and just focus on your training to become stronger.¡» He declared, sending chills running down my spine. ¡¸Flow of time? Training? I have no idea what are you talking about¡­¡¹ Unfortunately, Nemea ignored the question expressing culmination of our confusion. ¡ºI said it¡¯s training, but you humans are the weakest amongst intelligent races. Your body aside, your mind-with exception of some amongst your race-, most of you are going to die if we do this for more than 150 years. After 80 years, you¡¯ll start to develop a completely different personality¡­ In short, the longest you can stay in this realm while keeping your original personality intact is no more than 80 years. For efficiency sake, I¡¯ve to use the fastest method to allow you to learn real combat as soon as possible.¡» Nemea rambled on about the seemingly extremely dangerous training with a proud look on his face. ¡¸That¡¯s why I told you I have no ide¨D¨D¡¹ As if to interrupt my objection, Nemea drummed his fists on his broad chest as a smirk formed on his face. The next moment, we were struck by a wind blast. ¡ºThis is the imperial decree from My Lord! I¡¯ve to accomplish it at all cost! I¡¯ll be troubled if you people have a hard time against skinny lizards like Deboa!¡» Nemea¡¯s eyes were bloodshot, as if he turned into a mad beast. Oh shi*t! My sense of crisis, that had been sharpened until now, rang alarms like crazy. I instinctively realized that the current Nemea was bad news. ¡¸P-Please wait a minute¨D¨D¡¹ ¡ºFOUL FEEDER, COME!!¡» And just as expected, Nemea¡¯s voice echoed throughout the grassland before I had the chance to speak. Suddenly, a small white rat appeared in front of us. ¡ºKyu~¡» When the white rat raised a cry, Nemea pointed his index finger towards us. ¡ºFoul feeder, go play with these fellas. Ah, make sure to hold back as much as possible since these fellas¡¯ body are way too weak. Just make sure that you don¡¯t accidentally kill them.¡» ¡ºKyuKyu.¡» The white rat raised its right-hand amidst adorable cries. Nemea nodded few times, satisfied with the white rat¡¯s reply, and to us, who still had no idea what was happening, he soon explained, ¡ºThis is your first training! You¡¯ve to land a strike on this foul feeder! And don¡¯t hold back since the lost parts of your body will be regenerated. ¡» ¡¸This rat doesn¡¯t seem to be able to bi¨D¨D¡¹ I couldn¡¯t finish my remark due to the severe pain transmitted from my spinal cord. Much to my surprise, when I looked at the source of the pain, I found out that my entire right arm was missing as fresh blood spurted like crazy from the open wound. ¡ºDon¡¯t let its appearance fool you, this foul feeder is God¡¯s Kin(Our Loyal Servant). Even a single one of them can literally annihilate the entire human race. In short, the first thing you¡¯ve to do is¨D¨D transcend beyond humankind! That¡¯s your first assignment! ¡» ¡¸UWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!¡¹ Our despaired screams became the gong that start this hellish training(literally). ¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô I¡¯ve had no idea how many months had elapsed since the start of our training. That white rat was powerful. Or rather, the word powerful might be an understatement. The current me could confidently claim that the white rat was an overwhelmingly powerful existence that could single-handedly kill the likes of Deboa, who we had a hard time against. That¡¯s why, it was only natural that we got beaten to pulp without even being able to resist the rat¡¯s onslaught. And every time we got injured, the wound would be restored to normal by a mysterious slime. Our body got eaten, healed, then eaten again during training, it was an endless spiral of madness. Just what kind of human could endure this kind of abuse? But then again, as we lived our life in that kind of environment, we started to get used to fear. Nowadays, as we sat around a bonfire, drank liquor(?) given to us during our break, my subordinates¡¯ topic of conversation was, ¡¸Ma~n, my shoulder got bitten-off today.¡¹ ¡¸It¡¯s right-leg in my case, that rat is so damn fast.¡¹ ¡¸Fast aside, the time it took for a bite is also so damn fast. Look, I got a literal wind hole on my abdomen.¡¹ Such heavy conversation was being carried out way too normally as we enjoyed ale, as if we just finished a job. At this moment, I realized that all of us, the Crimson Crow, had changed deep inside. More time passed, we finally managed to land a hit on¡¸Foul Feeder¡¹¡¯s limb. Strangely enough, I didn¡¯t feel happy or delighted. I just felt that this long moment had ended. And for some reason, both me and my subordinates felt a sense of emptiness, like what we felt after a festival ended. Nemea then observed us who sat on the ground, exhausted, and then squinted his eyes with a satisfied look on his face. ¡ºGood job. With this, all of you have finally broken through your human limits. It should be something worth celebrating for a human right? And you reached your goal quicker than my expectations. With this, we can finally start the real training. ¡» If it was the old us who heard that, we would definitely raise a despaired wail. ¡¸The real training? You mean, this isn¡¯t the end of our training?¡¹ I unconsciously questioned. ¡ºThe end of your training? What a foolish thought. All you did until now is just the minor adjustment to prepare your body to withstand the training. The real training is just about to begin.¡» Nemea¡¯s remark felt like a blessing on our dried and empty heart. It turned out that rat kin was nothing more than an appetizer. The goal, the main course, that we had to reach might be in the inviolable realm that none of the humans, demons, dragonewts, dragons, mythical beasts, monsters, or any other races in this world ever managed to attain. That¡¯s why¨D¨D ¡¸Since that¡¯s the case, how much stronger can we become? ¡¹ I couldn¡¯t hold back from asking the question that suddenly popped up in my mind. ¡ºThat depends on you. Your rivals are already few steps ahead of you. Well, those fellas might be a little bit special amongst your race though. ¡» They had gotten ahead of us, eh. That¡¯s what make things even more interesting. I snapped out and ended up smiling wryly upon realizing my messed-up train of thought. ¡¸And what will be waiting for us after we reach that point? ¡¹ ¡ºIt¡¯s been decided right? Become sword and shield of Our Supreme Ruler. And you people have been given such honor by My Lord. You should¡¯ve realized just how honorable that position is and how lucky you are, right? ¡» Became the sword and shield of the Supreme Ruler, eh. The Supreme Ruler here must refer to none other than the monster revered by these abnormal beings, Nemea and co¨D¨D Kai Heineman. We didn¡¯t feel sleepy in this realm. Therefore except for a short rest provided to heal our mental fatigue, we tried to hunt that monster of a rat all the time without having any spare time to think about other things, aside from fighting. But, now I had some leeway to think about this matter after we accomplished that mission. I recalled the first question I had in my mind when we were brought into this realm. £¨Just who in the world is that man? £© Normally speaking, since he was the leader of Nemea and co, the first and most natural answer was ¡°There¡¯s no way that he is a human¡±. Was what I felt, at least right until we undergo this baptism. In fact, Nemea and co. might also think this way because it was normal for them to think that a human wouldn¡¯t be able to reach such heights. That¡¯s why Nemea might¡¯ve regarded Kai Heineman as the same kind of otherworldly being as them. £¨And yet, Kai Heineman has clearly stated at that time that he is a HUMAN.£© Yes. Kai Heineman replied without a shred of hesitation when I asked him that question. £¨Nonono, that¡¯s too absurd¡­£© Kai Heineman was a human. ¡°Like hell I could believe that¡± was what the old me might feel. But, my instinct had told me that Kai Heineman didn¡¯t lie to me when he said that. I was a villain, a scoundrel who grew up in slums, I had gotten used to the life of cheating since a tender age, living my life at the sword¡¯s edge. Thus, I developed a skill to see through lies. And upon recalling Kai Heinaman¡¯s gestures, small movements, and remarks at that time, I knew that the other party wasn¡¯t lying. ¡¸Kuh! HAHAHAHAHA!¡¹ Thus, I couldn¡¯t suppress a passionate laugh from leaking out of my mouth. I SEE! I SEE NOW! Nemea would definitely murder me if he could read my current thoughts. Nevertheless, I believe that I came up with the most accurate answer. ¡¸HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! TO THING THAT SUCH ABSURD THING EXISTs!!¡¹ Yeah, I might look like a mad man right now. I mean, that¡¯s just how charming you are! TO THINK THAT I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO REALIZED THE REALITY ABOUT A HUMAN WHO SURPASSED ALL THOSE TRANSCENDENTS WITH HIS OWN, HUMAN BODY!! If Kai Heineman was something along the line of gods or devil, I might not feel this kind of reverence that turned my world upside-down. But, Kai Heineman was a human. That small, weakest race with a huge handicap placed upon them since their birth. NEVERTHELESS, that person crossed that barrier, and became the strongest existence in this world. Moreover¨D¨D ¡¸KAI-SAMA, YOU¡¯RE THE BEST! ¡¹ This was a yearning, a yearning that brought me to tears! Yes. This is not a joke! As if I¡¯m going to let go of the honor to become the spear of that personage against those otherworldly beings! I had no idea how long it would take us! But, I¡¯ll definitely became the sharpest spear for that personage! We have to! We must become one for Our Lord! ¡¸Nemea-san, start the next training immediately!¡¹ For the first time in my life, my voice was full of devotion. === TN: Lesson from Martial God, Kai vs Signiel Volume 3 - CH 41 Act 3-41: Daily Life in Wind Cat¡¯s Village(Side: Myu) I woke up along with the chirps of the small birds outside the windows. I raised my torso from the fluffy bed, squinting my eyes at the sunlight entering through gaps between curtains. The one who slept beside me was Faf-chan but, ¡¸I can¡¯t eat anymore, nodesu¡­¡¹ She turned over, sleep-talking with a blissful face. We were in Kai-oniichan¡¯s room. Nowadays, I¡¯ve been sleeping with Faf-chan and Kai-oniichan. Naturally, the busy Kai-oniichan had always been waking up before us, and by the time I woke up, he was already gone. Anna-oneechan entered the room and opened the curtains, ¡¸Rise and shine, Faf, Myu, wash your face below. It¡¯s time for breakfast! ¡¹ She woke us with a gentle voice and bright smile on her face. I love Anna-oneechan, she has always been kind and caring sister for me and Faf-chan. ¡¸Ye~s! ¡¹ ¡¸Let¡¯s go, Faf-chan! ¡¹ I pulled on Faf-chan, who was still yawning and rubbing her eyes, on our way to draw water. Reaching there, cold water came out just with a twist of a knob. It wasn¡¯t ground water, but seemed to be drawn from the nearby river. Kai-oniichan said that this method would be used in every house in the near future, wearing a really weird smile on his face. I don¡¯t know about complicated things he said, but it felt really amazing when I saw Rose-oneechan and Felis-oneechan at a loss for words upon hearing his claims. When we climbed to the 1st floor, everyone had already taken their seat. ¡¸Master!¡¹ Even Faf-chan, who was half-asleep till a moment ago, showed a bright smile upon seeing Kai-oniichan sitting in the dining chair. She ran towards him and buried her face in his abdomen. Faf-chan really loves Kai-oniichan, you could see them together most of the time. And Faf-chan would start to show an abnormal level of anxiety whenever Kai-oniichan was absent for a long time. I understand her feelings, since I was forcefully separated from my dear mother, father, and oneechan. That¡¯s why I understand that Kai-oniichan was an irreplaceable existence for Faf-chan, just like my family was to me. I sat beside Faf-chan; Anna-oneechan and Kyuubi-oneechan-nine tailed fox beastwoman- came from the kitchen, wearing an apron, they carried the dishes in their hands. ¡¸Meals are ready! ¡¹ ¡¸It¡¯s perfect. ¡¹ After Kyuubi-oneechan and Anna-oneechan placed the dishes on the table, ¡ºWaaah, Master look, there¡¯s my favorite hamburger!¡» Fen-chan, a wolf puppy who sat on Kai-oniichan¡¯s head, spoke with gleaming eyes as his tail swayed non-stop. ¡¸Yeah, meat dish is Fen¡¯s favorite after all.¡¹ ¡ºYes! I loooooooooooooooooooooooooooove meat! ¡» He happily declared so as he raised one of his paws. Fen-chan¡¯s loveliness is a foul play. After confirming that Kyuubi-oneechan and Anna-oneechan, who cooked the breakfast, had taken their seat, Rose-oneechan and Anna-oneechan joined their hands together as they started praying to god, I also followed them. Nevertheless, Kai-oniichan was brushing Fen-chan who sat on his lap; Faf-chan¡¯s eyes was locking on the dishes, her feet swinging non-stop under the table. Kyuubi-oneechan added more food on Kai-oniichan¡¯s plate. Zack-oniichan was stretching his back without trying to hide his huge yawn, Asta-oneechan was ignoring everything and focused solely on the book in her hand. Everyone was really carefree. ¡¸Well, let¡¯s start the meal. ¡¹ After we ended the prayer, the breakfast started with Rose-oneechan¡¯s words. Morning was the time for studying and training. The one who taught me during study sessions was Asta-oneechan, a literal walking dictionary. Despite looking unwilling to do the job, she still did it properly. After study, it was the time for training. The training was something that I separately asked from kai-oniichan to add. I had already run away twice from humans. That¡¯s why this time it was my turn to become strong enough to protect my parents, who protected me and oneechan back then. That was Myu¡¯s new goal. And just like usual, I learnt attributeless-type strengthening magic from Kai-oniichan. According to him, this magic seems to be the most suitable magic for me. From the very beginning, Myu and the other from beastmen race had poor compatibility with magic compared to human race and elven race. But, according to Kai-oniichan, it seems we were extremely compatible with attributeless magic in contrast to our poor compatibility with attribute magic. And since there was no suitable magic for us until now, the beastmen race had developed a severe inferiority complex toward the other races due to their difference in compatibility with attribute magic. That¡¯s why, even though Kai-oniichan said that Myu was really talented in mastering strengthening magic, Myu felt itchy hearing that. After magic training, the next one was combat training. ¡ºRepeat! Your center of gravity is off! ¡» I received warning from Nemea-sensei. ¡¸Yes! ¡¹ I¡¯m making the full use of the muscles in my body and making a punching motion with my fists. But that simple motion alone created storm-like blast that shaved the ground in front of me. Naturally, this wasn¡¯t my own power. The origin behind this power was my best friend, Faf-chan. According to Kai-oniichan, Faf-chan had unknowingly granted her¡¯s¡ºDivine Protection¡» thingy to Myu. Kai-oniichan seems to be extremely surprised by the change in Myu since the ¡ºDivine Protection¡» granted to Myu seems to be different from the one others received. Anyhow, the current Myu could literally change the terrain just by making this kind of motion. Thus, the training place was changed to a mysterious place called No-chan¡¯s ¡ºRealm¡». The funny sounding name aside, Myu could get enough training in this place since the time here was flowed really slowly. After receiving training from Nemea-sensei until Myu was exhausted, Myu returned to ¡¾Neo City-Ket Guy¡¿ This city in which Felis-oneechan¡¯s family lived was a unique city, in various aspects. It was a city filled with gorgeous and elaborate buildings that Myu had never seen before, and paved roads. There was even a water fountain and a park for every season. The one who built all of these were the people who wore pointy hats and green-colored robe led by Alice-chan. Alice-chan and co. were remodeling the village using magic, as if it was their own limbs, with a wide grin on their faces. The city was built in the middle of the desolate mountain, filled with people. Seeing such a city right in the middle of the forest gave a feeling of incongruity. And an even crazier was¨D¨D ¡¸Instructor, we just finished today schedule! ¡¹ Several men standing in a row straightened their backs, giving a salute to long nosed¨D¨D I mean to Girimekhala-ojiisan. ¡ºGood job! That¡¯ll be it for today. Each of you may rest!¡» After Girimekhala-ojiisan replied with loud voice and satisfied look on his face, the villagers returned a salute and returned to their residences. Basically, all the villagers of this village were more or less the same. They moved briskly, and spoke with loud and clear voice, above all, they changed into completely different people when it came to Kai-oniichan. Especially the fact that they prayed every day in front of Kai-oniichan¡¯s house along with Girimekhala-ojiisan and co. I¡¯m sure that Kai-oniichan was a god-like existence for these villagers. Though Kai-oniichan had been telling them to stop that, he gave up in front of their persistence and let them do as they pleased . Despite having such a side of them, they were fundamentally good people who would brush my head with smile on their faces, or share the fruit or nuts that they harvested. That¡¯s why I love the people in this village too. From the other side of the main road heading toward Kai-oniichan¡¯s house, I saw Faf-chan running toward me with Fen-chan latched on top of her hair. ¡¸Myu, let¡¯s go to play-nodesu! ¡¹ ¡ºLet¡¯s go! ¡» Fen-chan spoke following Faf-chan as he raised his small paw. It became our routine, the three of us, two girls and one puppy, to go out and explore the forest after finishing our training. ¡¸Yes! Let¡¯s go! ¡¹ Myu replied so as she ran toward Faf-chan and Fen-chan. By the time we returned from the surrounding forest, the village grew lively. ¡¸What¡¯s happening-nodesu? ¡¹ When Faf-chan was asking the auntie near us replied, ¡ºAah, Faf-sama, it seems there¡¯s a celebration since Shutendouji-sama made new liquor. ¡» She replied with gentle smile on her face. ¡¸Celebration! Yay, it¡¯s party time-nodesu! ¡¹ Faf-chan spun around joyfully, ¡ºThey might prepare meat too! I love hamburger! ¡» Fen-chan, attached on Faf-chan¡¯s head, also jumped in joy. Myu felt her lips loosened too. And then¨D¨D £¨If only my family were here to enjoy this party too¡­£© At the same time, I really wished that she could reunite with her family as soon as possible. But I didn¡¯t have to worry about that anymore. Because Kai-oniichan had told me that he would go with me to find my parent after he is finished with his business. That¡¯s why, I had to do her best so that I can reunite with my family with confidence. And then, if my parent are in a problem, it would be my turn to protect them. ¡¸Let¡¯s go! ¡¹ Myu grab Faf-chan¡¯s hand, making Myu¡¯s loneliness go away as they walked toward the party. === Kai Found A Loli >Take Kill Volume 4 - CH 1 Act 4 ¨C Babel Entrance Examination Act 4-1: Pledge of Allegiance East End, ¨D¨D Neo City-Ket Guy Three months after the event involving Wind Cat. When I asked the Wind Cat¡¯s folks for their opinion on name of the village, I decided to use Felis¡¯ cat-shaped spirit pet, Ket¡¯s name. ¡ºGuy¡» was the name of cat-shaped guardian deity in the eastern region. ¡¸Yup, the village turned out great. ¡¹ Stone paved road, uniquely-shaped buildings (for this world) lined up along the road. Not bad at all. I gained a lot of knowledge about construction from the numerous construction manuals I found in the dungeon; so, along with subjugation picture book members whose forte laid in construction, I drafted the blueprints of the city. Thus, under the supervision of the construction master, Alice and co from ¡¾Lost Forest¡¿, the buildings were erected. They managed to finish the construction of this village quite early. Well, the scale was rather small since there was no need to build excessive buildings for the time being. And although the members of three kings of underworld became legal citizen in this city governed by Rose, not every one of them lived in here. Since they had many branch organizations, it was easy to imagine the kind of chaos could erupt if all upper echelons suddenly vanished. That¡¯s why, to prevent the ensuing chaos, I decided to let the Tao Family handle that job, who were also entrusted with the transaction of the potion in black market. One of the reasons for this decision for mine was because Tao Family had the most members amongst the three kings of underworld, their members made up the most of the thousand weak villagers in this village. The scale of this village was slightly bigger than a village, but smaller than a town. Nevertheless, the village was developed with the technology found in the dungeon, such as heating installations for using stoves and chimneys in each house, or using the power of watermills to draw water from the river located in the nearby plain. Though I had a lot of plans to implement new technologies, the progress was currently stumped due to the lack of manpower, which happened to be our prime concern for now. "" ¡¸Fufufufufu~n?¡¹ Alice, the little girl who wore a pointy hat and green robe, hummed in high spirits as she did her job in the plaza, accompanied by a kitten who sat proudly on top of a wooden crate. Aah, come to think of it, there was something that came up when I had a discussion with Girimekhala about the defense system of this village. We¡¯ll install stone statues at the entrance of the village. That would zap any intruder who had yet to gain the permit to enter the village or arrived with malicious intentions. This safety measure was necessary since we lived in this dangerous world filled with crouching tiger and hidden dragon(TL: This is a huge misunderstanding of our MC). That¡¯s why this plan got instant approval. The problematic part was, Girimekhala and the fanatics said that the statue must be modeled after me. But I stepped in before things went out of control, and to prevent such disasters. Thus, I decided to sacrifice Ket, Felis¡¯ pet spirit who also happened to be the origin of this village name, ¡¾Ket Guy¡¿. That¡¯s how I forced Ket to become the model for the statue instead of me. And now, the fella works as a model. ¡ºA~h, Supreme Ruler!¡» Ket noticed me and jumped into my chest, rubbing their cheek on me. This fluffing really couldn¡¯t be helped since this kind of job was really taxing for this kitten; thus, they would start whenever they saw me. ¡¸Yup, your fur is as good as usual, Ket.¡¹ I patted the kitten on head, ¡ºHehehe~¡¹ I watched as Ket, who closed their eyes, enjoyed the moment as I brushed their head with a wry smile on my face, ¡¸Thanks for the hard work, Alice. Is that, water magic?¡¹ I greeted Alice after fluffing Ket. In contrast to the sleepy look on her face, Alice was the kind of girl who fired water magic at tremendous speed to carve the stone statue. ¡¸Yeah! Water magic is so easy to use! Even if it was just this needle, as long as the water is fired at high speed, wood aside, it was even possible to carve metal and stone! In addition¨D¨D¡¹ After I covered Alice mouth with my right hand before she ruined the mood with her rapid speech about magic, ¡¸I understand. In short, you want a new grimoire.¡¹ ¡¸Not yet. After I delve even further into this magic¨D¨D¡¹ Alice made a smile unsuited for a little girl and(ED: Being greedy, eh) ran in a strange direction. Well, not that it was bad or hurting anyone. ¡¸Y-Yeah, do your best.¡¹ ¡ºYes! Ket will do their best!¡» Ket raised his small paw, ¡¸Leave it to me!¡¹ Alice also raised her right-hand cheerfully, returning to her job. I entered the four-story, the most conspicuous, and biggest building in the village center. This is the lord¡¯s mansion, the central government of this village. I participated in designing the building and put a heavy emphasis on functionality. Since my sense of aesthetic was below those fellas from subjugation picture book, I only gave my opinion, on functionality in the interior, and left the rest of the design work for them. Entering the four storied building, I found that everyone-including Rose- had already been occupied with office work. By the way, Faf, Myu and Fen were running around in the forest outside of the village around this time, thus not present here. They still couldn¡¯t stand the complicated talk during meetings, which was natural considering their age. The villagers stood at once, and saluted like the fanatics. Yeah, this was normal. If there was something different, ¡¸WE PLEDGE OUR ABSOLUTE LOYALTY TO SUPREME LORD!¡¹ Led by the leader of ¡¾Crimson Raven¡¿, Oboro, the rest of the members placed their right-hand on their left-chest. Are you kidding me, these fellas too?¡­ I¡¯m sure that I wasn¡¯t the only one in this place who felt that way. Rather, Rose! What¡¯s with that shocked look on your face! I never expected these guys to turn into fanatics either! I mean, the reason why I left their training to Nemea instead of Girimekhala was to prevent something like this! ¡¸Well, just as expected.¡¹ Asta nodded in silence hearing Zack¡¯s remark. Rose heaved a deep sigh. ¡¸Well then, since Kai has come, let¡¯s begin our regular meeting.¡¹ She declared the start of the meeting. === TN: 4th Form ¨C Arachne Volume 4 - CH 2 Act 4-2: Not Enough Manpower ¡¸The low-grade potion was sold for 10 billion oar!¡¹ Felis, who sat beside Rose ended up spurting tea upon hearing Rinrin, who reported proudly and made a V-sign. ¡¸T-T-TEN BILLION OAR!!?¡¹ Rose, who was seated beside Felis asked with trembling voice, and sipped her tea with a calm look on her face, as if she had expecting this outcome all along. Maybe because Zack wasn¡¯t that interested in this regard, he yawned loudly upon hearing the report. Good grief, it seems he had no interest in anything unrelated to combat. Well, the same could be said for Asta, who kept her head in her books. ¡¸Ten billion, eh. Even after deducting that amount for maintenance cost, labor cost, and payment for Tao Family, we can pretty much start the next project with the remaining 4 billion oar. And while we are at this topic, we¡¯ve no choice but to address our current, most urgent issue at hand, manpower.¡¹ Manpower or ¨D¨D Human resources. The most important factor in an economy. Something that this Ket Guy lacked the most. First, on top of limiting the number of the potions being sold outside, there would be a new project to promote development here. I¡¯ve had made several plans in that course since there¡¯s a lot of prep work involved with that new project. Unfortunately, we¡¯re critically lacking in manpower. ¡¸Yes, ¡¾Crimson Raven¡¿ are working as part of defense force and ¡¾Lost Forest¡¿ are participating in construction, we can¡¯t allot anymore personnel for the new project. The same goes for the eighty members of Wind Cat. Even if we kickstart the new project, we severely lack workforce.¡¹ There was nothing worse for common folks than an incompetent lord. Ideals alone cannot achieve. Therefore, Rose set aside some of her time to read a business management book obtained from the dungeon, which I personally recommended. As expected, Rose absorbed the new information like a napkin absorbing water. ¡¸Yes, we¡¯ve no choice but to increase the number of the inhabitants.¡¹ My plan needed at least a few tens of thousands of workforce. Though there was no other way but to gather inhabitants from other areas as East End was completely forsaken. We wouldn¡¯t be troubled if gathering populace was easy. ¡¸Kai, do you have any idea?¡¹ ¡¸Sorry, but no.¡¹ Rose sent disapproving stare towards me, hearing my denial. ¡¸Is that the truth?¡¹ She asked again, her face filled with doubt. Hey, I¡¯m not an almighty god, you know. I also have limits. ¡¸Yeah, this problem is pretty serious. Unfortunately, I can¡¯t think of any normal solutions for this.¡¹ I raised my hands and shrugged, to let her know my honest judgement. ¡¸How about recruiting those underworld people like you did?¡¹ Felis pointed her thumb toward the three kings of underworld as she made such suggestion, ¡¸Rejected.¡¹ Her suggestion was denied on the spot. ¡¸Why though? It sounds like a brilliant idea to this mistress?¡¹ ¡¸Because our current situation is different from before.¡¹ ¡¸Yes. This town has already become a target for underworld due to potion secrets. Not to mention that¡¾Tao Family¡¿¡¯s involvement with this city has been extensive. That hoarding plan is a gamble, spies from other organization might sneak in, if not that, lowlifes blinded by greed could also join in the fray.¡¹ Rinrin was right, the information about this city had already been spread wide in the underworld, and was available at every information broker. It would very soon reach the ears of the wealthy merchants who have connection with the underworld. Recruiting anyone from underworld at this point is equivalent to accepting the spies from the other organization. ¡¸And the same goes for the slaves sold by slave traders. It has to be a group of people isolated from outside world for us to be absolutely sure.¡¹ ¡¸That sounds difficult indeed.¡¹ Lucas voiced his weighty remark as he lay with his face on the desk. ¡¸Yes, it¡¯s problematic. First, they mustn¡¯t belong to any organization. I mean, what human in this land lives without being related to an organization? Even if we find one, it would be those who are close to dissolving.¡¹ ¡¸But still, you said a while ago that ¡ºWithin Normal Means¡». Since that¡¯s the case, you must have thought of some plan outside normal means, right?¡¹ When Felis asked Kai, Rose raised her head to listen. ¡¸Well, it¡¯s actually not a special method whatsoever. All we need to do is approach people with slightly different ¡°Nature¡±.¡¹ ¡¸And that is?¡¹ I stepped away from Rose, who brought her ghastly face closer to mine out of nowhere, ¡¸We just need to invite the demon race in the north. I heard that the demon race who lives in the north of this forest are living in poverty due to severe environment there. They¡¯re most likely going to accept our invitation, but a much bigger problem is that the demon race lives within the influence of one of the four great demon kings, Aldebaran.¡¹ I summed my ¡°Not-so-normal¡± plan to her. ¡¸Are you serious!? Amelia kingdom is currently at war with the demon race. Accepting demon race as citizens at this timing is akin to making an enemy of Amelia kingdom¡ªno, the entire humanity itself!¡¹ As amusing as ever, eh. Since she specially said ¡°Timing¡±, it means that she planned to accept the demon race in the future. Her train of thought clearly differed from the normal Amelia royalty. ¡¸Yeah, that¡¯s why I specially said that they¡¯re people with slightly different ¡°Nature¡±.¡¹ Upon hearing that, Rose stared at me with a vigilant look on her face, but finally heaved a sigh of relief, since she might¡¯ve finally understood that I didn¡¯t have any intentions to consider that plan from the very beginning. ¡¸Finding people whose lives aren¡¯t related to any organization out there really isn¡¯t a simple task.¡¹ Rose muttered as a sigh escaped from her lips. Yup, you¡¯re correct. We befriended Wind Cat¡¯s folks after so much trouble. ¡¸If I¡¯m not wrong, there¡¯s ¡ºSomething like human¡»? if we used that logic, we can try monsters.¡¹ ¡¸Mons¡­ ter?¡¹ "" Rose¡¯s lips flapped for a while like a parrot, and she just barely managed to squeeze her voice. ¡¸Yup. In the ¡¾North Grand¡¿ which is located north of this East End¡¯s ¡¾Demonic Forest¡¿ is the home of many monster tribe such as goblins or orcs, do you think that they¡¯re suitable candidate for being citizens?¡¹ This East End was split into marshland area, jungle area, and lastly wasteland area which was otherwise known as ¡¾North Grand¡¿ which was located on top of a hill, and ¡¾Demonic Forest¡¿, which was the jungle located below the tall cliff. Though the area that was ruled by Aldebaran, one of the four great demon kings, it was located in the north part of ¡¾North Grand¡¿, because of existence of the tall cliff that cut off that place from this ¡¾Demonic Forest¡¿; the demon king army couldn¡¯t launch a large-scale invasion to East End. Moreover, ¡¾North Grand¡¿ was a literal wasteland, ill-suited for growing crops. It was literally an extremely deprived region with no value. Therefore, since the ¡¾North Grand¡¿had zero value became some sort of paradise for the monsters. Conferring to the investigations conducted by people from the subjugation picture book, with so many monster tribes such as kobold, orc, or goblins living in the ¡¾North Grand¡¿, that place was always embroiled in power struggles. In normal situations, no one would try to rule the various packs of monsters who had no intelligence or will. The reason being they lived their life on instinct. But still, the monsters there have been in war against each other even before they were discovered. The reason was unclear, but at the very least, they seemed to possess the necessary intelligent and will. That¡¯s why I considered the option of accepting them. I mean, I would just exterminate them if they¡¯re no different from those wild monsters who harmed humankind. Thus, I made a really good plan for this. ¡¸Uhm? What¡¯s matter?¡¹ When I asked so, everyone looked at me, upon seeing everyone watching me as some sort of unbelievable creature, ¡¸Kai, that¡¯s your usual evil joke, right?¡¹ Rose asked, as if trying to make sure that fact despite the cramped smile on her face. ¡¸No, I¡¯m serious about this matter.¡¹ ¡¸IT¡¯S STRANGE! COMPLETELY OUT OF THE BOX IN A BAD SENSE! I MEAN, HOW DID YOU ARRIVE TO SUCH IDEA!?¡¹ Maybe because she couldn¡¯t hold back anymore, Rose spoke rapidly, as if she read some sort of spell aria and she looking at me with determined look in her eyes. ¡¸BUHAHAHA!! GOBLINS AND ORCS AFTER THE THREE KINGS OF UNDRWORLD, EH! AS EXPECTED OF SHIFU, YOUR IDEA IS ALWAYS BEYOND OUR EXPECTATIONS!¡¹ Zack burst into laughter as he banged the table. ¡¸Is my idea really that strange?¡¹ I ended up heaving a deep sigh upon seeing all participants of the meeting motionlessly, I nodded in unison with them as the meeting proceeded. ¡¸I guess it really can¡¯t be helped if you¡¯re so against of my plans.¡¹ Having said that, it means that we couldn¡¯t start our new project for now. Winning this crown contest is the only way to fulfill my ambition (of living slow life). Moreover, we are undeniably in dire need for new citizens. Maybe I should start by visiting their hideout first. I constructed such plan in my head while letting out a sinister chuckle from my mouth, ¡¸Master hasn¡¯t given up yet, eh.¡¹ Asta, who had been observing the meeting in silence for a while, was the first one to pass a comment, filled with satire. Volume 4 - CH 3 Act 4-3: Journey Toward World Sorcery Institution ¡¸Hah? Why should I enroll into¡¾Babel¡¿?¡¹ I replied with a dumbfounded face. ¡¸You have to! A royal guard is prime example for the knights of a kingdom! In case the royal guard is young, they have an obligation to attend the educational institution chosen by the kingdom.¡¹ Rose replied with a face telling me to ¡°Just do it¡±. It seems she kept this matter a secret despite being fully aware. ¡¸I¡¯m just your temporary royal guard. I don¡¯t need to enter something like an educational institution.¡¹ And I refuse to become a student at this age. I mean, I don¡¯t need that anymore. I am no longer an underage youth, I¡¯m a full-fledged adult(around hundred thousand years old). ¡¸No problem. We have already handled the registration process for you. Now let¡¯s go!¡¹ Rose ignored me as she took my right-hand and dragged me out. ¡¸Hey¨D¨D Don¡¯t ignore me!¡¹ Completely ignoring me, she pulled me into the carriage stationary outside the building. Asta, Zack, Anna, Myu and Faf had already been seated inside the carriage. It seems she had already prepared everything. Good grief, what a troublesome girl¡­ Oh whatever. Rose herself was also forced to enter Babel and live there as one of their students. Babel was an independent institute, unaffected by all nations and the most suitable place to ambush one¡¯s political enemy. I find it surprising that hot tempered fellas from the Gilbert faction could actually enroll into this school; thus, I could only prepare for an ambush. If Rose were to die, the East End would most likely get devoured by greedy nobles. That¡¯s why I built the city, quite literally, in the middle of a mountain. There was no way I would let those greedy pigs take that city. I guess the best choice for now was to never leave Rose unaccompanied. Moreover, the long journey inside the shaking carriage didn¡¯t feel so bad. I guess I really am too occupied with managing the territory nowadays. Maybe I should treat this as some sort of vacation. It wasn¡¯t a blazing fast journey using Phoenix, but a slow journey along with these guys with carriage. ¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô After shaking inside the carriage for two weeks, a tall and huge tower piercing the clouds came in our sight. That was the most famous educational institute in this world¨D¨D Babel¡¯s Pillar. It was some sort of wandering destination for the sorcerers or swordsmen all around the world. Naturally, not even in my wildest imagination I expected that I would have to attend this ridiculous institution. The essence of swordsman laid in a struggle between life and death. In a certain meaning, one had to swing their sword till they could abandon all selfishness. Things such as fame or influence, in a certain meaning, resembled pieces in board game. A swordsman could still be a swordsman even without those mundane things. Well, an incompetent like me would most likely be rejected immediately by the tower. Our carriage entered inside the city of Babel. ¡¸So many people.¡¹ ¡¸Many people-nanodesu!¡¹ Faf and Myu leaned half of their small bodies outside the carriage window, taking in every detail restlessly with sparkling eyes. Even I was in awe, witnessing a sheer number of people in the street. As expected from world¡¯s largest institute, more than half of the crowd was young. Faf and Myu were clearly excited. ¡¸Let¡¯s pick an inn and head for lunch! I¡¯ll guide you to a delicious eatery in Babel.¡¹ Rose muttered so with a proud look on her face, resting her hands on her hips. ¡¸YAAAY! IT¡¯S MEAL TIME!¡¹ ¡¸YAAAY-NANODESU! IT¡¯S MEAL TIME-NANODESU!¡¹ ¡¸AND DELICIOUS!¡¹ ¡¸DELICIOUS-NANODESU!¡¹ Everyone then started to arrange themselves to get off the carriage with wry smile on their faces, as they saw Faf and Myu frolicking inside the carriage. The lodging facility recommended by Rose was in the southwest part of this city. Compared to the lavish structures in the center of the city, the stores lining up along the street appeared to be ordinary. Maybe this southwest district was for common students rather than those royalties, nobles, or wealthy merchants. Given the fact that Rose was really familiar with this place, I guess she often used the inn we were heading to. Despite her disappointing (real)personality, Rose was undoubtedly a genuine royal. The place allocated to her from Babel might not be located in this district. I guess she came here on her own accord, just being herself. I never expected see such behavior from a royalty of the kingdom that liked the mass of vanity. Well, no matter how gorgeous the building look like, I guess she is simply fed up of living in the midst of sophisticated people. Even from my perspective, living in this district was much better choice. We entered the inn and Rose left for the inn¡¯s office to take care of the formalities. Waiting for Rose to complete the procedure at the reception, I leaned on the wooden pillar near the entrance, watching the situation inside the inn. ¡¸AH, KAI HEINEMAN!!¡¹ When I heard the shout, I caught a figure of a blonde-haired girl with bob-cut hair, pointing at me. This girl is Lyla¡¯s cousin¨D¨D Lumine. And just like me, she was also the holder of a trash gift. Lyla had never changed her attitude towards me, even after she came to know about my trash gift, ¡¾The Most Incompetent in This World¡¿. Thus, it was only natural that her attitude toward Lumine remained the same, an extremely loving big sister. ¡¸Yo, long time no see.¡¹ When I greeted her with a wave and smile on my face, Lumine surprisingly stared at me for few second with a rather dumbfounded look on her face. ¡¸Stop making that forced smile. It¡¯s creepy!¡¹ She retreated, as if trying to avoid me, and uttering words that could stain my reputation. This girl, she was serious when she told me that, huh. Well, I guess she has a point; lately, even that Zack, who was a literal beast in human clothing, often joked around telling me to stop my smile since it looked nothing short of a demon king¡¯s smirk, or devil when they¡¯re concocting an evil plot. Hearing Lumine¡¯s remark, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if she might be telling the truth. Oh, screw that! Like hell I could make that kind of smile. The strange one was Lumine¡¯s and Zack¡¯s sense. Yeah, no doubt about it. ¡¸I see. So, what are you doing here?¡¹ I gave a vague reply and decided to change the topic, to avoid the topic of my smile. ¡¸That¡¯s none of your business!¡¹ She folded her arms, looking away. This girl was the same as ever eh. Lumine deeply trusted Lyla. Or should I say that she trusted no one but Lyla. She shouldn¡¯t visit this city by herself. Since she was in this city, it must mean that Lyla was here as well. I guess I really missed Lyla, eh. Maybe I should pay a visit to her too. And just when I was thinking about that matter, ¡¸KAI HEINEMAN!! I WILL NEVER APPROVE YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH ONEE-SAMA, EVER!¡¹ She ran to the second floor while spewing threats, similar to ones I heard so many times back at my birthplace. Uhm, since it seems that Rose has finished the procedure, I guess it was the time for me to go. Volume 4 - CH 4 Act 4-4: Meal in Babel After finishing the booking formalities for the inn, we headed towards the restaurant recommended by Rose. It was a restaurant located along the main street, that stretched from east to west of the city. We saw students wearing various uniforms in the restaurant building, which looked like it was built by an novice builder, leading me to guess that this was fairly inexpensive restaurant, truly a Rose-like choice. Well, I guess it also suited my liking, since this place was obviously much informal and allowed my mind to relax, rather than those high class, luxurious restaurants with unbending rules. ¡¸Let¡¯s take that seat.¡¹ Urged by Rose, we choose the corner seat. ¡¸It¡¯s so delicious-nodesu!!¡¹ ¡¸Delicious!¡¹ The gluttons Faf and Myu stuffed meat delicacies in their mouths. ¡¸Yeah, it¡¯s delicious.¡¹ The chef in this place was quite skilled, not as much as Kyuubi though. The basis for that conclusion was Faf, who was honest by nature, kept shouting ¡®delicious!¡¯ from starting to the end of each dish. So, the cook should at least be top-level in this world. Nevertheless, even though we took the corner seat, we had been the center of attention for quite a while now. The reason was most probably Rose. Enrolling into Babel didn¡¯t change the fact that she was the Amelia kingdom royalty, and most probably the sanest one. Though her real self was a sorry beauty, her popularity was sky high. And then, as I was enduring the sensation of lying on a nail bed from all the stares, another small commotion was started by the appearance of a silver-haired girl with long ears who approached our table. She wore pleated skirt and a vest with white and violet as their elementary colors. To top it all was a gorgeous, ornamental robe. ¡¸Nice to meet you again, Kai-sama.¡¹ The silver-haired girl gave me a curtsy. If memory served right, her name was Millefeuille. She was Rose¡¯s classmate in Babel. ¡¸Uhm. It¡¯s good to see you lively as usual.¡¹ ¡¸Nice to meet you too, Rose.¡¹ She waved lightly to Rose, ¡¸Yes, nice to meet you too~, Milfi~.¡¹ Witnessing Rose replying with a smile on her face, the silver-haired girl, Milfi, then moved her gaze back to me, ¡¸May I sit in your presence?¡¹ She asked me directly. The restaurant got stirred upon hearing her request. What in the world are they surprised about? We are just eating together as fellow students, right? And yet, why did it look like a really big deal for them? Well, I guess their reaction had nothing to do with me. ¡¸Yeah, I don¡¯t mind. Right, Rose?¡¹ I looked at Rose as I asked for her permission, but saw her making cold smile as she said, ¡¸Yes, why would I mind?¡¹ That made me flinch. Rose, seriously, stop making that kind of smile, you¡¯re scaring Faf and Myu. Could it be that the relationship between Millefeuille and Rose isn¡¯t well? I mean, their greeting made me believe that they are not on bad terms. I mean, Anna had literally ignored Rose¡¯s reaction and was busying herself with wiping Faf¡¯s mouth, so I guess this kind of interaction between the two of them was a common. ¡¸Then, feel free to choose your seat.¡¹ She took the seat beside Rose gracefully. Milfi then placed her order to the waiter. Though she was clearly scared when we met for the first time, she seems to be relaxed this time. ¡¸Are you staying in this city too, Kai-sama?¡¹ ¡¸Most likely.¡¹ It was a huge disappointment on my side though. ¡¸That¡¯s only natural, Kai is my knight after all.¡¹ Milfi ignored Rose, and bent forward to grasp my hands. ¡¸Kai-sama, I¡¯m rooting for you in the unified exam next week! Achieving the top score is just a simple matter for you though.¡¹ Wait, this is the first time I am hearing about this. A test is next week? Why am I only hearing about this just now? I sent a blaming look to Rose, she averted her gaze in panic. So, this girl was deliberately keeping this a secret from me. Well, whatever. It¡¯s not like this information would cause any trouble for me. I was about to speak when the restaurant was stirred again. And this time, it was a turmoil bigger than the previous one. I looked at the source of the commotion, propping my chin with my hand, a group of people wearing the same uniform as Milfi, led by a blonde-haired hunk entered the restaurant. I had seen that blonde once before, during the announcement of the start of crown contest. Amelia kingdom¡¯s prince, Gilbert. ¡¸The heck, are you sure that the food in this worn-out restaurant is really delicious? ¡¹ The red-haired youth beside Gilbert was looking around inside the restaurant with an egotistical gaze, as if looking down on everyone in the place. ¡¸Y-Yes! The dishes in this place is really delicious! I¡¯m sure that Your Highness will find its taste it satisfying!¡¹ A youth with freckles on his face replied with in a stutter. ¡¸Is that so? The incompetent you must¡¯ve fed up with us a long time ago. Especially when it comes to His Highness¡¯ meal. Failure is not tolerable! ¡¹ The youth with freckles looked like he was about to cry, when another youth seized the former¡¯s collar and barked, ¡¸Take it easy guys, I think he also understand the importance on His Highness¡¯ meal and won¡¯t make such mistake. If it turns out to be not to your highness¡¯ taste, you know what¡¯ll happen to you, right?¡¹ A blonde-haired young man who, in pure white armor-apparently the escort-muttered so to the freckled youth. Honestly, even though keeping the surroundings in control for everyone to away from his escort target was an escort¡¯s duty, but was there a need for an adult like him to threaten children? Well, I guess I couldn¡¯t expect any more from shitty nobles of Amelia kingdom. ¡¸Y-Yes¡­ It¡¯ll be alright¡­ I think.¡¹ The freckled youth replied with low voice. And then, Gilbert¡¯s group arrived at the center of the restaurant, ¡¸Oi, move out of here! This table going to be used by His Highness!¡¹ One of Gilbert¡¯s lackeys shouted at the student eating at the table. ¡¸Y-YES!¡¹ The student gave away his seat since he didn¡¯t wish to get in trouble. And then looked for another table. U~hm, I know that they are a bunch of arrogant bastards, but to think that they could stoop this low. Rather, was this some sort of common sense in Amelia kingdom? Well, not that I knew about that matter in detail, since Heineman house was just small noble in rural area. Anyhow, it seems they forgot that this place was Babel, not Amelia kingdom. No matter how powerful their military might be, I honestly questioned the sanity of the government of Amelia kingdom who allowed this to happen in neutral area such as Babel. I mean, no matter how you look at it, they smeared mud on Amelia kingdom¡¯s honor. Anna seized Rose¡¯s right arm upon seeing the latter about to stand up from her seat, and shook her head, gesturing the latter to stop. It seems this kind of trouble happened almost everyday for Rose and co. At this point, Gilbert had finally noticed Rose, his face warped into that of annoyance and he turned to the chair pulled by his escort. Those fellas were even more childish than Myu. The restaurant fell into silence. Most in the restaurant did not dare to speak at this very moment; after a long and uncomfortable silence, the dishes were finally brought to Gilbert and co¡¯s table. Gilbert face was dyed in the color of hatred. ¡¸What in the hell is this? Are you telling me to eat this crap? Even my pet ate far better dishes than this.¡¹ Spitting at the dish, he threw the plate with the dish to the floor. Naturally, the plate broke, scattering into pieces. ¡¸CALL THE PERSON IN CHARGE OF THIS PLACE!¡¹ The blonde-haired young man shouted in rage, ¡¸Y-YES!¡¹ The waitress hurriedly moved to the kitchen. Soon, a short man wearing black clothes, apparently the owner, came grabbing the arm of a petite, blue-haired girl wearing a chef¡¯s attire with a sulking look on her face. ¡¸My apologies if the dish isn¡¯t up to your palate! Hey, you go to apologies to them!¡¹ The owner then forced the petite girl to apologies to Gilbert too. This time, it was me who stopped Rose-who had made an expression akin to evil god- from leaving her seat. ¡¸Kai, why¨D¨D¡¹ ¡¸Leave this matter to me.¡¹ Even I had enough of those unsightly beasts in human clothing. Or should I say that they, really are touching my nerve. I stood from my seat and, ¡¸Keep it in moderation, Shifu. Your domestication training is a little bit too much for those ignorant youngsters after all.¡¹ Zack said something that made anyone doubted my credibility. ¡¸That¡¯s right. Master¡¯s compassion is too good for those water flea. There¡¯s a saying ¡°One day one evil deed¡±, you don¡¯t actually need to soil your hand just for disciplining them. Master, we can do it for you.¡¹ Asta made such an ambiguous remark. ¡¸The heck, I never heard such saying! It should be ¡°One day one good deed¡± right? Well, I guess I¡¯ve nothing to say if Asta-neesan say so!¡¹ Zack retorted to Asta while waving his right-hand. ¡¸Kai-sama is going to deliver his punishment, right? I really can¡¯t wait to witness to such an event!¡¹ Milfi leaned forward with expectant look on her face. ¡¸Kai, I won¡¯t tell you to keep it in moderation like Zack, but just don¡¯t overdo it.¡¹ Anna spoke in a considerate tone that made me wonder, the old her would never said this while distributing the dishes; all in all, she was very calm. ¡¸Anna, even if that¡¯s a joke, you¡¯re a knight that protects royalty, right? Aren¡¯t you supposed to stop him?¡¹ ¡¸Trying to stop Kai from doing what he¡¯s going to do is fool¡¯s errand.¡¹ ¡¸Well, no doubt about tha¡ª no, that¡¯s not the point!¡¹ ¡¸Moreover, I still can¡¯t forgive that guy for trying to sell you to the empire, Rose-sama!¡¹ Anna had also changed a lot; she was considered as oddball amongst the oddballs now. Even though the old her was more¨D¨D ¡¸Anyhow. Teach him a good lesson, Kai!¡¹ Anna raised her thumb as she said so. The heck, you people are surely enjoying this, right? Right? ¡¸Onii-chan?¡¹ I patted Myu¡¯s head as she was the only one in the group worrying about me. Yup, this onii-chan is really happy that you¡¯re the only decent one amongst these oddballs. ¡¸Just enjoy the dishes with Faf.¡¹ I told her so as I pointed to Faf, who enjoyed food despite all those commotions. And then, seizing the water jug on the table, I walked to Gilbert and co. to conduct a beast domestication ritual. === Faf in heaven! From left: Faf, Asta, Tiamat, Kai === TN: Next chapter is 24/07/2022 Volume 4 - CH 5 cnine6-8 minutes 03.07.2021 Act 4-5: Beast Domestication After arriving at Gilbert and co.¡¯s table, I poured water in the jug on Gilbert¡¯s head. ¡¸WAH!?¡¹ Everyone in the restaurant was dumbfounded. Strangely enough, only Faf¡¯s sound of moving her cutlery could be heard in this unnatural silence. ¡¸YOU BASTAAARD! DO YOU REALIZE WHAT DID YOU DO JUST NOW!?¡¹ The knight in pure white armor, Gilbert¡¯s escort, drew his sword and pointed it at me. ¡¸What¡¯s the matter? Is that all you can do?¡¹ I beckoned him with my left-hand. ¡¸BRAT! I¡¯LL LOP OFF YOUR LIMBS AND DRAG YOU TO THE OFFICER FOR YOR DISRESPECT TOWARD HIS HIGHNESS!!¡¹ The knight swung his sword aiming for my right shoulder, while spewing that unknightly remark. It seemed this guy was serious. This would be a fatal wound to any teenager, that is not considering dragging one on the road. ¡¸I guess it just shows how much of a low-life you are.¡¹ I caught his sword with my right-hand. ¡¸WHAT THE!?¡¹ I swewt his feet while he was in shock, his body spun in mid-air. He landed on the floor right on his face and the sound of his nose breaking echoed in the entire restaurant. I kicked the young knight, who groaned in pain, to his side and trampled the side profile his face. ¡¸Asta, give me some skewers and an empty plate.¡¹ I gave an order to Asta. ¡¸Roger.¡¹ Hearing my order, Asta grinned from ear to ear. She then took an unused plate and wooden skewers and threw those towards me. Catching the plate with my left-hand, and the skewers with my right, I used the skewers to pierce the young knight¡¯s cheeks, and stepped on the skewer to sew him down on the floor. The entire restaurant was stirred again when I did so, while I ignoring all the noise and picked up Gilbert¡¯s spilled dish and placed it on the unused plate in my left-hand, and headed toward Gilbert and co. ¡¸Out of my way.¡¹ I glared at the red-haired youth who sat beside Gilbert, and ordered him to out of my way. ¡¸¡­¡¹ I saw the red-haired youth looking up to me without moving an inch, ¡¸I said¨D¨D OUT, OF, MY, WAY!¡¹ I put more pressure in my voice. ¡¸Y-YES!¡¹ The red-haired youth tumbled over from his chair as he tried to get away from me. It seems he had yet to understand his situation. I then sat on Gilbert¡¯s side, who was staring at me with dumbfounded look on his face, and placed the soppy dish that he threw away previously right in front of him. ¡¸NOW EAT, THE, DISH!¡¹ I ordered him to eat the dish. ¡¸D-DON¡¯T MESS WITH ME! AS IF I¡¯M GOING TO DO THAT!¡¹ I seized the flushed, red-faced Gilbert by his collar. ¡¸Now, listen clearly! I actually don¡¯t mind if someone says a dish is horrible. Everyone has their own preference, and that will be the source of input for the chef¡¯s growth. But, that¡¯s only in the case where they said their impression after they TRY THE DISH. AND THAT¡¯S NOT APPLIED IN YOUR CASE! NOW EAT, AND DON¡¯T YOU DARE SPIT THE FOOD! DO NOT WASTE FOOD! That¡¯s the most basic rule in society. And you, have broken that rule. That¡¯s why you have to face the consequence. Understand? ¡¹ I admonishing him. ¡¸H-HOW DARE YOU! I¡¯M THE FIRST PRINCE OF AMELIA KINGDO¨D¨D¡¹ Since his remark made me more frustrated, I let go of his collar, grabbed his head, and shoved his face right in the plate with the soppy dish. ¡¸I don¡¯t care. Eat first before you complain. I¡¯ll let you go after you finish the dish.¡¹ ¡¸MOGAGUGE!¡¹ I ignored Gilbert¡¯s shameful wails and kept pressing his face on the plate. Yeah, even if he ended up suffocating due to this. A few minutes later, Gilbert, who finally realized his situation, started eating the soppy dish. And then¨D¨D ¡¸Kai-kun, I think that should be enough.¡¹ I turned around to the voice calling out to me with a dumbfounded look, a blue-haired man with an unshaven face, carrying a greatsword on his back was standing behind me. ¡¸Oh, so you¡¯re in this city too, Al.¡¹ I turned my face as I replied raising my free left-hand. ¡¸Yeah, this place happened to be the place for a troublesome, yet important meeting.¡¹ Arnold replied, shrugging his shoulders. Thanks to Arnold¡¯s appearance, the youths who followed Gilbert couldn¡¯t do anything but cry and hide behind Arnold¡¯s figure. But well, it seems there was an exception. The freckled youth was the only one who tried to stop me by properly apologizing for Gilbert¡¯s misbehaviour, despite the fact he had been trembling for a while. ¡¸So, can you stop already?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, I guess this much is enough for beast domestication.¡¹ I really did feel that this was enough since the freckled youth did apologize properly, so I had to give him some face. In addition, around two-thirds of the dish on the plate had been eaten. I guess this should be enough as a lesson for this idiot prince. After releasing Gilbert, I pulled out the skewers from the young knight under my feet and sprinkled an Advanced-grade potion on his wound, which healed his cheeks in no time. And since I used Advanced-grade potion, it wouldn¡¯t even leave a scar behind. I mean, in most cases, these annoying nobles would come to find trouble with me in near-future by using these scars as a pretext. And then, as soon as I thought so, that very young knight immediately stood on his feet, pointing at me with his trembling finger, ¡¸Knight leader Arnold, this guy injured me, and worse of all, he disgraced his highness by pouring water on them and even dared to¨D¨D¡¹ The young knight appealed to Arnold with desperate look on his face. ¡¸Injury? Where?¡¹ ¡¸Just a while ago in this very place, you saw it too right! He stabbed my cheeks with skewers!¡¹ ¡¸Well, I don¡¯t see any of that. What about you, minister of military affairs?¡¹ Arnold asked the tall dandy man who was fidgeting with his Kaiser beard. ¡¸I also saw nothing.¡¹ The other party also replied instantly. ¡¸HAH!? Y-You people¨D¨D¡¹ ¡¸Well, that matter aside, senior knight Tamri, we received the report of your group making a ruckus in this place. You must never forget that this place isn¡¯t Amelia kingdom! Your misbehaviour today has disgraced your motherland! Shame on you!¡¹ After throwing that harsh criticism, Arnold carried prince Gilbert, who still had a dumbfounded face mixed with tears and mucus, ¡¸You lot, come with us as well!¡¹ Arnold ordered the rest of Gilbert¡¯s followers to follow him. ¡¸Well then, see you later, Kai-kun.¡¹ He waved his right hand and left the restaurant along with the minister and the troublemakers. In the end, only the freckled youth bowed politely to me before leaving the restaurant along with Arnold and the others. === TN: Next chapter is 26/07/2022 Volume 4 - CH 6 cnine5-6 minutes 03.07.2021 Act 4-6: Hero Side¡¯s Circumstance ¨D¨DHigh-End residential area in the northern part of Babel. It was a literal celebrity town consisting of children of wealthy merchants, royalties, nobles, and other big shots. Also, only part of Babel administration could enter the posh area. In a certain room of a luxurious residence, Amelia kingdom¡¯s first prince, Gilbert Loto Amelia, kicked a table, toppling it. ¡¸DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT! I¡¯M A PRINCEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! HOW DARE HE¨D¨D TO SHAME ME IN PUBLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIC!!!¡¹ Just kicking the table was far from enough for him to vent his rage. Gilbert, despite being a prince was humiliated in the presence of many. Thus, it was only natural that he wanted to put the culprit who humiliated him, Kai Heineman to death. And yet, strangely enough, Kai Heineman¡¯s lord, Rose, didn¡¯t even reprimanded him for what he did. On the contrary, Babel¡¯s authority even judged that the one at fault in this matter was Gilbert; a one-week house arrest was imposed to him as his punishment. ¡¸Princess Rose¡¯s royal guard, Kai Heineman, eh. Your senior knight, uhm¡­ ah, Tamshi, woops¨D¨D AH! TANSHI-KUN!¡¹ The slender, red-haired man with undercut stated so while snapping his fingers, trying to recall the name of Gilbert¡¯s knight. ¡¸It¡¯s senior knight Tamri. Holy knight(Paladin), Hijiri-sama.¡¹ A blonde-haired woman with bundled long hair corrected Hijiri¡¯s mistake immediately. ¡¸Ah yes, it¡¯s Tamri-kun. Well, since he¡¯s Gill¡¯s favorite, he should be fairly powerful, right? Doesn¡¯t that make Kai Heineman who overwhelmed Tamri more powerful?¡¹ The other members¡¯ curiosity was piqued by Hijiri¡¯s statement, then they started their own discussion. ¡¸Kai Heineman is the holder of joke-like gift called ¡¾The Most Incompetent in This World¡¿, right?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, one who was abandoned by God, the shunned incompetent apostate. Are you really sure that he beat a senior knight? I mean, it is simply unbelievable.¡¹ ¡¸Does that mean he used some sort of underhanded means? Else, doesn¡¯t that show just how useless Tamri is?¡¹ The red-haired man with undercut, Hijiri, clapped his hands as he then turned around, ¡¸So? What do you think of that man called Kai Heineman, Satoru? You met him once before, right?¡¹ And when asked of the handsome black-haired man, ¡¸He is just a small fry! I mean, all he can do is trembling in fear when the king ordered him to fight Geralt.¡¹ Satoru replied so with loud voice and vexed look on his face. ¡¸So he¡¯s at least weaker than Geralt-kun. Then, he can¡¯t beat us. Right, Mashiro?¡¹ This time, HIjiri directed his question to a beautiful girl with long and glossy black hair. ¡¸Yeah, in the current state, he¡¯s not a hindrance to the plan.¡¹ The black-haired girl, Mashiro, declared calmly. With that single declaration from her, ¡¸AS EXPECTED OF HERO-SAMA! HOW REASSURING!¡¹ ¡¸VICTORY IS OURS!¡¹ ¡¸WE WILL EXTERMINATE THE DEMON RACE TILL NONE OF THEM ARE LEFT!¡¹ Relieved voices resounded from the entire room. ¡¸So? What are you going to do about Kai Heineman?¡¹ Hearing Hijiri¡¯s question, ¡¸Naturally¨D¨D¡¹ Gilbert was about to finish but, ¡¸Leave him alone.¡¹ Mashiro declared so as if to interrupt Gilbert. ¡¸DON¡¯T MESS WITH ME! HE WAS EXTREMELY DISRESPECTFUL TOWARD ME! I¡¯VE TO KILL HIM!£¡ NO ONE WILL KNOW THE CULPRIT AS LONG AS WE DON¡¯T ADMIT IT!¡¹ ¡¸Still no. Kai Heineman is Rena¡¯s and Keith¡¯s childhood friend. Killing him will only turn both of them into our enemy.¡¹ ¡¸THEY WON¡¯T KNOW AS LONG AS WE KEEP IT IN THE DARK!¡¹ Mashiro was obviously dumbfounded upon hearing Gilbert¡¯s remark, and then, heaved a deep sigh, ¡¸Now listen carefully, isn¡¯t the reason for the prime minister to keep watch on all of your movements because of your previous plan, the one that you executed without even informing us? Even if you try to assassinate Kai Heineman now, I can guarantee that it¡¯s going to fail due to some outside intervention. And if the prime minister spread that news in public, we will lose Rena and Keith¡¯s trust, and both of them will even leave the hero team.¡¹ Mashiro spoke in a manner of admonishing a naughty child. ¡¸Dammit!¡¹ Gilbert could only suppress his anger, sit back in the sofa and trample the floor beneath his feet to vent his anger. ¡¸Rena and Keith are important corner stones in the war against demon army. We absolutely cannot lose them. If it¡¯s for your personal interest, you can purge their entire faction along with his relatives after you win the crown contest and ascend to the throne. We can also help you far more easily then.¡¹ Mashiro said so and then observed the room¨D¨D ¡¸We only have one goal, total annihilation of the monsters and demon race. That¡¯s the common mission of humanity!¡¹ As she raised her voice in the latter part of her sentence, the knights in the room placed their hand on their chest at once. ¡¸KILL DEMON RACE! BURN THEIR FIELD AND CITY! KILL THEM ALL WITHOUT EXCEPTION! JUSTICE IS WITH US!¡¹ Which then followed a yell, answering Mashiro¡¯s remark. === TN: The hero party is digging their own grave. === TN: Next chapter is 29/07/2022 Volume 4 - CH 7 Act 4-7: Babel¡¯s Circumtance ¡¾Babel¡¿¡¯s Top Floor. ¡¸No matter how much I look at it, it¡¯s a complete beatdown.¡¹ In the headmaster¡¯s room located at the top floor of Babel¡¯s tower, Babel¡¯s grand headmaster, Inea Renren Lorelei, was examining the data sheet in front of her while muttering her thoughts. Examining the data sheet, she concluded that Kai Heineman would become a key player of this world in future. His strength aside, her main focus was on his character, she wanted to know just what kind of a person Kai Heineman was, to grasp his character. The data sheet was just one of the many information files gathered by the secret investigation team. Written in the sheets were information simply too unbelievable, yet true. It started with the inauguration of princess Rosemary as the lord of East End in the beginning of Amelia kingdom¡¯s crown contest. Naturally, there was no such thing as ¡°Normal¡± inhabitants living in the East End. The one that Kai Heineman choose was the people who happened to hide in there, the Wind Cat. And the leader of the Wind Cat was none other than the missing duchess of Amelia kingdom, Felis Loto Amelia. If that was the case, it was normal to think about inhabiting them as citizens, yes, if it was stopped at that point. ¡¸The strongest transcendent in the history of this world¡­¡¹ Transcendents¨D¨D They were abnormal existence that surpass even the spirits, and dragons. Though no one had witnessed them before, they would come out without fail in fairy-tale, or myths. And yet, Kai Heineman insisted that he wasn¡¯t one. In fact, Inea thought that Millefeuille was exaggerating things when the latter was explaining the matter about Kai Heineman. But now, she couldn¡¯t think a reason why he insisted on that. If she didn¡¯t hear from Millefeuille before that Kai Heineman was insisting to be a human, Inea might have assumed that Kai Heineman was playing a prank on her. ¡®I can understand that idiot prince of the human race who insisted that Kai Heineman did something really unforgivable to him.¡¯ Nevertheless¨D¨D ¡¸Trying to sentence Kai Heineman with the death penalty, eh¡­ what a buffoon.¡¹ No matter how much she could relate to Gilbert¡¯s feelings, she felt no shred of sympathy for the latter. Because if what Millefeuille had said was true, Kai Heineman still regarded himself as a human. The reason why he didn¡¯t go as far as killing the idiotic and reckless prince was the very evidence of that. Thus, if the action was taken within the rules of being human, Kai Heineman wouldn¡¯t go overboard. Since that was the case, she felt that advancing with the first plan wouldn¡¯t rouse Kai Heineman¡¯s anger. ¡¸I¡¯ve never expected that such a plan will make me so nervous and exhausted.¡¹ Inea heaved a deep sigh, ¡¸But¨D¨D this is interesting!¡¹ Yet muttered so with sparkling eyes in the right next moment. === TN: Next chapter is 01/08/2022 Volume 4 - CH 8 Act 4-8: The Beginning of Great Feast Festival of North Grand A cave was located right in territory of North Grand. A man around two meters tall walked inside the huge passage, far too big for a human. The man wore navy blue attire with strips, with pure white feathers on his black coat, and his face bestial, his entire face was covered with red hair. A man with red beard stopped in front of a giant, blue dragon whose length surpassed ten metres. ¡ºHo, a rare visitor.¡» With interested look on their face, the giant blue dragon muttered so while bending his neck to see the red bearded man,. ¡¸Yeah. The last time we meet was in Deboa¡¯s campaign.¡¹ The blue dragon frowned upon hearing the word ¡¾Deboa¡¿ from the man with red beard. ¡ºThat one seems to be dead.¡» Said so with wry smile on its face. ¡¸Yeah. It is also rumored that it got defeated by a human.¡¹ ¡ºIs that true? A human beating that monster sounds like a lie though.¡» The blue dragon swung his head, ¡¸As if that¡¯s the truth. The point about only a human defeated it is a lie.¡¹ The red-bearded man replied with profound remark. ¡ºWhat do you mean?¡» The blue dragon muttered in irritation, ¡¸Wooah, calm down now.¡¹ Though the man apologized, his face showed otherwise. ¡ºJust fess it up already!¡» Upon hearing the blue dragon urging the man to continue, the latter shrugged his shoulder begin, ¡¸It seems they won by using contract spirit, spirit king of earth; Titan.¡¹ He told the truth to the blue dragon. ¡ºTitan? How ridiculous! There¡¯s no way a single spirit king can beat that evil dragon!¡» Blue dragon thought that the other party was lying, and was pissed off. ¡¸No, that¡¯s the truth. Right, officer Ashmedia?¡¹ The man grinned widely as he asked the robe-clad blonde-haired woman in standing behind him. ¡¸Yes, that¡¯s the truth.¡¹ ¡ºHow can you say that? Did you personally witness Titan slaying ¡¾Deboa¡¿?¡» ¡¸No, we did not.¡¹ ¡ºThen it must be a lie!¡» The blonde-haired woman smiled wryly upon seeing the blue dragon dismissing the news as fake. ¡¸According to the human information broker, duchess Felis Loto Amelia from Amelia kingdom is the one who used Titan, she cooperated with several figures from underworld organizations to subjugate ¡¾Deboa¡¿.¡¹ And added that piece of the information. ¡ºDon¡¯t mess with me!! No matter how much the likes of those humans gather, they can¡¯t never beat ¡¾Deboa¡¿! Don¡¯t mess with me! Not even a speck of your bone will be left if I burn you, Ashmedia! ¡» The blue dragon roared in rage till spark of flames came out from their mouth toward the blonde woman in black robe. ¡¸Though there¡¯s some complication in the information, the big shot of Babel and Amelia kingdom has the same onion. That¡¯s why this information is without a doubt, true. It seems that even the legendary evil dragon ¡¾Deboa¡¿ is getting weaker after being sealed for too long.¡¹ Even though the air in the place was trembled due to the angry roar of the blue dragon, the blonde-haired woman replied with cool face without even twitching her eyebrows. ¡ºEven if it getting weaker, it¡¯s still that ¡¾Deboa¡¿! Bug who used by the likes of human can never beat it!¡» The blonde-haired woman only shrugged her shoulders upon hearing the blue dragon¡¯s remark and, ¡¸About that, there¡¯s mismatch in each sides¡¯ opinion. Hero, sage, holy knight, the current human is not strong to the point that we can¡¯t beat them. The factor that playing in their victory might be duchess Felis¡¯ special gift, strengthening Titan¡¯s power which allowed the latter to defeat the weakened Deboa.¡¹ The blonde-haired woman refuted as she stated her opinion. ¡¸I also agree with them. This is already unavoidable situation, Cetus. If we didn¡¯t do anything, we¡¯re most likely going to be exterminated by that human.¡¹ The man with red beard spoke as if admonishing the blue dragon, Cetus. ¡ºHAH! GIFT!GIFT!GIFT!GIFT!GIFT! IN THE END, THOSE HUMAN ARE NOTHING MORE THAN THE GOD¡¯S PAWN! BUNCH OF VICIOUS BASTARDS WHO LOVE, THE WEAKEST RACE!¡» Upon hearing the blue dragon cursing the gods, ¡¸It should be called ¡ºDivine Protection¡» instead of gift in god¡¯s circle right, Aldebaran-dono?¡¹ The blonde-haired woman asked for the confirmation from the man with red beard, Aldebaran. Aldebaran nodded. ¡¸That¡¯s right, I received an oracle which taught me the method to receive ¡ºDivine Protection¡» from our god.¡¹ He looked up as he spread his arms. ¡º¡ºDivine Protection¡» of our god?¡» The blue dragon, Cetus, narrowed their eyes in suspicion upon hearing Aldebaran¡¯s remark, upon seeing that, the smile on Aldebaran¡¯s face widened, he then snapped his fingers. Upon seeing that, Aldebaran¡¯s attendants who stayed behind him nodded lightly and then went even deeper into the cave. Pair of man and woman appeared a while later. The man carried sack that seems to contain a creature inside, the woman carried something with human shape. That something in human shape was restrained with metal bangles on each of their limbs, they also put on deep hood that hide their feature. ¡ºWhat¡¯s that?¡» Upon hearing Cetus asked with unusually perturbed voice, Aldebaran snapped his fingers again. The demon race man who carried a sack on his shoulder opened the string that sealed the sack and threw out the content of the sack. The creature inside the sack turned out to be a young bird folk¨D¨D Garuda tribe. And then, when the female attendant unfolded the hood of human creature, it turned out to be a man with dog-head, numerous thick blood vessels were bulging out on his skin. ¡ºHe look different but, a kobold eh.¡» The blue dragon, Cetus muttered so while narrowing their eyes, ¡¸Nope, he¡¯s one of my people who can¡¯t pay their tax.¡¹ Aldebaran corrected Cetus. ¡ºHe¡¯s, a demon race? Then why did he look like a kobold?¡» ¡¸Well, see for yourself.¡¹ Aldebaran then sent a signal with his eyes to his male attendant. The male attendant then brought the dog head closer to the youth from Garuda tribe who still trembled nonstop. And then, the mouth of the dog head suddenly opened wide as if his jaw was dislocated¨D¨D ¨D¨DCRUNCH! He bit the head of the Garuda youth in one go. Blood spurted like fountain from the headless body. As the man with dog head chewed the head of the Garuda youth, pair of pure white wings appeared from his back. That was definitely the trait of Garuda tribe. ¡ºWhat the hell is that?¡» Upon hearing Cetus ask that question after they saw that eerie spectacle, Aldebaran pointed toward the right-hand of the man with dog head and, ¡¸This is my divine protection¨D¨D¡ºGluttony¡¯s Offering¡»!¡¹ And declared loudly. ¡º¡ºGluttony¡¯s Offering¡»£¿¡» Seeing Cetus flabbergasted, ¡¸It¡¯s power that allow your kin to become stronger by forcing them to eat the others.¡¹ Aldebaran explained his power with proud look on his face. Even the blonde-haired woman took a step back, frowned upon seeing that bizarre spectacle, ¡ºHow did you managed to get that divine protection!?¡» Cetus¡¯ body moved toward Aldebaran; Cetus¡¯ eyes were filled with undisguised lust for power. ¡¸Cetus, you¡¯re also chosen just like me. Calm down, you¡¯re eligible to receive the divine protection too.¡¹ Upon hearing Aldebaran¡¯s remark which completely sounded like a missionary, ¡ºEnough that useless chitchat! Just tell me about the oracle now!¡» Cetus cut short Aldebaran¡¯s roundabout remark with undisguised excitement in their voice. That moment¨D¨D ¡ºNi~ce! The train of thought that lacks any kind or ethic, action and is extremely faithful to your own desire! You guys are the best! You make my heart throb!¡» A squirrel hiding in the pocket of the blonde-haired woman stated their joyous feeling. Thus began, the ¡¾Great Feast Festival¡¿ that would dye North Grand in the color of blood and slaughter. === TN: North Grand is the location of next act Volume 4 - CH 9 Act 4-9: Nostalgic Voice After giving some harsh training to that idiot prince(Gilbert), I received a strict reminder from Rose. Well, I was aware that I overdid it a little bit. I even prepared to receive a penalty from Babel¡¯s management, but the reminder turned out to signal the end of the matter. Well, even if they tried to punish me, I never intended to surrender to Babel peacefully, even though I would feel bad for Rose¡¯s almamater, I would fight back. Royalty aside, it was a fact that I grabbed her brother¡¯s head, and forced him to eat from ground. I was pretty much prepared to hear Rose¡¯s complaints about this matter, but the she only said, ¡¸This¡¯ll be a good medicine for Gil¡¹ with strangely refreshed look on her face. Originally, Rose was supposed to be a kind of person who hated these methods. No matter how notorious the other party was, she wouldn¡¯t stoop so low as doing the same deed as the other party. And yet, her reaction showed that she was really satisfied with my actions. Maybe that showed just how much she couldn¡¯t put up with the shi*tty personality of her brother anymore. I mean, informally speaking, her reaction was still too kind for someone who had almost been sold to the empire, or become a pervert¡¯s plaything by her shi*tty brother¡¯s conspiracy. Well, various things happened and our lives in Babel had only just started. We never met Lumine or Lyla after that, Lumine must be begging Lyla to change their inn. For some reason, Lumine had been thinking I would take away Lyla from her. Thus, after one week tour around Babel, we finally arrived on the exam day. To be honest, I was reluctant to take the exam but finally gave in, under Rose¡¯s relentless-and annoying-ranting. According to the news from the information broker, it seems that the hero team was also staying in this city and they¡¯re frequently going in and out of Gilbert faction¡¯s mansion. Seeing that sage Satoru of the hero team was Gilbert¡¯s royal guard of for this crown contest, it wouldn¡¯t take someone smart to guess that the hero was also part of Gilbert¡¯s faction. In short, this city itself had already turned into den of Rose¡¯s enemies. I just happened to be poking my nose into this matter. Not that I had the intention to abandon Rose halfway too. Anyhow, since it was literally impossible for me to leave Rose¡¯s side in this place, the most rational option was me to play along with this playing school life. ¡¸Kai, as usual, please show some restraint. Safety is our top priority.¡¹ I headed toward the Babel¡¯s center where the examination was to be held, seen off by Rose, who used a mother-type language with me. The first floor of the giant tower was covered with red carpet, an ornament resembling a divine bird decorated the wall. It somehow reminded me of hunter guild but then, I came to know that the founder of the hunter guild was the first headmaster and founder of Babel tower. Nevertheless, even that spacious first floor was filled with examinees. Lining up for a long time left me at the reception, my turn was here. ¡¸This is my admission ticket.¡¹ I handed over the admission ticket I got from Rose. The male receptionist with split hair manned the reception. I received a plate with number ¡¾20456¡¿ written in it and schedule for the examination, ¡¸Please head to the examination hall with that plate.¡¹ Examination hall, eh. There were various writings in the pamphlet. I scanned the contents, and sure enough, it was the exam schedule. Aptitude test in the morning and afternoon was reserved for practical test. According to Rose, aptitude test was to examine whether the applicant had the minimum amount of knowledge to study in Babel. The most important part was the practical test, the aptitude test was to see whether the examinee fulfilled the minimum requirement. Well, my gift was¡ºThe Most Incompetent in This World¡». Not to mention that I couldn¡¯t use attribute-magic. Though I could breeze through the aptitude test, that was the limit of what I could do. Not that I wanted to participate in this playing a student anyway. If I really don¡¯t pass the test, I guess I would to think another way to protect Rose during her stay. On the way toward examination hall, ¡¸WHY ARE YOU IN THIS PLACE TOO!¡¹ I heard familiar shout and turned, sure enough, I saw the figure of blonde-haired girl with bob-cut, snarling toward a brown-haired, handsome youth. ¡¸I SHOULD BE THE ONE TO SAY THAT!¡¹ The brown-haired youth snarled back at the girl. Yes, they were Roman and Lumine. Seeing this, I came to a conclusion. Lyla was also taking the exam. So this was the reason why she told me that I didn¡¯t have to send a letter to her before departing from Lamour back then. From the very beginning, she wanted to move in to Babel and make this place as the base of her activity. I mean, why should I send a letter for her since both of us would end up living in Babel anyway. ¡¸THAT¡¯S ONLY NATURAL SINCE I¡¯LL GO WHEREVER MY SISTER GOES TO!¡¹ ¡¸I¡¯M GOING FOR TRAINING IN BABEL! YOU CAN¡¯T TELL ME OFF!¡¹ These two are really peas in the same pod. I mean, their level of arguments sound so childish. And then, when I was looking at their childish quarrel from afar, ¡¸Kai?¡¹ I heard an extremely nostalgic voice. I turned toward voice, there¨D¨D stood a beautiful girl with long, blonde-hair. Her appearance hadn¡¯t changed a bit since the last time I saw her, she examined me with surprised look on her face. ¡¸Ly¡­ la?¡¹ And of all things, the first word coming out of my mouth was a question, ¡¸Geez! Who else you see beside me then!?¡¹ Lyla ended up pouting . ¡¸Ah, my bad, just a slip of tongue.¡¹ I patted Lyla in the head, just like how I did long time ago. That action had helped me regain my composure, which shook for the first time in a really long time. ¡¸¡­¡¹ Lyla raised her face to see me for a while. ¡¸Kai, have you grown up a bit?¡¹ Why did she ask the exact same question as my mother? ¡¸Well, maybe because I¡¯ve been experiencing so many things nowadays.¡¹ I replied with a wry smile. Nevertheless, this was bad news. Unlike with my mother, I couldn¡¯t revert back to my old tone at this timing. ¡¸AAH, KAI HEINEMAN, GET AWAY FROM MY SISTER!!¡¹ ¡¸KAI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?¡¹ The childish pair who discovered me at the same shouted at me at once. Good grief, they really are peas in the same pod. ¡¸Well, I¡¯m living in this city for the time being. Let¡¯s meet again later.¡¹ I waved toward them as I turned around and left. I left with a remark that didn¡¯t sound like me, and blended in amongst the group examinees. Volume 4 - CH 10 Act 4-10: Aptitude Test The morning was time for the aptitude test. For better or worse, the number of examinees was a lot. Without the figure of Roman and Lumine around, my mind was finally at peace. However, a part of those examinees engaged in various whispers while staring at me. They¡¯re most likely gossiping about the incident with that idiotic prince. Had I known I would become such an attention magnet, I would have avoided overdoing it. Well, let¡¯s just ignore these curious onlookers. The aptitude test ended in a similar way as it started. The first test was the measurement of my magical power. Since things might become really troublesome if I, the owner of ¡ºThe Most Incompetent in This World¡» gift, had magical power rivalling that of an A-rank hunter, I set the average of my stats to 1 with ¡¾Glove of Sealing God¡¿ and managed to pass without a hitch. The second test was a magic invocation. some people managed to invoke magic even without the assistance of a gift like mine, though their number was small. Finding such talents was the reason for this test, as for what kind of invoked magic, it didn¡¯t really matter. Naturally, I received a sympathetic gaze from the examiner when I told them I couldn¡¯t use attribute magic and was sneered upon by the other examinees who eavesdropped. Yeah, their reaction was as predicted. The third test was physical strength measurement, a test to measure one¡¯s physical strength and stamina. It was completed without a hitch since I suppressed my abilities with ¡¾Glove of Sealing God¡¿. The next test was summoned aptitude test. It was a test to see whether you¡¯re liked by a giant dog-like creature with beautiful white fur. According to the pamphlet, the name of the test was¨D¨D Friendship with Kouma¨D¨D that ¡ºKouma¡» seemed to be the name of that giant dog-like creature. When a student with cropped hair tried to pet it, the dog-like creature called Kouma growled at the examinee. The same went for the next examinee. Rather, no one had managed to touch the dog-like creature called ¡ºKouma¡» so far. Since they always snarled at anyone who tried to touch them, the test turned into ¡®who could get closest to ¡ºKaouma¡»¡¯. And the next turn was of the blonde-haired girl with a bob cut, Lumine. Lumine always loved to fluff adorable creatures. And just as I thought, she embraced Kouma with sparkling eyes. Even that ¡ºKouma¡» never expected such a reaction. Though its eyes darted for a while after that, upon seeing Lumine raise a strange voice as she buried her face into its pure white fur, Kouma could only heave a sigh and accept its fate. Cheers resounded in the surrounding. Rather than being liked, Kouma just looked dumbfounded. I mean, Lumine did have a mind of steel when it comes to fluffing adorable creatures. Anyhow, since Kouma had always brushed off or snarled at the other examinees before Lumine, its current reaction could be considered favourable. Even now, the troubled staff of Babel was trying to separate Lumine, who clung to Kouma like glue, thus ending Lumine¡¯s test. And then¨D¨D My turn had come at last. ¡¸Next, number ¡¾20456¡¿!¡¹ I came forward when my number got called. Would that dog-like creature accept me? I mean, the only dog-like creature in that easy dungeon was Fen. And he was the creature of the easy dungeon on top of that. This Kouma didn¡¯t seem to be that strong, but it is still the sacred beast chosen by the examiners from the tower. I did say it didn¡¯t seem to be that strong, but in the end, it was just my guts, there was no evidence to back it up. This fella might¡¯ve some sort of hidden power that Fen and co lacked¡­ right¡­? When I approached a Kouma with a smile, who lay on the ground with boring look¨D¨D ¡ºMaster! I¡¯m hungry!¡» Fen, the wolf puppy, suddenly appeared from inside my clothes, his tail swung happily as he made his usual request. Come to think of it, it was about time for lunch. ¡¸My bad. I¡¯m a little busy now. Go ask Kyuubi to make your lunch for now. In exchange, I¡¯ll make your favourite hamburger tonight, Be a good boy.¡¹ I dismissed him as I brush his head like a child. ¡ºU~h, I¡¯ll do my best!¡» ¡¸Good, Fen is a good child.¡¹ I fluffed him and added a pat on his head, Fen closed his eyes in joy, enjoying this moment, ¡ºInstead, I¡¯ll get the hamburger, right? It¡¯s a promise!¡» Fen raised his small paw as he told me his usual demand. ¡¸Yeah, it¡¯s a promise.¡¹ Maybe he was satisfied with my answer, as Fen went back into the picture book immediately. I faced the Kouma again with a wry smile on my face, due to Fen¡¯s sudden interruption. Kouma¡¯s jaw opened as if completely dumbfounded, but then, its entire body stiffened as its gaze met mine. Suddenly, it retreated as if trying to get away from me, its teeth clattering. Uhm, no matter how you look at it, it seems to be scared of me. How strange. I shouldn¡¯t have an outer appearance that made the dog-like creature scared shi*tless. Though Asta and Zack teased me that my smile was enough to scare even the demon king, could it be that my appearance and face were actually atrocious? No, that must be not the reason. Their senses were just abnormal. Yeah, that must be the reason. Okay, now let¡¯s tell it that I am not its enemy with this brilliant smile of mine. And when the tips of my lips rose up, revealing the best smile I could muster, ¡¸Lookie lookie, I¡¯m not scary at all.¡¹ I spread my arms, approaching it as I called it with a voice that I use to coax a stray cat. ¡ºHIIIIIIIIII!¡» At that moment, Kouma shrieked in fear, and escaped in a flash, hiding behind the female, navy-robe-donning Babel examiner. It covered its head with its paws as if prostrating toward me. My smile turned rigid, ¡¸Look! That creepy smile of yours even made this child scared! Leave this poor child now!¡¹ Lumine, who was about to leave the room, ran back with an angry look on her face and stood between me and the trembling Kouma, as if she trying to protect it. Uhm, it seems my skinship plan was a huge failure. This test was to see whether that dog-like creature liked me or not, and since they ended up scared shitless instead, you might say that I failed this test. Well, this test was only a trivial matter that was forced on me by Rose anyway. Well, this added even more points to the fact that Zack¡¯s joke about my smile being similar to a demon king might be true, and I couldn¡¯t help but feel sad. ¡¸Is the test finished?¡¹ When I asked the female examiner, still bewildered by Kouma¡¯s reaction, ¡¸Y-Yes.¡¹ She nodded and I left the summon aptitude venue. Volume 4 - CH 11 Act 4-11: Absolutely Not Proper At All(Side: Elish Excel) Babel Aptitude Test Counter-Measure Room. Babel aptitude test counter-measures room was a huge space used by the teachers to discuss the problems arising during Babel aptitude test, or a resting room for the examiners. Naturally, the aptitude test was composed of magical power measurement, physical strength measurement, and summon aptitude test. In theory, no problem should arise during such simple measurement tests. That¡¯s why this area usually functioned as a rest area for the examiners, however something happened today, flipping the room to its other function. ¡¸What actually happening back then?¡¹ The high-rank sacred beast, who was still trembling non-stop¨D¨D Kouma was summoned for this summon aptitude test¨D¨D and asked such question by Elish Excel, who looked troubled. ¡º¡­¡­¡» It just trembled non-stop with no response. And the reason for this might be the puppy who was summoned by that test-taker number ¡¾20456¡¿. Kouma was so terrified after it saw the puppy. Just what kind of a puppy was able to terrify Kouma? Though this might sound crazy, could it that because the black puppy was an existence superior to Kouma, a sacred beast? If that¡¯s the case, then just what kind of a person is that number ¡¾20456¡¿, who could summon that black pu¡ª Elish was focused in her own vortex of thought as a man with slit eyes wearing black robe made his appearance. ¡¸Yo, all of you, that¡¯s one heck of a problem you got there. Must be hard for you too, Kouma. I should¡¯ve told you about this matter beforehand so that you could prepare yourself.¡¹ The man bowed; his name was Sigma Rockwell. He was one of grand headmaster Inea¡¯s close aides, a man who served as deputy director sorcerer despite his young age. Not to mention that he was also Elish¡¯s teacher when the latter was a student. ¡ºWhat, in the world is that?¡» Upon hearing Kouma¡¯s trembling female-like voice, Sigma heaved a deep sigh with wry smile on his face. ¡¸Just as you imagined.¡¹ Sigma said honestly. Kouma¡¯s expression worsened by at least thirty percent, and it trembled even more than before. ¡¸Professor Sigma, that person is¨D¨D¡¹ Even with Kouma and professor Sigma¡¯s strange understanding, I couldn¡¯t help but ask for what I needed to know, ¡¸Ka¨D¨D I mean, test-taker number ¡¾20456¡¿ is a special case. The decision of his success or failure in both aptitude test and practical test is entirely on us. That¡¯s why you guys just forget about him for the time being.¡¹ My question was interrupted. ¡¸THERE¡¯S NO WAY WE CAN DO THAT!¡¹ I raised my voice, which seemed unlike me but, ¡¸Sorry. This is Grand Headmaster¡¯s order.¡¹ I got shot down again by professor Sigma. Grand headmaster Inea had almost never been actively involved in a particular subject. I almost couldn¡¯t believe my ears upon hearing her make an exception just for a single student. And professor Sigma seems to agree. Since she made an exception, it means that test-taker number ¡¾20456¡¿ had that much value. They¡¯re willing to swallow their own pride and belief. Not to mention that not even kings can force grand headmaster to do that. In short, that man is¨D¨DNope, let¡¯s not delve further into this minefield. Different from the other staff, from the very beginning, Elish knew that she wouldn¡¯t live long if she snooped into this matter. Most of all, Elish was different from her hero-class father, Ralph Excel, she was just a normal woman. And her life experience so far only convinced her about that fact. Therefore, Elish¡¯s life plan was living a safe and secure life. Achieving moderate success, doing her job properly, and seizing happiness. This was Elish¡¯s ideal lifelong plan. She refused to destroy such cozy lifestyle by poking her nose to where it does not belong. ¡¸I understand. I shall do as grand headmaster says. But, I don¡¯t know what the other board members think about this matter. Especially the vice headmaster faction, they¡¯ll surely find trouble with her decision.¡¹ ¡¸Uhm. I know. We¡¯re prepared for that too. Rather¨D¨D¡¹ That moment, Sigma¡¯s eyes lit up for a second. In addition, his face formed a faint, indescribable smile. That moment, Elish was convinced that something huge was going to happen in Babel. ¡ºN-No way, you¡¯re going to use THAT!?¡» Kouma asked with a shrill voice as she stared at Sigma with disbelief. [TL: Yes, Kouma is confirmed to be a female from few paragraph ago.] ¡¸I know that we¡¯re literally walking on thin ice. But, this is something that we have to do eventually.¡¹ Kouma heard Sigma¡¯s statement and, ¡ºYou guys have gone mad¡­¡» Kouma barely squeezed those words and shut up. ¡¸It¡¯s okay. We¡¯re not doing something bad, and he doesn¡¯t seem to be a bad person either.¡¹ Seriously, they are talking about the one who made Kouma scared shi*tless. Yeah, I really shouldn¡¯t poke my nose into this troublesome matter. Let¡¯s just leave this matter to professor Sigma. I absolutely must not provoke the wrath of God. I shall remain as a spectator till the end. Elish¡¯s choice in this matter was the best, but unexpected happenings were bound to happen in human life. Ironically, due to her unexpected meeting this time with a genuine monster(Kai Heineman), Elish ended up finding herself swallowed deep into the biggest and most malicious maelstrom of disturbance since the founding of Babel. Volume 4 - CH 12 Act 4-12: One of The Trouble During The Test North of Babel, 1st area of ¡¾Death Metropolis of Flower¡¿ Historic ruins spread in the north of Babel¨D¨D¡¾Death Metropolis of Flower¡¿. This place was undead¡¯s paradise, jointly managed by Babel and the hunter guild. This ¡¾Death Metropolis of Flower¡¿ was a dungeon with difficulties changing with its depth, it was separated into areas 1~5. Area 1, the shallowest area was composed of weak undead, this place was most suited for the weak hunters and most students. Two men stood inside an abandoned building in area 1 of ¡¾Death Metropolis of Flower¡¿. ¡¸Kihihi! To think that knight-sama¡¯s protection will be lost to the most incompetent in this world.¡¹ An abnormally thin man laughed his a*s off as he spoke. There was a skull tattoo painted on his perfectly bald head and a pendant with phoenix carving hung on his neck. It was the proof of graduation from ¡¾Babel Tower¡¿. Even though there were multiple obstacles to enter Babel tower, only 10% managed to graduate. That was just how difficult it was to graduate from Babel. And the graduates were highly sought after. Nevertheless, this man¨D¨D Tokotsu was a top-class necromancer and an ex-teacher from Babel Tower who was banished after the authorities discovered his malignant hobby. In a certain meaning, he was a unique sorcerer. ¡¸STOP LAUGHING! I JUST LET MY GUARD DOWN THAT TIME!¡¹ Tamri, the escort(former) of prince Gilbert was trembling all over, shouting at the extremely skinny man. ¡¸But, isn¡¯t it a fact that the famous escort knight of his highness Gilbert is unemployed right now? My condolences for that.¡¹ ¡¸NOT UNEMPLOYED YET! I¡¯M GOING TO BE REINSTATED AS LONG AS I MANAGED TO PURGE THAT INCOMPETENT! HIS HIGHNESS GAVE HIS WORD AFTER ALL!¡¹ Prince GIlbert promised to appoint Tamri as the leader of his escort knights in the event that the latter managed to kidnap Kai Heineman. The prince had declared so after all. In short, Tamri¡¯s position would be secured as long as he accomplished his current task. The skinny man, Tokotsu, shrugged his shoulders, ¡¸Yeah yeah yeah. Let¡¯s just take it as you say. So, how¡¯s the business?¡¹ He forcefully changed the topic of the conversation. ¡¸The practical test will be held in area 1 of ¡¾Death Metropolis of Flower¡¿. Our insider will separate him from the other examinees. We¡¯ll kill him in this place!¡¹ ¡¸I¡¯ve no objection as long as I¡¯m paid handsomely but, I am not going to guarantee the life of other examinees, okay?¡¹ ¡¸Doesn¡¯t matter. Even if it¡¯s a bit forceful, Babel will have arrangements for that.¡¹ Upon hearing that, Tokotsu lips turned to a wide grin, ¡¸You people really are the true trash.¡¹ And said his honest impression about Gilbert and his group. ¡¸You bastard, how dare you to insult prince Gilbert of Amelia ki¨D¨D¡¹ Tokotsu restrained Tamri, who shouted at him with his vein bulging on his forehead before the latter could finish. ¡¸Don¡¯t misunderstand. The kind of people that I like the most are those kinds of unscrupulous people. Now, this is my final confirmation. Am I allowed to play with the examinees who enter my territory?¡¹ The skinny man asked, confirming. ¡¸We made an agreement with Babel side. This matter will be treated as an unfortunate incident.¡¹ ¡¸I see. Great. Finally, party after a really long time. I¡¯m gonna enjoy it¡­¡¹ Tokotsu cranked his head, which instantly blushed red like tomato. ¡¸We don¡¯t mind if you want to play but, you know right?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, I understand. I have to deliver Kai Heineman who has been turned into a scarecrow to you without killing him, right? I¡¯ve no shred of interest in a mere incompetent brat. I¡¯ll fulfil my part of the bargain.¡¹ Tokotsu waved his right hand as he left the building. ¡¸Failure is unacceptable.¡¹ ¡°His highness Gilbert wouldn¡¯t accept any failures. Failure means ruin. That was an undeniable fact.¡± Said Tamri as he left the building. Volume 4 - CH 13 Act 4-13: Lunch With Childhood Friend After finishing the aptitude test, I decided to have lunch, since there was still some time till the next test. I enjoyed the lunch made by Kyuubi under a tree shade. ¡¸Kai.¡¹ I raised my face hearing the voice calling out to me, I saw my dearest childhood friend standing in front of me, combing up her long blonde hair. ¡¸Oh, are you having lunch too, Lyla?¡¹ Though I might be able to fix my speech habit right now, I wouldn¡¯t be able to fool her. So I just stuck to my usual speech. ¡¸Yeah. Can I sit beside you?¡¹ ¡¸But of course, I¡¯m not a cruel man who could refuse such offer from you.¡¹ I agreed, putting on mug look on my face. ¡¸¡­¡¹ Lyla then sat by my side and stared at me intently for a while. ¡¸Is something the matter?¡¹ ¡¸Yup, Kai has grown up after all. There¡¯s a saying that men grow up in just a while you¡¯re not seeing them, but still¡­¡¹ Lyla nodded as she muttered those ambiguous remarks. ¡¸By the way, what about Lumine? Aren¡¯t you coming with her?¡¹ ¡¸Yes, she went to the office a while ago. It seems to be related to the result of her summon aptitude test. Thus, I had my lunch ahead of her.¡¹ A~h, so it was the matter about her being the only one who could touch that dog-like being called Kouma. She might¡¯ve won the summon aptitude test by a huge margin. In short, as long as she didn¡¯t make a blunder during the practical test, she would definitely be accepted into Babel. ¡¸I see.¡¹ Maybe because I hadn¡¯t seen her for a while, I had a hard time finding a topic to talk about and could only do small talk. Lyla let out a chuckle and then took out her lunch from her bag and started eating. The awkward situation happened only when I reunited with her. Currently, I could ask for Lyla and co¡¯s current situation. It seems Lyla had long since planned to leave our birthplace, Lamour. She told me that she wanted to know how much she could do without Hellner¡¯s house¡¯s protection. Surely, for better or worse, Lamour was conservative. Except for someone like me, those who came from distinguished families in Lamour such as Lyla had an extremely limited range of choices from employment, marriage, even their private life. Studying abroad might be her attempt to resist such a lifestyle. Anyhow, since she chose this path herself, it shows just value of this choice for her. For her who was growing up in the rigid environment in Lamour, filled with those old fossils, Babel was a good change of pace for her to see the world. ¡¸By the way, why are you suddenly changing the way you speak, Kai?¡¹ And just like usual, she loved to ask awkward questions out of nowhere. ¡¸Uhm, just a change of pace¡­¡¹ Even though I replied immediately, I don¡¯t think this would be enough to convince her. Or so it was supposed to be¨D¨D ¡¸Change of pace huh¡­ You¡¯re right. Maybe that¡¯s a good idea.¡¹ Lyla was easily convinced with my impromptu answer. It seems she evaluated my reply was logical. Nevertheless, it was good that she was content with that answer. I mean, it would be a whole pain in the a*ss if she wasn¡¯t convinced by that answer and kept trailing me. When I was about to say something to her to divert her attention, our surroundings turned noisy. When I turned toward the origin of the noise, I saw a blonde-haired youth walking across the garden while being surrounded by girls who raised shrill voices. ¡¸Is that, Somni Barrel-sama!?¡¹ ¡¸E~~~H!? Winner of one of the 4 sacred martial arts tournaments!?¡¹ ¡¸I did hear rumors about him taking an entrance exam at Babel this time, but it turned out to be true!¡¹ ¡¸Despite being the same age as us, I heard that his achievements in that tournament allowed him to become the youngest escort knight of prince Gilbert! Isn¡¯t he way to awesome!?¡¹ It turned out, he was an unlucky youth who forcefully advanced to the final of that tournament by the scheme of the adults around him. Despite the person himself unaware of those schemes, the adults around him kept imposing the youth with achievements beyond his abilities. In a certain meaning, he was a pitiable youth. The blonde-haired youth noticed us and walked in our direction. ¡¸If it isn¡¯t the cowardly incompetent swordsman? You¡¯re taking the exam too, eh?¡¹ Lyla, who sat beside me pouted and was about to refute but, I stopped her¨D¨D ¡¸Unfortunately, I am.¡¹ I replied so while shrugging my shoulders. ¡¸Never show yourself again. You¡¯re a shame for Amelia kingdom.¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, I guess we agree at something.¡¹ Somni frowned upon hearing my answer; however, he just turned around and left along with the girls around him. ¡¸Kai¨D¨D¡¹ I patted Lyla on the head upon realizing that she brought her face closer to mine, as if she was about to say something, ¡¸It¡¯s okay.¡¹ I reassured her to calm her down. ¡¸AH, GET AWAY FROM MY SISTER!¡¹ A willful and noisy girl ran toward us, hugging Lyla and baring her teeth just like that Kouma, as if trying to protect Lyla from me. Are you her fricking guard dog? was what I retorted inside but, I just raised my hand and rose from where I sat, ¡¸Well, it was fun talking to you. Let¡¯s do our best in the coming test.¡¹ I headed to the examination venue for the next test after I bid farewell to them. Volume 4 - CH 14 Act 4-14: Extremely Suspicious Practical Test === The gathering point for the practical test was the plaza before ¡¾Death Metropolis of Flower¡¿, located north of Babel. ¡¾Death Metropolis of Flower¡¿ was a paradise for undead, separated into area 1~5 in accordance to its degree of difficulty, this metropolis had a severe restriction to enter each area of ¡¾Death Metropolis of Flower¡¿. To be exact, the furthest E-Rank hunter or a Babel student above 2nd grade could go was the 1st area. Students who enrolled into main academy in the Babel tower, student above 4th grade, or hunters above D-Rank were allowed to enter the 2nd area. Final grade student of main academy in the ¡ºTower of Babel¡», C-Rank or above could enter the 3rd area. Anyone who wanted to enter the 4th area was required to have the permit from both hunter guild and Babel. Area 5 was uncharted. In these tens of thousands of years (from my perspective), I realized that adventure was supposed to be dangerous to the point that we¡¯re brushing with death. And now I realized that raising my hunter rank might be worth the effort if I¡¯m allowed to enter such area. ¡¸It¡¯s about to begin, eh.¡¹ I gazed around the plaza was filled with examinees. I also confirmed Lyla and co¡¯s figures amongst them. Well, since this test was jointly managed by Babel and hunter guild, the examinees¡¯ safety was to be guaranteed. Thus, I shouldn¡¯t have to worry about Lyla and co. But just to be safe, I would appoint someone from subjugation picture book to tail them and protect them, if needed, from the shadows. With that thought, the staff made their appearance. Naturally, someone like me wasn¡¯t supposed to be acquainted with them. Or so it was supposed to be until I saw two familiar faces. The first one was the swordsman-like man wearing red bandana. He was one of the participants of that sacred martial arts tournament. If I¡¯m not wrong, his name was Bri Stamp. And just like Zack, the reason why I remembered him was simply because his skill as martial artist was the real deal. He turned out to be a Babel staff, huh. Well, my skill evaluation of swordsman was that of a novice though. "" The second one couldn¡¯t be referred to as acquaintance. I mean, the second one was none other than the brown skinned woman with extremely risqu¨¦ attire, who was peeping on the little incident in the alley back when I registered as a hunter. Her base should be in Barse, what is she was doing in Babel right now? Well, turns out it wasn¡¯t just the woman. Arnold had also been visiting this city for business. I heard that the hero is also living in this city right now. For some reason, the gathering of all of those gave birth to some sort of anxiety for me. According to my experience, my intuition was never wrong. Something big is going to happen during this test. A heroic-looking beauty with long blonde hair and wearing pure white robe then came up on the stage. ¡¸Be quiet.¡¹ Then called for everyone attention. Though her voice was neither stern nor loud, the hustle-bustle in the plaza died down at once. This spectacle was enough to convince me that this woman was truly skilled at grasping heart of the masses. From the fact that all staff of Babel also bowed their respectfully to her, I guessed that she might be a big shot in Babel. Well, the identity of this woman was trivial matter for me though. The woman then looking around. ¡¸Nice to meet you all. I¡¯m Inea, the headmaster of Babel.¡¹ The woman, Inea bowed lightly as she introduced herself. Being the headmaster means that she was the one with highest authority in Babel. Her long ears were evidence of her elven lineage. I couldn¡¯t let her youthful appearance fool me, she might be as old as me(after leaving the labyrinth). ¡¸Congratulations for finishing the morning aptitude test. But please don¡¯t let your guard down, this practical test is the real test. It would decide whether you¡¯re qualified to enter the academic city of Babel as a student or not.¡¹ The sight of so many people gasping in this eerie silence was a sight to behold. I mean, their reaction was only natural knowing that most of them-safe for few exception like me- were literally gambling their life to be accepted as Babel¡¯s student. ¡¸Well, let me explain the rules of this test. First, You¡¯ll form a team composed of three people.¡¹ Waves of murmurs arose like waves as Inea paused, ¡¸BE QUIET! HEADMASTER HAS YET TO FINISH HER SPEECH!?¡¹ The murmurs quieted down the moment a muscular old man wearing a pointy hat, green robe and standing besides Inea warned the examinees. I guessed that this old man was another big shot in Babel seeing his haughty attitude. ¡¸Moreover, you¡¯ll receive commissions to subjugate the undead released by us. You¡¯ll receive points in four mannars, divided into 100 point, 50 point, 10 points, or nil in accordance to the strength of the undead you subjugate, and the points will be totaled at the end of the test.¡¹ That¡¯s quite an interesting idea for a test. Meaning that defeating undead with high score wasn¡¯t the only way to gain the total highest score. The real evaluation was how much the undead you could subjugate with the strength of your team within the given time limit. In addition, there was another troublesome problem lying behind those rules. ¡¸May I ask a question?¡¹ Though it was really subtle, I saw the right eyebrow of the headmaster twitch the moment I raised my right-hand. And then¨D¨D ¡¸Oi, I¡¯ve told you just a while ago that the headmaster has yet to finish her speech, right!?¡¹ The muscular old man with green robe said so with threatening look on his face. I could hear the sound of students gulping their saliva upon hearing his threatening voice. ¡¸It doesn¡¯t matter. What¡¯s your question?¡¹ Inea stopped the old man with a signal from her eyes and then addressed me. ¡¸Are we allowed to attack other teams in this test?¡¹ An uproar incomparable to before exploded at once the moment I voiced my question. The uproar quieted down at once the moment Inea raised her right-hand. Seeing that, Inea nodded lightly and then, ¡¸In regard to attacking another team, each member of a team will carry a badge, if all three badges are snatched away, the team will be disqualified.¡¹ It turned out my guess was spot on. ¡¸So there¡¯s no problem even if two of three badges are snatched?¡¹ ¡¸Yes. The team only disqualified when they lose all three badges. In addition, the badges will be collected at the end of the exam, and become additional points.¡¹ So we got additional point by snatching badges. Maybe that batch had been enchanted with some sort of magic that record our subjugation count. Surely, an undead was living being transformed into an immortal being via a curse. Though I felt that the academy¡¯s side was a bit too reckless this time for commencing this kind of practical test, they might¡¯ve prepared counter-measure to disperse the curse. ¡¸Does that mean the minimum passing requirement for the test is for each team to have one or more badges after the end of the test?¡¹ ¡¸Yes. Naturally, we forbid killing. The same goes for intentionally heavily injuring your opponent, an appropriate penalty will be given to the one who does that.¡¹ Honestly, the content of the test was too stimulating. According to Rose, the practical test usually used tournament format like what they did in sacred martial arts tournament. And the normal test has been changed now. To be honest, it was way too fishy. Yeah, this test is way too suspicious. ¡¸Understood.¡¹ I lowered my hand since I had no more questions. I guess I had to let nature take its place. ¡¸The division of the team and the details of the rulers will be announced by the person in charge. Well then, I pray for your success. ¡¹ The headmaster descended from the stage after she said so, following that, a few huge notices were erected by the Babel staff, Swordsman Bri ascended to the stage and started to explain the details of the test. That was the opening signal for the practical test. Volume 4 - CH 15 Act 4-15: A Strange Team Composition Each team formation was announced, and a pair of man and woman stood by my side. The man was of small stature with a young master-like haircut, he stood while sticking the tetrahedron object to his body, and had a youthful face that made him look like in his teens; the other was a docile looking woman with long, blonde, and braided hair. The woman on used her long forelocks to cover half of her face, as if to look like someone in her teens as well, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if she turned out to be someone in her thirties though. Her appearance wasn¡¯t clear. ¡¸I¡¯m Ramune, an aspiring sorcerer. My best regards.¡¹ The small man who had blue-colored hair, gave a short greeting without turning to me as he kept hold of his tetrahedron. ¡¸I¡¯m¡­Kiki, I¡¯m good with¡­sword. Best regards¡­¡¹ On the other hand, the blonde-hair woman with braided hair introduced herself with a small voice. ¡¸I¡¯m Kai Heineman. A swordsman. Best regards to you two.¡¹ I replied to them with smile on my face while raising my right-hand. I heard a familiar quarreling voice. ¡¸HAVING TO BE IN THE SAME TEAM AS YOU IS ENOUGHT TO SEND A CHILL RUNNING DOWN MY SPINE!¡¹ Roman shouted without even trying to hide his displeasure. ¡¸THOSE ARE MY WORDS! AREN¡¯T YOU THE NEXT PATRIACH OR WHATEVER!? JUST GO BACK TO LAMOUR AND STAY IN THERE FOREVER!¡¹ Not wanting to lose, Lumine spat out equally spiteful remarks, ¡¸THE SAME GOES FOR YOU! DON¡¯T YOU KNOW THAT YOU COMING HERE IS JUST BRINGING MORE TROUBLE FOR LYLA-SAN!?¡¹ Roman snarled back at Lumine. ¡¸I¡¯m inseparable from my big sister. BIG SISTER¡¯S HAPPINESS IS MY HAPPINESS! WHY SHOULD I LOWER MYSELF TO FOLLOW YOUR STANDARDS!?¡¹ ¡¸WHAT!¡¹ ¡¸WHAT!¡¹ The two snarled at each other at point-blank range. These two never betrayed my expectations. They¡¯re not kids anymore, shouldn¡¯t they calm down a little? In fact, their teammate, a youth with brown-coloured cropped hair seems to be cowering in fear listening to the two¡¯s quarrel. Nevertheless, Roman and Lumine were put together in the same team eh. No matter how you look at it, it is too much of a coincidence. I couldn¡¯t help but feel anxious knowing that there was a sudden change of test this year. I guess¡­ better safe than sorry. £¨Deimos. Are you there?£© The black skeleton who became Girimekhala¡¯s kin just a while ago¨D¨D he went by the full name Deimos Lich. £¨Yes! I¡¯m by your side.£© "" The black skeleton wearing black robe kneeled while hiding his figure behind the shrub nearby. He who received Girimekhala¡¯s boot camp to fix his rotten attitude was very strong. When I heard that Deimos Lich was a sorcerer when still human, I got the feeling that he was more suited for a behind-the-scenes job. Or rather, he wouldn¡¯t even show himself if not for instructions from Girimekhala and the others in the subjugation picture book. On the other hand, it wouldn¡¯t even be considered a test if he caused a commotion by showing up during this practical test and displaying that showy swordsmanship of his. Having said that, nowadays, I mainly entrusted the matter to Oboro or Lucas, whose fanaticism toward me rose up to a dangerous degree. Sure enough, I admit that their strength had also experienced tremendous growth. Yeah, they could still grow, but to be honest, I could only imagine that the two of them would only create Girimekhala-like effect if I left this matter to them. With such consideration, I decided that Deimos was the most suited for this task. £¨Do you know about the girl called Lyla Hellner over there?£© £¨Yes! I received orders from Girimekhala-sama to stay by your side in secret.£© So, knowing that his subordinates were flashy fellas, Girimekhala dispatched Deimos, a former human, under the consideration that the latter knew better about human society and could act properly behind the scene. £¨Then I¡¯ve a request for you. Go protect Lyla Hellner.£© £¨As you wish! Am I allowed to erase anything hindering her?£© £¨Yeah, her safety is your top priority, everything else come after. As for the other problems, you may move to your own judgement£© £¨Your wish is my command£© £¨Godspeed, Deimos£© I heard clacking sound of bones, £¨Thank you¡­ it¡¯s my honor.£© His presence vanished with an extremely delighted voice. Well then, time to move on. I had no idea what kind of plan that foxy elf woman had in her mind, but if she went too far, I will have no choice but to fight back. Yes, at that time, I will crush her thoroughly. ¡¸Let¡¯s move on, guys. We¡¯ll be in trouble if we get a late start, you know?¡¹ I warned the two quarreling children who having their usual routine. ¡¸Shut up! I don¡¯t need you to tell me about such obvious matter!¡¹ ¡¸Yeah! Don¡¯t butt in into our problems!¡¹ They snarled at me and then went toward the forest as if competing who will enter first. The brown-haired youth with crop hair was following them from behind in hurry. These two were way too careless. To be honest, Lyla was much more prepared than them to face any kind of situation. Roman was my cousin, and Lumine was a little sister-like existence to Lyla. Honestly, I couldn¡¯t just rest on my lapel knowing that they might be in danger. Especially in this situation, where I couldn¡¯t even grasp the intentions of that foxy elf woman. I guess I will have to invoke [Divine Eye] just to be sure. Good grief, it feels like I turned into their babysitter in this gambling den. I cursed inside upon realizing that the odds kept stacking against me with all those outside factors involved. Volume 4 - CH 16 Act 4-16: Rotten King Area 5 of ¡¾Death Metropolis of Flower¡¿, The Deepest Sanctuary. Dozens of people dressed in black were present in the temple of area 5. ¨D¨DTheir innards were protruding out. ¨D¨D Some had lost their limbs. ¨D¨D Some who dragged their body that had lost a leg and an eye. Every single one of them had fatal wounds on their body. The one who appeared to be their leader stood in front of the slate located in the center of the room, he looked around at his injured comrades, ¡¸Good job on coming this far, everyone. We has finally arrived.¡¹ He shouted while clenching his right-fist. Despite already being on the verge of death, the people in black overflowed with sense of accomplishment. ¡¸Once we unleash the monster living in this place, not even the heros of this land can survive. In addition, Neim-sama is currently progressing the plan to revive our god in North Grand. After that happens, those weakened heros can only wait for their death! And we, the demon race would be the final winner of this war!¡¹ Hearing that, the people in black burst in tears, the captain then took out liquor from his bag and distributed small containers to every one of them as he poured liquor for them. He raised his own small container as he finished distributing. ¡¸FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF HUMAN RACE AND THE PROSPERITY OF OUR DEMON RACE, TOAST!¡¹ The captain smashed his container on the ground as soon as he finished. He then proceed toward the slate and touched it. Red-colored, circle-shaped, complex geometrical patterns appeared on it and spun. The people in black then rotted and plopped down as if melting. Amidst such hellish spectacle, ¡¸FOR OUR GREAT ASHMEDIA-SAMA¨D¨D BANZAI!!¡¹ The men in black still managed to yell for the last time. And then, the rotten flesh of the people in black scattered on the ground rose up, and started to form a humanoid structure. Its balloon-like body resembled human, his head without a slick of hair, wearing perfect circle sunglasses on his strangely, perfectly rounded face. He donned clothes with numerous circles. The man then walked in air toward the entrance of the temple, upon leaving he spread his arms¨D¨D ¡ºPUHAHAHAHAHAHA!! LONG TIME NO SEE, BORING FRESH OUTSIDE AIR, IS, THE, BE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ST!¡» And shouted at the top of his lungs, ¡ºNOT £Ä£Å£Á£Ô£È!¡» His cheerful voice suddenly turned into cursing. Moreover, his face turned into that of ecstasy ¡ºMY CHILDREN WHO HAVE DECOMPOSED AKIN TO MY NOSE FILTH, COME OUT.¡» He then clapped his raised hands. His four limbs then swelled up till stretching his bright red cloth, and then letting out some gore stuff. The stuff that came out from his limbs were people whose bodies were covered in suit, and donned hats. Their faces were of varied shapes such as star, circle, inverse triangle, or square, and all of their faces were akin to melting candle. ¡ºRotting meat, melting bone is the smell of death? O rotting creature, raise the maggots?¡» He spread his arms as he danced left to right while singing such impromptu song. ¡ºRoooot? Meltmeltme~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~lt?¡» The various shaped heads mimicked his movements, and acted as his chorus. ¡ºThat¡¯s?¡» "" The balloon-like man with sunglasses danced again as he rose even higher. ¡ºAnd that¡¯s?¡» The others followed after him. ¡º¡º¡º¡º¡ºFOR I(WE), GREAT (KINS OF)ROTTEN KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!!!¡»¡»¡»¡»¡» Together, they sang the last phrase in their loudest voice. As if complementing their little concert, the area around them, the plants, the ground started to rot, and then transformed into giant monsters that resembled a lump sphere. ¡ºNOW, SPREAD ROTTEN £Ä£Å£Á£Ô£È IN THIS WORLD£¡ AND TURN IT INTO STINKY AND ROTTING PARADISE OF OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURS£¡¡» The monsters were rotting trees and lands, and even though they ate other undead, they kept advancing with unstoppable momentum. Yes. Their only goal was to fulfil the wish of their crazy master¡­ Volume 4 - CH 17 Act 4-17: Walk-In-The-Park-Like Practical Test(Side: Somni Barrel) ¡ºA~A~¡» The human-shaped monsters approaching with unsteady steps were called zombies. Zombies¡¯ teeth and claws were endowed with a powerful curse, unless they receive treatment to dispel the curse, one might die once bitten. And then, their corpse would turn into a new zombie. That was the danger of the undead known as zombies. And yet, a youth bravely closed into these so-called zombies. ¡¸HA!¡¹ Somni Barrel unleashed a sword strike at the head of a zombie. The zombie¡¯s head was severed and fell to the ground, melting like candle. He didn¡¯t stop, pointing his left palm toward the another zombie approaching toward them and chanted, ¡¸Fireball!¡¹ A blazing sphere came to being and collided with the zombie, burning its body to black dust. ¡¸AS EXPECTED OF SOMNI-SAN! TO BE ABLE TO BEAT TWO ZOMBIES IN QUICK SUCCESSION, TRULY WORTHY OF BEING THE YOUNGEST GUARDIAN KNIGHT OF HIS HIGHNESS GILBERT!¡¹ A black-haired young with a lean body, Egg, clapped upon seeing Somni¡¯s action. Egg was also a graduate of the kingdom¡¯s knight institute like Somni. He also participated in Babel exam and had teamed together with the youngest guardian knight. ¡¸Honestly, it was way too easy.¡¹ The zombies¡¯ movements were slow, they¡¯re not a big deal as long as anyone is very careful when approaching them. Was this truly the infamous test of Babel? I¡¯ve been preparing myself to be forced to go against other test-takers in tournament-like test and yet, this kind of test is such a let-down. ¡¸I can¡¯t use fire magic, so I can only beat them one by one. Slaughtering two of them in one strike like Somni-san is out of question for someone like me.¡¹ Egg shook his head as he praised Somni. Though not as much as the guardian knight, Egg himself was a skilled swordsman. Egg¡¯s gift was specialized in swordcraft and he had no talent whatsoever for magic. Surely, Somni who was endowed with talent to use both sword and magic, the infamous difficult test of Babel appeared like a walk in the park for him. He was convinced to take the top spot in the entrance examination. ¡¸Moreover, are you sure that you¡¯ll let that girl act on her own?¡¹ Egg muttered so while looking at his other teammates, a beautiful girl with wavy, long blonde-hair, Lyla Hellner. ¡¸Well, she¡¯s quite a beauty, no doubt about it but¡­¡¹ Somni did recognize Lyla¡¯s beauty. However, apart from the other girls, Lyla didn¡¯t even show a shred of interest in Somni. The biggest factor that made Somni take some distance from Lyla was the fact that the latter was Kai Heineman¡¯s friend. Kai Heineman, another participant of sacred martial arts tournament, just like Somni. The common evaluation of Kai Heineman in that tournament was ¡°Just a cowardly incompetent¡±. Strangely enough, the evaluation he received from a part of swordsmen was the exact opposite of the general evaluation. When Somni asked the swordsman who beat him in that tournament about the latter¡¯s goal, that swordsman said that he wants to become someone like Zack and someday, gain a chance to challenge Kai Heineman. Seeing swordsman¡¯s passion, Somni knew that the former was serious. It was rather unbelievable for him. And as if that wasn¡¯t enough, that swordsman wasn¡¯t the only one with the opinion. One of Somni¡¯s noble friend who always hung out with him cried non-stop after he saw Kai Heineman and Zack¡¯s match, he then returned to his hometown and without wasting time, kept swinging his sword like a madman. He, who never trained seriously was completely absorbed in his training. And the reason for that was none other than the match between Kai Heineman and Zack. Kai Heineman¡¯s gift was ¡¾The Most Incompetent in This World¡¿. It was obvious by its name that it was by no mean powerful gift. Thus, he was convinced that his father, Lunpa Barrel was right about Kai Heineman winning by cheating. Those swordsmen were just idiots who couldn¡¯t see through Kei Heineman¡¯s trickery. Somni had expected that since those swordsmen were just talentless peasants, unlike gifted ones like him. ¡ªKai Heineman is nothing more than a cheater. He should be condemned for that. That¡¯s why no matter how beautiful Lyla was, Somni didn¡¯t feel a shred of charm in her who had favorable impressions for Kai Heineman. Rather, he pitied her since the latter had no eyes to judge someone¡¯s character. ¡¸How about we have a match to invite her? Somni-san should be able to do that in a try, right?¡¹ Seeing Egg staring at Lyla with lecherous eyes of a youth trying to woo girl in the street, ¡¸I refuse. Why do I¡¯ve to become the bait when you¡¯re the one who want to woo her?¡¹ Somni rejected Egg¡¯s request immediately. Egg was a known philanderer; everyone knew he had different woman every time he walks in the street. There was a rumor about him sleeping with a girl after he forced her drunk. Naturally, he thought it just a slander towards Egg but, Somni was still Gilbert¡¯s guardian knight. Thus, he minded his action in public. Moreover, even if Lyla invited Somni to drink with her, he had no intention to drink with the stupid woman who got tricked easily by Kai Heineman. ¡¸I see. Then, I guess I¡¯ve to invite her myself.¡¹ Maybe because Somni refused to cooperate with him, Egg didn¡¯t try to hide his intentions anymore. He had already imagined the scene of him walking along with Lyla in the main street at night. ¡¸Egg, stop acting like a lowlife.¡¹ "" ¡¸Oka~y.¡¹ Egg waved his hand slovenly. Egg started to insistently invite Lyla for a drink after the practical test. At first, Lyla, who was irritated by Egg¡¯s attitude refused the latter¡¯s invitation politely, but Somni knew that she was actually quite irritated. Thus, just when he was about to call Egg to stop as it might affect the entire team¨D¨D ¡¸Please stop acting slovenly here!¡¹ Lyla finally lost her patience, grabbed Egg¡¯s right-arm, and twisted it. ¡¸GA!AAAAH! RELEASE ME!¡¹ As Lyla let go of Egg¡¯s arm, the latter fell on the ground, face first. ¡¸HOW DARE YOUU!!!¡¹ He stood up immediately and tried to grab Lyla by her collar, but got easily flung away by the latter. ¡¸This is my final warning. Stop.¡¹ Egg had no choice but to grit his teeth in frustration on his failure; he never tried to woo Lyla again. A while later, they found group of girls being surrounded by zombies and went to save them at Egg¡¯s proposal. Zombie would die as long as they were beheaded. Moreover, they¡¯re also weak to fire attribute, so they¡¯re a literal sitting duck for Somni. After he get rid of the grime on his sword¡¯s blade, ¡¸Thank you very much for saving us, Somni-sama!¡¹ The girls they rescued rushed at Somni, raising cheers. ¡¸Aah, thanks god you¡¯re saved.¡¹ The way he replied to the girls with his usual refreshing smile made the girls scream even louder. Yes, those girls¡¯ attitude was normal for Somni as he was used to see it. ¡¸Somni-san, there¡¯s no rule that prohibit us from working together with another team, right? Shall we take them along?¡¹ Upon hearing Egg¡¯s suggestion, ¡¸Eh? Seriously? We¡¯re allowed to work together with Somni-sama!?¡¹ ¡¸By all means please!¡¹ ¡¸We¡¯re really scared after all.¡¹ The girls drew closer to the two. Surely, there was no rule prohibiting two teams from joining hands. Thus, forming alliances was allowed. The undead released in 1st area had been specially prepared by the Babel¡¯s management side. It was fairly obvious that the owner of the badge would receive additional points whenever they beat undead. They were team battles but, in the end, it was nothing more than individual battles during the test. With that kind of system, there was no problem even if an alliance was formed. Or rather, the alliance with most people had numerical advantage. ¡¸I don¡¯t mind. You don¡¯t mind either, right Lyla?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah¡¹ Lyla observed those girls from side before turning away. ¡¸Things will get simpler. Where are you girls come from?¡¹ Egg approached the girls with his usual overly-familiar attitude. But, Somni ended up letting his guard down and forgetting about the most important fact in this test. This test was a live combat test in its truest sense. His opponent wouldn¡¯t even give a shit about rules or consideration to him and his party. And lastly, the fact that undead wasn¡¯t their only opponent. But, Somni and co had yet to realize the true meaning of this test and treated it like a picnic, would soon be dragged into the depths of hell. Volume 4 - CH 18 Act 4-18: A Chance to Fall From The Grace One of the luxurious rooms in Babel tower. A brawny old man clad in a green robe was lying in his chair. ¡¸How¡¯s the plan progressing? ¡¹ He asked another green-robed man with slit eyes kneeling in front of him. ¡¸That pitiful girl and the spear king have been arranged to be in the same team as the poisonous wasp.¡¹ ¡¸The A-rank criminal, eh. Are you sure that¡¯ll be enough to kill the spear king? ¡¹ Hearing the old man¡¯s question, the slit-eyed man spread his arms with a serious look on his face, ¡¸The spear king is strong only if you fight him fairly.¡¹ And declared so. ¡¸So, you¡¯re going to make the full use of the difference between their combat experiences? ¡¹ ¡¸Yes. The current spear king is nothing more than an inexperienced greenhorn. Poisonous wasp should be able to kill him with ease, not to mention that girl called Lumine.¡¹ When then the slit-eyed old man said so while casting a glance toward the white-haired beauty clad in snow-like white vestment, ¡¸This should be enough, right Cardinal-dono?¡¹ Asked the old man without bothering to beat around the bush. ¡¸Yes, my heartfelt gratitude for your cooperation, vice headmaster-sama.¡¹ The cardinal smiled as she bowed to the old man. ¡¸Are you really certain about the elimination of the spear king? The overall strength of the hero party will be greatly reduced if you eliminate the spear king, which in return will affect the war with the demon race too. Personally, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea, may I hear the reason?¡¹ ¡¸Don¡¯t worry~. Even without the likes of the spear king, Hero-sama as she is right now can exterminate the demon race. The reason we are doing this is that we took all possible futures into consideration.¡¹ ¡¸You mean that the hero will become too powerful if they have the spear king, are you trying to say that the hero¡¯s power will harm humankind after they finish their job to exterminate the demon race?¡¹ Hearing the vice headmaster¡¯s inquiry, the cardinal nodded, ¡¸Hero without monster or demon race is nothing more than a lump of power. If we¡¯re not careful, she might become the second demon king. Thus, we¡¯ve to control her by all means. And to do that¨D¨D¡¹ She spoke really carefully, like reading a hymn with her clear and transparent voice. ¡¸Does that mean the spear king¡¯s power is too much for the hero in case she betrays humanity?¡¹ ¡¸Exactly. There¡¯s no need to worry about the hero for now. This is just one of our safety measures. That¡¯s why it doesn¡¯t really matter even if this plan fails. But, you¡¯ve got to eliminate the girl called Lumine at all costs.¡¹ The man with a determined look on his face shuddered upon hearing the obvious thorn in the usually gentle woman¡¯s remark. ¡¸Why does it sound like the spear king is just a freebie? Why does the big-shot of the church go so far just to get rid of the holder of gibberish ¡¾Tenraku Jinsei¡¿ gift with no clear effect?¡¹[TL : ÜžÂäÈËÉú(tenraku jinsei), literally translated as Falling Life. Honestly, I have no idea what¡¯s this means. But if we go by the theme of this novel, it might be related to going against destiny or god.] ¡¸It just doesn¡¯t sit well with our creed. That¡¯s all you need to know.¡¹ Cardinal said so as she revealed a forced laugh. ¡¸Speaking of, if it doesn¡¯t sit well with creed, there¡¯s also an apostate with a joke-like gift called ¡¾The Most Incompetent in This World¡¿ amongst the examinees. If it just as you say, that girl isn¡¯t the only one who doesn¡¯t sit well with your creed, right?¡¹ ¡¸Further inquiry means blasphemy toward our father, clear?¡¹ The cardinal returned the old man¡¯s question with another question as she smiled at the latter. ¡¸Hah! So, you¡¯re trying to kill me huh? Whether it¡¯s squabble or war, we shall do it thoroughly! ¡¹ The vice headmaster declared so with a battle-junkie smile on his face as he stood up, glaring toward the seemingly exhausted cardinal. ¡¸So you¡¯re selling a fight to us? then, it can¡¯t be helped.¡¹ The cardinal¡¯s eyes shone red, as white smoke came out from her feet. ¡¸Calm down Pandora-sama, you¡¯re not here today to partake in a quarrel, right?¡¹ The white-haired youth wearing a white vestment forced his way between the two while brushing his hair with his fingers. Pandora¡¯s eye colour changed as she heard the remark, returning to the usual amber colour, and her face made an unemotional, doll-like smile. The vice headmaster clicked his tongue and took back his seat. ¡¸Well, I shall excuse myself.¡¹ ¡¸Bye-bye~¡¹ Seeing there was nothing left to say, the white-haired youth and the cardinal excused themselves from the room. ¡¸Humph! Fox bi*tch!¡¹ The vice headmaster cursed as he tapped his finger on the desk, ¡¸How¡¯s the matter of handling those incompetents proceeding?¡¹ He asked the man with slit eyes. ¡¸It went according to plan. They went to the appointed location along with Somni Barrel¡¯s team.¡¹ ¡¸That idiot prince is truly a troublesome one. But it can¡¯t be helped, I received a huge amount of donations from the idiotic nobles of that kingdom after all. I can¡¯t just ignore it.¡¹ He then opened the drawer and took out a black cane along with a piece of paper, and read the contents out aloud. ¡¸Pathetic bas*tard. The incompetent who disrespected the prince aside, to think that he went as far as disposing of the guardian knight who failed to protect him¡­¡¹ The man with slit eyes shrugged his shoulders as he shook his head. ¡¸Yes. But, weaklings are just worthless pieces of garbage. All the more so when it¡¯s a knight, they¡¯re nothing but a hindrance. At this point, I¡¯m no different from that prince.¡¹ The vice headmaster nodded lightly as he muttered so. ¡¸Survival of the fittest¡­ eh.¡¹ ¡¸Yeah. That¡¯s why the brat called Somni, who has never experienced the harshness of the world will die this time.¡¹ ¡¸Definitely.¡¹ Thus, he threw the paper as if he wasn¡¯t interested in the matter anymore, and started discussing Tower¡¯s government. There is a saying that a huge mountain looks small from afar, which might cause him to let his guard down. Or else, he might simply never experience it itself. It was a trivial matter. But, the pitiful lambs(them) had yet to realize just what kind of being they were trying to mess with. Babel¡¯s tower with its vast power, the central church, and the existence of X who always looked down on this world from above, every single one of them had yet to realize that they would receive a terrifying slap on their triumphant face after they provoke the most bizarre and dangerous monster in this world. Volume 4 - CH 19 Act 4-19: Please Sleep For A While The head of the zombie who received a relentless spear thrust from Roman¡¯s spear was pulverized till not even its skull was left intact. Seeing Roman who was twirling his spear as if it was his own limbs and slaughtering undead in a single breath, £¨Yeah, he¡¯s strong after all!£© Lumine Hellner couldn¡¯t help but praise Roman in her heart. Roman had literally slaughtered the undead on his own a while ago. Lumine and the brown-haired youth with crop cut, Kirabi had reduced their role to mere spectators since a while ago. The difference between Roman¡¯s and the other two strengths was too big, the other two would only become a hindrance if they tried to assist Roman. And that was the bitter truth of their situation. £¨Dammit! Dammit! Dammiiiiiit!!£© At this rate, things would proceed in accordance to Hellner house¡¯s plan. Hellner house was a long-standing family whose main family and branch family were making a living from their sword art. They were the kind of traditional family who held the belief that marrying someone with strong talent would maintain the height of their descendant¡¯s talent. Thus, they¡¯re eyeing the spear king who had one of the best gifts in the world. Big sis managed to buy some time by participating in the Babel examination since Hellner house thought that it would be a plus for her. In this regard, big sis had always insisted that she will choose her own husband. Big sis was a stubborn girl. Never once did she change her decision once she made up her mind. Thus, they prepared the spare plan to marry me to that Roman. Naturally, their cat-dog-like relationship made them seem like an impossible couple, thus marriage between the two sounds like a joke for them¡­ and the people around them. In short, the Hellner family had literally forced Lumine to marry her nemesis, Roman for life. At this rate, big sis would definitely go back to that disgusting hometown of us after we graduate from Babel, and then¨D¨D £¨No! I ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT LET THAT HAPPEN!£© Lyla¡¯s happiness was her happiness. But, Lumine couldn¡¯t bear the guilt of her becoming the source of her big sister¡¯s sorrow. Speaking of her choice of husband, Kai Heineman was much better than Roman, albeit much weaker. But at least, Kai wouldn¡¯t force big sis to marry him. In addition, I¡¯m sure that big sis was in fact in l¨D¨D When Lumine was pondering about such things, ¡¸Such superb spear handling.¡¹ The brown-haired youth with crop cut, Kirabi was clapping his hands. ¡¸¡­¡¹ Maybe because he had enough of hearing such praise, Roman didn¡¯t even turn around to give a reply to Kirabi¡¯s praise and suddenly, ¡¸As expected, I¡¯m going to lose if I challenge you from the front.¡¹ "" He muttered those incomprehensible remarks. Almost at the same time, Roman suddenly fell to his knees. Numerous beads of sweat appear on Roman¡¯s forehead. And then, a chill ran down his spine as he saw the eerie smile on Kirabi¡¯s face. ¡¸W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?¡¹ He retreated at once while asking such a question as soon as he saw that eerie smile but, ¡¸Resistance is futile.¡¹ Kirabi spoke with a smile while being surrounded by countless small creatures. ¡¸W-Wasp?¡¹ It was a familiar creature. ¡¸!¡¹ Suddenly, he felt sharp pain from the nape of his neck, thus he struck the place with his right hand. When he looked at his right hand, he saw the corpse of a bee. ¡¸How cruel of you to kill my adorable wasps.¡¹ ¡¸You, bas*tard!¡¹ "" She somehow managed to curse at him but¨D¨D ¡¸But, this is the E-N-D.¡¹ When Kirabi pointed his finger toward Lumine, the latter suddenly fell like a sack of potatoes. Lumine felt her body was as heavy as lead. ¡¸Rest assured. I only used paralysis poison on you guys. You won¡¯t die yet.¡¹ ¡¸You¡­ bas-¡­ tard.¡¹ Kirabi walked to Roman who was spitting those curses even with paralysis poison in his body and then trampling down on the latter¡¯s face. ¡¸Quite lively, ain¡¯tcha. But, it seems you forgot about your current situation¨D¨D¡¹ Roman raised his face, and spit on Kirabi¡¯s face, ¡¸Go to¡­ Hell.¡¹ And cursed on the latter. Kirabi who snapped upon receiving that treatment, ¡¸This is the first time I met such a ru~de fellow, I¡¯m really pissed off now!!¡¹ He mercilessly kicked Roman in his rage. Even though Roman was bleeding from his torn lips and forehead, Kirbi kept kicking on the former as if to vent his anger. "" Roman only fainted after Kirbi vented all his rage on him. Kirbi who breathing heavily after that, ¡¸Woops, mustn¡¯t kill him by accident. This kind of death is against my raison d¡¯etre as wasp user.¡¹ After he shook his head as if snapping out of his trance and took several deep breaths. He revealed a nasty smile as his line of sight then moved from the unconscious Roman toward Lumine. That expression alone was enough to send a chill running down Lumine¡¯s spine, and though she almost screaming, she swallowed her voice. When Kirabi pointed at his own face with his index finger while looking at Lumine¡¯s dreaded face with a satisfied look on his face, countless wasps were coming toward him. ¡¸Both of you going to become the nursery for these children.¡¹ Kirabi declared so with a lively voice. ¡¸Nur¡­ sery?¡¹ Kirabi¡¯s smile became even more highlighted upon seeing Lumine¡¯s confusion and, ¡¸Yes. These childs going to use your flesh as an incubation bed for their eggs. Human meat are the best seedbed for them after all.¡¹ He spoke so toward Lumine and co with a joyous voice. ¡¸Now then, let¡¯s start with you, Lumine-cha~n. You¡¯ll become a meatball by the time Roman wake up from his sleep.¡¹ "" A chill ran down into her spine along with an unspeakable sense of disgust just by hearing his remark. And then, as if enjoying Lumine¡¯s dread, ¡¸Their children will eat your flesh as they hatched. Your pain will be gone as the hatched tiny wasps ate your flesh from the inside. It¡¯s hard to come experience you kno~w.¡¹ Kirabi approached Lumine step by step as if he want to instil even greater fear to her. ¡¸S¡­ top.¡¹ She tried desperately to tell him to get away from her but, it only enlarged his sadistic instinct. Lumine wasn¡¯t idiotic enough to not realize that fact. And yet, she had no choice but to speak. Because there was no way she wanted to die in such a tragic manner, became a nursery for bugs. ¡¸Ohoho, you can¡¯t be that selfish. It¡¯s a lady¡¯s duty to accept that fate after all.¡¹ Kirabi¡¯s right-hand which had many wasps coiling around it was slowly reached out toward Lumine. The moment that hand touched Lumine, they would lay their egg in her body which would result in the most gruesome death for her. £¨No! Stop!£© Her eyes were blurry from her tears. I don¡¯t want to die! I refuse to die in that way! I won¡¯t be able to see my dad and mom again if I die. I won¡¯t be able to see my siblings too. Including big sis. in addition¨D¨D "" She experienced a phenomenon close to a revolving lantern when she felt that she was about to die, a moment that felt like forever. And the last thing that popped out at that moment was unexpectedly not the face of her siblings or her father, and not her big sis either. It was the face of a certain black-haired youth who had always been gentle to her since their childhood. ¡¸He¡­ lp¡­ KAI-ONIICHAN¨D¨D!!¡¹ The moment Kirabi¡¯s finger was about to touch Lumine, Kirabi who enjoyed Lumine¡¯s dread failed to realize that his right hand had already fallen to the ground, and chopped into tiny pieces along with the wasps around it. ¡¸Eh?¡¹ Kirabi who was dumbfounded for a few seconds upon seeing his bloody wrist was, ¡¸UGAAAAAAAAAAAA!!¡¹ Screaming in pain. And the culprit of that situation, a black-haired youth just walking calmly and laid Lumine¡¯s body beneath the nearby huge tree without even casting a glance toward Kirabi. ¡¸Go sleep for now.¡¹ It was a reassuring voice that she heard so many times. Hearing that, Lumine¡¯s consciousness faded into darkness due to the newfound safety she felt from that voice. Volume 4 - CH 20 Act 4-20: Don¡¯t Be Scared Uhm. My teammates in this test, Kiki and Ramune were by no means, normal people. Regardless f their strength, people who crossed the point between life and death would¡¯ve unique air around them. They might think that they act like a proper greenhorn, but the way they walk and the way they¡¯re being cautious of their surrounding wasn¡¯t that of a greenhorn. It might be something that was instilled in their very core, thus making them failed to fool me. Since that was the case, who in the world are those two? Are they the spy from Babel management? Are they starting to spy on me since I had become too conspicuous nowadays? Well, that might be just a wrong guess and I might be just overestimating myself. I mean, there was no reason for the academy side to observe my movement. They might be related to that idiotic prince. The reason might be the grudge from when I forced him to eat the dish that he intentionally spilt on the floor. I wouldn¡¯t mind playing along with his little game if he come straight to me. I mean, playing along with children¡¯s games was the duty of elders after all. But, if that idiotic prince dare to cross the line, I had to discipline him again to remind him about how painful it was to mess with me. And this time, it wouldn¡¯t be the same lukewarm discipline as before. It was complete, throughout discipline that would be carved into his very soul. Well, that idiot prince aside. It seems my bad premonition had come true. Currently, my teammates aside, I was observing the situation of Roman and Lumine with Divine Eye, it turned out they were ambushed by the brown-haired youth with crop cut, the last member of their team. Seeing how skilful that youth was in executing his ambush, I could pretty much guess that he was an underworld resident, just like Oboro and co. Anyhow, I guess I couldn¡¯t afford to waste my time in this place. I had to leave my two teammates behind. There was one thing that I understood in the hundred thousand years of my life. I had realized that I had always been selfish, short-tempered, moody, and lastly far more devious than what I expected. If I truly hated Roman, he might¡¯ve already been dead in my hand at this point. And yet, after I cleared that dungeon, it felt like I saw the world and the people involved with me in a whole new light. For the current me, all of those Roman challenges on me were akin to the care of a younger brother toward their older brother. Naturally, I wasn¡¯t petty enough to care about some resentment born from a quarrel with him that happened more than a hundred thousand years ago. That was my current feeling toward my cousin. Naturally, the same goes for Lumine. Despite her current treatment of me, she used to be far closer to me than Lyla a long time ago. She became closer to Lyla before I know about it, and turned her hostility toward me. Anyhow, both of them were my precious childhood friend. There was no way I could keep my cool when I saw that they were about to become a toy for that ba*stard. And seeing the timing of his ambush, I was almost convinced that the one who hired that youth was the academy. It seems those people are really trying to test my patience. Since that was the case, I shall respond appropriately to those trashes. I turned around, spread my arms and smiled at my teammates, ¡¸I have a suggestion, are you willing to hear me out?¡¹ And offered a negotiation. With just a single glance from me, both of them instinctively readied their stance. ¡¸What is it?¡¹ They might try to look tough. But, I who had lived for a hundred thousand years in that dungeon could easily gauge their emotion. Let¡¯s add one final push. I used my original footwork to circle around them, twining my arms around their neck. And then, I loaded mana into my arms. This simple action was proven to be effective against most monsters in that easy dungeon. It might have the same effect on humans. ¡¸Don¡¯t be scared, I won¡¯t eat you guys. I just going to move on my own after this. Naturally, I will let you two do as you please. But, let me give you one piece of advice.¡¹ ¡¸Advice?¡¹ The blonde-haired woman had finally stopped talking with her fake, jesting-like tone, and asked me with her original, albeit slightly trembling voice. ¡¸Do not disturb me. Do not test my patience. Do not make me uncomfortable. If you do even one of those¨D¨D¡¹ Here, I paused for a while, ¡¸W-What will happen if we do one of those?¡¹ Ramune asked again with a trembling voice resembling that of a parrot. ¡¸Crush. Your organization, your private life, your dearest people, I will crush all of them till there¡¯s nothing left of them in this world.¡¹ I brought my face closer to their ears and whispered that ultimatum toward them. What followed after that was the silence with the sound of their chattering teeth as the BGM, ¡¸That¡¯s why I told you not to get scared, right? I won¡¯t do anything against you for now. Yes, ¡°For Now¡±, that¡¯s it.¡¹ I returned to my original position, turned around after I told them that, and ran at full speed toward Lumine¡¯s and Roman¡¯s positions. Volume 4 - CH 21 Act 4-21: Extremely Dangerous Observation Job(Side: Ramunera) The back figure of the monster had finally vanished from their line of sight, one of the Empire¡¯s Six generals, Ramunera fell on her knees, heaving a really deep sigh of relief. That show just how tense she was a while ago. She then coughed violently and vomited the content of her stomach on the ground due to relapse from that overwhelming fear. ¡¸What the¡­ hell is that?¡¹ Kirky, the same Empire¡¯s six general as her had barely managed to squeeze those words as he fell to his knees. The current Empire¡¯s Six Generals had received the special name from the Emperor himself. And her name was War Princess. She had the abilities and skills rivalling the paladin from the hero party in terms of personal combat. And this was the very first time in her entire life in which she showed such unsightly state unbefitting of War Princess¡¯ name. ¡¸Maybe he¡¯s a monster who quit being a human, just like Pho-san.¡¹ She gave such a reply as she wiped the traces of vomit on her lips. Hearing that, Kirky braced himself to stand, walking toward the nearby trees and then after he leaned his back on that tree, ¡¸But then, His Majesty¡¯s order is to persuade THAT to join the six general, right?¡¹ ¡¸Do you think such a thing is possible?¡¹ Hearing Ramunera¡¯s question, Kirky closed his eyes and shook his head as he said, ¡¸Impossible. At least, I don¡¯t think such a thing is possible for me. Or should I say that I¡¯m just too scared to do that?¡¹ With a meek look that he has never shown before. ¡¸Same here I guess.¡¹ They knew that they might accidentally provoke THAT wrath. One of the warnings about not making him feel uncomfortable wasn¡¯t an empty threat, it was a genuine threat. Naturally, the same goes for crushing them so thoroughly, it was self-confidence. If they made a wrong move here, THAT monster and the empire might have clashed in a great war. It would be a good thing is Pho-san could beat THAT. We who had personally witnessed Pho-san¡¯s soul-crushing power naturally had no doubt of his victory. But, such confidence vanished into thin air the moment I recalled that unfathomable magical power that erupted the moment THAT circled around behind us. I could say for sure now. THAT was an aberration who had quit being a human, Monster saw the life of a human akin to a pebble on the roadside. We shouldn¡¯t expect such aberration to have human-like benevolence. Inciting his wrath or causing him to feel uncomfortable might be resulting in the destruction of the empire. ¡¸What shall we do then?¡¹ ¡¸It¡¯s been decided. We¡¯ve to persuade THAT to join us or simply just observe THAT. It¡¯s not the right time to persuade him. So we only have the option of persuading him.¡¹ ¡¸ARE YOU INSANE? TO BE HONEST, I DON¡¯T EVEN WANT TO MEET THAT MONSTER AGAIN!¡¹ That was her true feeling. She cried as she wrapped her arms around her body. ¡¸His Majesty¡¯s order is absolute. If we backed out, we¡¯re going to be purged by Pho-san. The only way out for us is to observe that Monster.¡¹ At the very least, I wanted to believe in Pho-san¡¯s power. Because without such possibilities, both of us would be purged by THAT Monster. No, dying was the last scary thing about provoking the wrath of transcendence. Because the worst fate for those who dare to provoke the wrath of transcendence was living while forced to experience hell on earth. ¡¸Didn¡¯t you just say a while ago that you don¡¯t have the confidence to persuade THAT!¡¹ Upon hearing Kirky¡¯s protest, ¡¸Indeed. I say that this isn¡¯t the right time to persuade him. In the end, we are only left with the choice to know more about THAT.¡¹ Ramunera said her opinion. Since we had no idea whether Pho-san could really beat THAT or not, trying to convince THAT to join the six general was pure insanity. Not to mention that the Empire might be erased from the map if we made THAT uncomfortable. That¡¯s why we could only observe THAT for now. We had to investigate the possibility of Pho-san winning against THAT in case both of them clashed. Only after we were convinced that Pho-san could beat THAT did we could sit together at the negotiation table. ¡¸But then, what will happen if not even Pho can beat THAT?¡¹ ¡¸We¡¯ve to persuade the empire to not have themselves involved with THAT.¡¹ As long as we explained in detail just how terrifying THAT Monster¡¯s personality was, even the Emperor who had never experienced the true terror from THAT would have no choice but to give up. In short, we¡¯re betting on the cautious personality of the Emperor. ¡¸And what are we going to do if we failed to convince His Majesty?¡¹ ¡¸We can only escape with our tail between our leg.¡¹ Even though Signiel chose to escape. Those who dropped out earlier were very lucky since they didn¡¯t have to face the possibility of provoking the wrath of THAT Monster. ¡¸Yeah, even I who hailed as the War Princess in the Empire and despising those who lost to me, has ended like this¡­¡¹ Hearing that, Kirky heaved a sigh, chewing his lips as he looked up to the sky. ¡¸Anyhow, observing THAT is all we do for now, right?¡¹ The matter of Ramunera and Kirky being put together in the same team as the Monster during Babel¡¯s practical exam was by no mean a mere coincidence. Babel¡¯s upper echelons who knew about the Monster¡¯s power deliberately make this arrangement. In short, this was some sort of warning from Babel for the empire to prevent the latter from provoking the wrath of the Monster. At the very least, they would let the one who put in the same team as the Monster know that the Empire must never go into war against the Monster. This was also to reassure the Empire that Babel hadn¡¯t fallen under the control of the Monster. Because if Babel really did fall under the control of the Monster, they would do everything to restrict Ramunera¡¯s and Kirky¡¯s freedom. In short, they did everything they could to warn the Empire. The rest would be left to Ramunera and co¡¯s effort. ¡¸Yeah, let¡¯s do that.¡¹ Ramunera closed her eyes as she made such a decision, thus, they went toward where the Monster vanished too with a heavy gait. Volume 4 - CH 22 Act 4-22: The Most Vicious Guy Who Know Not The Word ¡°Compromise¡± When I arrived, the brown-haired youth with a crop cut was stretching his hand that had numerous wasps coiling around it toward Lumine. And then, ¡¸He¡­ lp¡­ KAI-ONIICHAN¨D¨D!!¡¹ Lumine raised a scream. But, ¡°Kai-Oniichan¡± huh? This reminds me that she used to call me like that a long time ago. What a nostalgic name. Roman was also safe and sound, he just fainted. Thank goodness that this cr*ap prioritizes his sadistic impulse. I wouldn¡¯t be able to save Roman if this guy was the type that finishes off his opponent in a single strike. And yet, for some reason. I felt another feeling of resentment. The moment I noticed that I grit my teeth and held myself from unleashing my rage. But well. Since those people go all out to piss me off, there was only one thing to do. I took out ¡¾Raikiri¡¿ from my item box and chopped the hand of the brown-haired youth with a crop cut along with all wasps that surrounded it. I cast a glance at that annoying brown-haired youth, carrying Lumine in my arms, place her under the nearby tree and then, ¡¸Go sleep for now.¡¹ "" The moment I told her so, Lumine heaved a sigh and then passed out with a relieved look on her face. ¡¸W-What the hell are you!?¡¹ To the brown-haired youth who kept his annoying yappings while trying to stop his bleeding right arm, I, ¡¸I¡¯ll deal with you later. So stay where you are for a little bit.¡¹ Told him so, putting more pressure on my remark as I walked to Roman, picked him up, and walked back toward Lumine. ¡¸DAMMIT! MY WASPS, KILL THAT GUY!¡¹ The wasps were surrounding me from all sides as if to attack me. But¨D¨D ¡¸W-WHY ARE YOU GUYS IGNORING MY ORDER!?¡¹ The wasps stayed still in mid-air. Though they¡¯re bound by contract, they had to receive an equivalent price to make their move, right? And no matter how much the reward they received, they couldn¡¯t beat their survival instinct. I turned around in a circle, ¡¸Go, I¡¯ll spare you just this once.¡¹ I decided to pardon the wasps just this once. At that moment, countless wasps scattered all at once in all directions. ¡¸Eh? W-Wait, come back here, my wasp!¡¹ Seeing the brown-haired youth with crew cut shouting toward the wasps till he let out a lot of spits from her mouth, I heaved a sigh and placed Roman beside Lumine. ¡¸THOSE FU*CKING INSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECT!¡¹ The brown-haired youth then took out something like a small bottle from his breast pocket with his intact left hand as he let out that curses, ¡¸GREAT EMPEROR WASP, WAKE UP!!!¡¹ And shouted as he opened the lid of the bottle. Red smoke came out from the bottle and then, a giant wasp with the face of an old man with white hair appeared from within the red smoke. ¡ºNoisy! What¡¯s the matter?¡» The human-faced wasp cast a glance toward Roman and Lumine as he let out a vexed voice, and then when his gaze met mine, ¡ºCould it be that you¡¯re calling me since you got beaten up by this weak trash?¡» And said so while scoffing at me, as if looking down on me, ¡¸S-Shut up! That guy is using unknown power to beat me!¡¹ The sycophant kept yapping angrily. ¡ºNo matter how weak that guy is, you know that you still have to prepare appropriate compensation, right?¡» ¡¸I know. As long as you kill that guy, the two over there will fall in my hands again. You can have them. You can even have the woman over there.¡¹ The human-faced wasp then looked at Lumine, he didn¡¯t even try to hide the lustful desire on his face, ¡ºCome to think of it, I rarely eat woman flesh lately. They¡¯re a delicious treats if you make them into meatballs after melting them with a special solution liquid. Fine, I accept the request.¡» And declared so with a proud look on his ugly, old face. Though this human-faced wasp seems to be the trump card of that sycophant youth, he didn¡¯t seem to be that powerful. Or rather, was he even stronger than the wasps that escaped a while ago? I mean, the fact that those wasps who escaped a while ago were far more useful since they could instinctively guess their opponent¡¯s power. As expected, there was no cure for idiocy. ¡¸This will be my last mercy to you two. First, kill yourself after you spit everything about this matter. Or else, you can sit right there and I shall allow you to die painlessly.¡¹ it was the best proposal I could think of for the likes of these sycophants and the human-faced wasp. In fact, you could say that it was a miracle that I was willing to give a way for them like this. And it wasn¡¯t because I found that these guys are useful. It was actually the opposite. It was simply because I felt that they were an extremely trivial existence to the point that I feel that killing them one by one was a chore. "" ¡ºI see, this trashy brat doesn¡¯t seem to know his place.¡» The human-faced wasp frowned upon hearing my remark. ¡¸That should be my line to you.¡¹ Should I say that he had some guts for being a weakling? ¡ºHOW DARE YOU SMALL FRY BRAT!¡» And to that human-faced wasp who chirping loudly, ¡¸Good grief, it seems you¡¯re way too stupid to understand a proper human language despite having a human face. I¡¯ll repeat it for the last time. Kill yourself after you spit all the information about the one who sends you, or sits down right there like a good child so that I can kill you. I shall become your suicide assistant so that you won¡¯t suffer for too long.¡¹ I gave them the last chance to get a painless death. ¡ºTHIS FOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!¡» The human-faced wasp was flying around me as he shouted with an indignant look on his face. ¡ºHOW¡¯S THAT!?¡» ¡¸¡±How¡¯s that¡± about what¡­¡¹ I mean, what in the hell was this human-faced wasp trying to do? ¡ºKUKAKA! YOU CAN¡¯T EVEN SEE MY AFTER IMAGE!¡» The human-faced wasp spoke triumphantly while moving around me. ¡¸The heck, so you just want to compete in speed.¡¹ I kicked the ground, circled around him, and cut his wing with ¡ºRaikiri¡». ¡ºEh?¡» The human-faced wasp fell to the ground while raising exasperated voice. ¡¸I-I-IMPOSSIBLE! HE CUT THE GREAT EMPEROR WASP¡¯S WINGS!¡¹ I ignored the sycophant who screamed with a shocked look on his face, approached the fallen human-faced wasp, trampling his face underfoot, and pointed the tip of ¡ºRaikiri¡» to his mouth. ¡¸So? What are you going to do next?¡¹ ¡¸How¡­ can it be??¡¹ The human-faced muttered so with trembled voice, ¡¸Hah?¡¹ When I ask him again, ¡ºHow can you cut my wings?¡» He asked a not very important question. ¡¸I just circled around you and chopped your wings.¡¹ ¡ºSTOP TALKING NONSENSE! THERE¡¯S NO WAY A SLOWPOKE LIKE YOU CAN MATCH ME IN TERMS OF SPEED!¡» ¡¸You¡¯re fast? Are you serious?¡¹ I mean with that kind of speed, B-Rank hunter wouldn¡¯t have a problem seeing him when he was speeding up like before. ¡ºJUST HOW FAR YOU¡¯RE GOING TO MOCK ME! TRASH LIKE YOU WILL NEVER MATCH MY SUPREME SPE¨D¨D¡» Since his rambling made me more and more irritated, I stabbed ¡¾Raikiri¡¿ into his mouth to stop his rambling. Seeing the human-face wasp writhing in pain, ¡¸The phrase ¡°Frog in the well¡± suits the like of you the most.¡¹ "" I told him about my impression of him. And then, the sycophant¡¯s body trembled when I moved my line of sight from the human-faced wasp to him, ¡¸Who¡­ the hell are you?¡¹ He asked such a question as he took a step back with a ghastly pale face. I sneered at him, and grabbed his right shoulder as he tried to step back even further pulling him closer, ¡¸What? Getting a cold foot now? Want to escape from this place? Unfortunately, you can¡¯t and I won¡¯t allow it. If only you choose to accept my last mercy, you¡¯ll at least die without having to suffer for so long, alas you idiots choose to reject my generous offers.¡¹ And muttered so right into his ear. ¡¸HIIIIIII!¡¹ Seeing the sycophant retreat while screaming like a sissy, ¡¸Be grateful, I¡¯ll prepare a VVIP treatment special for both of you.¡¹ The tips of my lips rose as I spoke. Guessing from the remarks of that human-faced wasp, it might be not just once or twice he ate the so-called meatball made from human flesh which melted by special dissolution liquid. Moreover, that sycophant was trying to kill Roman and fed Lumine to that human-faced wasp. Since they did so nonchalantly, let¡¯s do the same to them, so thoroughly to the point that they regret the fact that they were ever born in this world. They did cross the line after all. And naturally, the one who gonna do that was my acquaintance who had the same hobby as them. Even though I offered a painless and peaceful death to them, they actually refused such a generous offer. Come to think of it, this might be the first time in a long time since someone picks a fight with me so brazenly like this. In a certain meaning, facing someone who didn¡¯t know their place was a refreshing experience. I guess I should send everyone who is directly involved with these two idiots so that they won¡¯t feel lonely. That¡¯s right, the compromise didn¡¯t exist in my dictionary for vicious people whose evil deeds know no bound. ¡¸What¡­ are you going to do?¡¹ The sycophant lad asked with a timid voice. I ignored him and opened the last chapter of the subjugation picture book. ¡¸Come, Beelzebub.¡¹ I called that name. A giant, bipedal fly with a crown on its head appeared the moment I called their name. They wore red mantles with bibs around their neck, they were sucking pacifiers in their mouth. ¡ºHave you call me, O Supreme Ruler-Chama?¡» They kneeled on one knee as they placed their right hand on their left chest and bowed to me. Their name was Beelzebub. They¡¯re the floor boss of 950th floor, and the foul fella in all kinds of means. The moment I saw this fella appear as the floor boss of the 950th floor, I felt a certain admiration for the hobby of the ba*stard who made that easy dungeon. Anyhow, I¡¯ve never met another being whose maliciousness surpassed this fella. And this fella themselves seems to be unaware of their own wickedness. In fact, Girimekhala and the other happy fellas in the subjugation picture book were also staying away from this particular fella. The person themselves didn¡¯t seem to care about it since they literally almost never left the subjugation picture book unless I called for them and enjoyed the rest of their life in there. Well, I was really surprised when I found out that clean freak Asta was actually the old friend of this fella, I heard that they met frequently. ¡¸Do as you like to those two idiots over there to make them spit all the information they know, just make sure that you keep them alive and sane to spit the information. And then, make sure you pay a visit to the one who sent them. Naturally, And make them taste hell on earth in your style, with the shittiest method you can come with.¡¹ ¡ºYour wish is my command?¡» They nodded as they spoke with a slurry voices. They seem to be really delighted. ¡¸¡­¡¹ The sycophant¡¯s teeth were clattering non-stop as colour drained from his face, the human-faced wasp raised a shrill, beast-like cry as he saw Beelzebub. ¡¸ Goodbye, enjoy your eternal nightmare to the fullest.¡¹ Considering the wickedness of Beelzebub, they¡¯re literally goners. Well, the fate of these two idiots after this was none of my concern though. Amidst the scream of the two idiots, Beelzebub¡¯s body got covered by dark mist, the dark mist that moving on its own, carrying the human-faced wasp and that sycophant. Well, that¡¯ll take care of those two. Now I had to get an explanation from Babel¡¯s staff about this matter. Let¡¯s return to the plaza for now. Though Lumine and Roman might be disqualified due to this matter, this entire fiasco made such an incident look like a trivial matters. It wasn¡¯t by coincidence that Roman and Lumine were ambushed by that sycophant. I had to quickly investigate the mastermind behind this fiasco. And crush them so thoroughly. That was the price they gonna pay for trying to test my patience. I carried them on my shoulder and ran toward the plaza where we gathered at the beginning of the test. Volume 4 - CH 23 Act 4-23: Secret Manouver of The Evil God ¡¾Babel¡¿¡¯s Top Floor. In the headmaster¡¯s room located on the topmost floor of Babel¡¯s tower, a sacred beast and dozens of people were staring at the nightmarish spectacle projected before them with projection magic. And then, the moment the fly monster with the crown made its appearance, the projection had suddenly cut off. ¡¸Please forgive me¡­ I¡­ can¡¯t do this anymore¡­¡¹ The blonde-haired woman with long ears who wore a navy blue robe and pointy hat, the one who used the projection magic could barely squeeze her voice as she apologized to everyone in that room. The moment she finished saying her remark, she fell right on her knees, crying as she vomited so many times. Her name was Chloe, the chief of the research division, and also the most trusted aide of the grand headmaster. She was either the best or second-best user of remote surveillance magic in this world. When everyone was dumbfounded in seeing the reaction of the woman whose calmness was to the point of annoying in a normal situation, ¡ºI¡¯VE TOLD YOU RIGHT!? DON¡¯T MESS WITH THAT!¡» The white sacred beast¨D¨D Kouma was speaking to them with trembling, almost hysteric voice. ¡¸Chief Chloe, is the fly monster summoned by him really that dangerous?¡¹ The slit-eyed man with a black robe, Sigma Rockwell was asking the question that haunted everyone¡¯s mind as he patted Chloe who was still crying like a girl on her back. ¡ºY-YOU PEOPLE STILL DON¡¯T EVEN UNDERSTAND AFTER SEEING THAT!?¡» Kouma was looking at Sigma¡¯s face with a dumbfounded look on her face as if she was looking at the most idiotic man in the world but, her expression returned to normal immediately. ¡ºDone¡­ We¡¯re done for¡­ ALL OF US ARE DONE FOR!¡» Looking at Kouma¡¯s disordered state while also observing the state of the other person, ¡¸Don¡¯t worry, Kouma. Even if he noticed our action behind the scene, He won¡¯t point his blade toward us. Right, Ralph?¡¹ The headmaster, Inea was asking the small, yet muscular man wearing a red robe who stood by her side, Ralph Excel. ¡¸Yeah, in the end, this is your secret manoeuvring since the only condition for that is none of the test-taker sacrificed.¡¹ Ralph replied with a curt, and sour look on his face, everyone gulped their spit upon hearing that. To Ralph, Inea was someone akin to a foster parent and his former teacher. Thus, in a normal situation, he wouldn¡¯t speak so harshly at Inea. From the way he spoke to Inea, the latter¡¯s action had clearly enraged him so much. ¡¸I have zero interest in your plan but, what do you think going to happen when a victim comes out of the test-taker?¡¹ The blue-haired youth who supervised the grand headmaster was asking Ralph while touching his chin. ¡¸Crushed. Kai is certainly obeying the rule of humans. But, that¡¯s only until the other party doesn¡¯t cross the line. Once we cross the line, we¡¯re going to be crushed so thoroughly till nothing is left by Kai. Yeah, just like that pitiful man in that projection.¡¹ Hearing Ralph¡¯s answer, ¡ºNOO! I¡¯VE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PLAN OF THESE IDIOTIC HUMANS!!¡» Kouma was wailing until she caused a rain of saliva. All who were present in that room could only look dumbfoundedly at her show of desperation. ¡¸In my eyes, he looks like your normal, everyday youth which you can find anywhere though. Surely, I have no idea just how powerful that fly monster appears in that projection is, but don¡¯t you feel that your fear is going overboard here? I mean, there¡¯s no way he can beat Babel by himself.¡¹ The bewildered words spoken by the blue-haired youth were the major opinion of everyone in that room. ¡¸You foolish humans are truly dull eh¡­¡¹ Chloe who had finally settled down muttered those remarks while wiping the area around her mouth. ¡¸What do you mean, Chloe-sama?¡¹ Chloe stood up upon hearing the blue-haired youth asking with a sullen voice, ¡¸FIGHTING THAT YOU SAY!? WE, AGAINST THAT!!? IMPOSSIBLE! I¡¯M TELLING YOU, IT¡¯S ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE! THAT MONSTER, NO, MAYBE EVEN WORST! Let me ask you, can you win a fight against star, or the sun floating in the sky? THAT¡¯S WHAT IT MEAN TO PICK A FIGHT AGAINST THAT!!¡¹ And then replied with a bloodcurdling voice, bright red bloodshot eyes. As if that wasn¡¯t enough, her line of sight moved to the grand headmaster, Inea with a demon-like face, ¡¸Inea-sama, I respect you. Or should I say, respected now!? I mean, this action of yours is total madness. It¡¯s a march to destruction! Tell me your real intention in this matter. If not, this might be the time for us to part ways.¡¹ And didn¡¯t even hesitate to declare that she, the most trusted aide of Inea would leave unless Inea told the truth. Seeing that most people had yet to understand the severity of the situation even after that, ¡¸It¡¯s okay. Everything will be fine. I¡¯ve told you that, right.¡¹ And just as expected, Inea replied with her usual calm and composed voice as she smiled to Chloe. ¡¸Even if I¡¯m in this place with you, I won¡¯t help you if it turns out that you¡¯re making an enemy of Kai. I¡¯m only coming to this place to see the situation. As long as we break the rule as the academy side, Kai will exterminate us till there¡¯s nothing left of the existence of our organization in this world.¡¹ Ralph was making sure of his standing but, ¡¸I¡¯ve already negotiated that part. Right, Girimekhala-sama?¡¹ Headmaster Inea straightened her back as she stood from her chair, and looked at the direction of the window beside her as she addressed someone¡¯s name. At that moment, a monster with a long nose appeared right where Inea looking at. The air in the room trembled because of the dense, jet-black mist emitting from his entire body, cracks were running along the wall due to the pressure of his mere presence. And then, the monster¡¯s three bloodshot eyes were squinting as he looked at the people in the room, everyone in that room except for the grand headmaster fell on their knees immediately. At that very moment, three atypical beings appeared one after another. One of them was floating in the air, another one was standing upside-down on the ceiling, and the last one was sitting haughtily on the desk of the headmaster. In this situation that felt like the entire room was filled with gunpowder, the monster with a long nose spread his arms, ¡ºOUR DESIRE! IS TO MAKE THE PEACEFUL FUTURE ENVISIONED BY OUR SUPREME RULER INTO REALITY! OUR DESIRE! IS TO OFFER OUR PURE FAITH AND POWERFUL TOWNFOLK TO OUR SUPREME RULER! OUR DESIRE! IS TO EXTERMINATE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE LOWLIFE WHO DARES TO DISTURB OUR SUPREME RULER! GIVE YOUR PRAISE! TO OUR REVERENCE MASTER! GIVE YOUR PRAISE! TO OUR SUPREME FATHER! GIVE YOUR PRAISE! TO OUR ABSOLUTE GOD!¡» And spoke with a loud voice that was enough to make the air tremble. No one dares to raise their face. Every single one of them knew by instinct just what kind of existence those monsters were. The only sound that could be heard after that was the sound of everyone¡¯s grinding their teeth at once. ¡¸My deepest gratitude for your special visit to this place.¡¹ Headmaster Inea placed her right hand on her chest as she spoke, and bowed respectfully to Girimekhala. ¡ºHow¡¯s the progress of the plan?¡» ¡¸Including the member of Empire¡¯s Six Generals who vanished in the test site, we¡¯ve finished with the adjustment of the practical test.¡¹ ¡ºTake care of the post-processing too.¡» The monster with the long nose nodded in satisfaction upon hearing Inea¡¯s reply and then vanished like smoke. The other three atypical beings have also vanished before they realized it. And then, in the room that regained its tranquillity, ¨D¨D Those who trembling like a newborn calf with pale white faces resembled corpses. ¨D¨DThose who tried to take a breath to calm themselves and yet failed and ended up coughing non-stop. ¨D¨D Slit-eyed man wearing a black robe who was mumbling something like a prayer while biting his thumbnail till he unintentionally bit his own thumb with bloodshot eyes. ¨D¨DA white dog-like sacred beast who had already passed out while blowing bubbles from her jaws. Amidst such various reactions, ¡¸Inea-sama, is this the reason why you say that everything will be fine?¡¹ Hearing Ralph asking with a tired voice, ¡¸Yeah, as long as we¡¯re not deviating from the scenario that the preparation for us, Kai Heineman will not turn his hostility toward us. Naturally, inquiring more about this matter will bring more harm than good. So we should just know what we need to know.¡¹ Inea declared so as she replied to Ralph. "" ¡¸That¡¯s¡­ Should be safe.¡¹ Ralph heaved a sigh as he replied so, sitting in the nearest chair to him. ¡¸We shouldn¡¯t think too much about Kai Heineman after this and just focus on giving our everything to provide support for him. Well, it¡¯s about time for the plan to move to the next stage. Let¡¯s head toward the plaza.¡¹ Inea clapped her hands as she urged everyone to move out with whole face smile on her face. While Chloe¡¯s face twitched upon seeing Inea who acts cheerfully as if she was about to go for a picnic, ¡¸Inea-sama, you really broke to the core of your very being.¡¹ That was what everyone in that place felt right now. Volume 4 - CH 24 Act 4-24: The Old Man¡¯s Participation In War === North of Babel, 1st area of ¡¾Death Metropolis of Flower¡¿ Though Babel was under the category of the academy, it was in fact more like a giant vocational training place rather than an academy. And graduating from Babel was equivalent to getting ahead in one¡¯s life. Especially the graduate from the central Babel¡¯s tower, one could say that their future was limitless. And amongst Babel¡¯s policy was to not refuse anyone who come to learn, and anyone who have power. Naturally, it was a completely different matter whether a famous criminal could pass the test or not. In short, the exam didn¡¯t place have limitations like the other place, whether it was an aged person or people from the underworld, all of them could take the exam. ¡¸UWAAAAAAAA!¡¹ A blonde-haired youth fired his arrow as he raised a perplexed shout toward a bald giant whose body was covered in scars, equipped with a curved sword and suddenly appeared from the woods. The arrow struck right on the bald-headed giant but, it got repelled as if it just hit metal instead of skin, and fell to the ground. ¡¸DAMMIIIIIIIT!¡¹ That was surely a desperate situation. Even now, despite the two girls who wield swords and stood beside the youth who fired the arrow slashing her sword at the bald man¡¯s skin, the latter skin turned out to be extremely tough for them. And then, they got swatted aside like bugs by the bald man¡¯s arm, thrown back till they crashed against the woods behind them, and passed out. The bald man looks carefully at the unconscious boy and girl. ¡¸Are they dead?¡­ Good grief, a youngster¡¯s body is way too fragile.¡¹ The bald giant whose body was covered in scars muttered such soliloquy, then looked at the youth who fired the arrow. ¡¸Hiii!¡¹ The youth was scared shi*tless. When the bald giant approaches the youth who fell on his rear, ¡¸Sorry kid. You who saw that had to die..¡¹ Beheaded the youth with his curved sword, and took the badge from the youth¡¯s pocket whose body had already turned into a corpse. ¡¸Hah! This seemingly boring commission turned out to be the source of really nice profit.¡¹ The giant baldy¨D¨D B-rank criminal, Mad Hound was laughing creepily as he looked at the badge in his hand. He was happy with this income, and even more so since it came from the famous Babel. He didn¡¯t get disqualified no matter how many test-taker he killed, and his earnings would be paid in cash in accordance with the total point that he managed to retrieve at the end of the practical exam. Moreover, as long as he managed to bring the test-taker to the designated point, Mad Hound would get an enormous amount of bonus. Different from the original plan, though he really wanted to kill the big shot of Babel who made the commission the moment he found out that the incompetent called Kai Heineman was in a different team, he only felt grateful to them right now. Anyhow, he found no problem since the Babel side didn¡¯t disqualify ¡¶Mad Hound¡· no matter how many test-taker died in his hands in accordance with their prior agreement. ¡¸Well then, now is the time to find my real target and accomplish my mission.¡¹ The moment he walked to the forest with a triumphant look on his face, ¡¸Uhm?¡¹ Three flame spears suddenly appeared from the air. He twists his upper body and dodges one of them, and bisected another one with the curve sword in his right hand. As for the last one, he caught it with his left hand and throw it away. The thrown flame spear vanished into the wood, hitting the man clad in a green robe and making him fall to the ground. ¡¸Small fry!¡¹ Apparently, the academy side had also employed another criminal since he was ambushed in this kind of situation. When the content of the commission clashed, the stronger take it all. It was the law of the underworld, the place where someone like Mad Hound reside. Thus, this clash wasn¡¯t something new to him. £¨That ain¡¯t enough to kill them huh.£© Dangerous, intimidating air exploded from the direction of the forest. As if the other party had no intention to hide their existence at all. ¡¸Come out!¡¹ As if answering the calling of the bald giant with a body full of scars, a swordsman with long black hair appeared from inside the forest. ¡¸Hou. You seem to be quite skilled at least.¡¹ ¡¸¡­¡¹ The black-haired swordsman replied with a smile on his face, readying his long sword. Thus, both men clashed. Mad Hound¡¯s and Black-Haired Swordsman¡¯s skills kept pushing onto each other. After numerous clashes, Mad Hound felt sharp pain running in his left shin. He lowered his gaze and found out that a flaming snake was biting into his shin. In that short opening, he felt that his field of view was shaken, and he fell to his knees. ¡¸Listen Muscle Brain Gorilla, that¡¯s paralysis poison that can even knock down an ogre. We shall take this victory.¡¹ The man in a green robe that should¡¯ve been fall before standing up again and saying so as if nothing happened to him. Paralysis poison. Mad Hound possesses a certain amount of resistance against poison due to his gift. But, he need a few minutes for his body to counter the poison, in the meantime, his action was severely limited during those moments. Small fry aside, the swordsman in front of him definitely wouldn¡¯t let him off that easily. ¡¸You bastard¡­¡¹ The Black-haired swordsman was looking at the man in a green robe and Mad Hound who barely stood on his feet. ¡¸You guys, how about working together with me?¡¹ But, he spoke the last expected remark. ¡¸Hah? Working together?¡¹ Working together means that their income had to be split among three people. Logically speaking, there was no reason for them to work together in the job that only required them to send silk pants brat and incompetent brat to the designated place. ¡¸Is it because one of the best four in the Sacred Martial Arts Tournament, Somni Barrel among the target?¡¹ When the man in green robe asked so while manifesting a fire lance in the air, ¡¸That guy only managed to advance thanks to his parent¡¯s influence. The brat himself hasn¡¯t realized that though. There¡¯s no reason for us to be wary of that kind of person.¡¹ The black-haired swordsman shook his head as he denied that. ¡¸Oi, are you telling me that we¡¯ve to work together just to beat an incompetent brat?¡¹ One of the targets, Kai Heineman was the holder of a pitiful gift called ¡ºThe Most Incompetent in This World¡». Definitely not strong. ¡¸Yes. According to the rumour, he seems to fight on par with Zack Prower.¡¹ ¡¸Ah, that rumour huh? Sounds impossible to me.¡¹ Zack¡¯s strength was not only famous on the surface, he was also famous in the underworld. He was a man of legend with many deeds following after him, one of those was the story about him single-handedly annihilating an army of goblins led by a goblin general in one of the monster outbreaks in the past. Thus, it was literally impossible for a man with the weakest gift to fight on par with him sounded like a lie. ¡¸It¡¯s not a rumour, it¡¯s the truth. That¡¯s the undeniable truth.¡¹ Hearing the Black Haired Swordsman¡¯s remark, ¡¸HAH! I heard that rumour too. I hear that he¡¯s cheating by using a magic item to advance into the final round of the tournament¨D¨D¡¹ ¡¸You fool. Supposing it really is as you say, you think crude method such as using the magic item is enough to bridge the gap of abilities between Zack and him.¡¹ To Mad Hound who shouted as if spitting curses, ¡¸WHAT DID YOU SAY!?¡¹ The man clad in a green robe responded with an angry bellow. ¡¸I mean, even if I¡¯ve magic item equipped, I don¡¯t think I can fight on par with Zack. I happen to see one of Zack¡¯s fights before but, he doesn¡¯t seem to be a guy whose fighting skill can be bridged by the mere magic tool.¡¹ The Black-Haired Swordsman agreed with Mad Hound. ¡¸¡­¡¹ Thus, even the man clad in a green robe had no choice but to believe the authenticity of the rumour. And silently erased the fire lance. ¡¸In short, the degree of difficulty of this commission is higher than we expected. Is that what you wanted to say?¡¹ ¡¸Exactly. At least, far more than you expected. And then, I think the headmaster is on the opposite side of the one who gives this commission.¡¹ Some big shots of Babel were on the opposite side of the one who gave the request. Hearing that, even Mad Hound understood what the Black-Haired Swordsman tried to say. ¡¸So that means that the reason why I¡¯m excluded from Kai Heineman¡¯s team is the work of the Grand Headmaster?¡¹ Hearing that, the tips of the Black-Haired man¡¯s lips rose up, ¡¸As expected, so you two are supposed to be in the same team as Kai Heineman, right?¡¹ When he asked so as he looked at the man in a green robe, ¡¸Yeah.¡¹ The man in a green robe replied with an emotionless voice while averting his gaze. ¡¸If my instinct is correct, the two teammates of Kai Heineman should be special people chosen by the grand headmaster.¡¹ It was too coincidental. Or rather, it was as too much to be called coincidence. If Kai Heineman was truly a warrior that not even Babel dared to go against, then challenging him alone was a suicidal act. ¡¸Okay, count me in.¡¹ And just as expected, the man in the green robe agreed, ¡¸Count me in too.¡¹ Mad Hound nodded too. The knack to survive for a long time in this kind of job was to never underestimate his target. Even if the other party was as weak as slime, as long as there was an uncertain factor mixed in, he had to go all out. The current Kai Heineman had grown into such dangerous existence in Mad Hound and co¡¯s mind. ¡¸Great. Can I take that as you agreed to split the reward equal to the three of us?¡¹ ¡¸I don¡¯t mind.¡¹ ¡¸Same here.¡¹ The Black-Haired Swordsman nodded in satisfaction upon seeing that and, ¡¸Well then, best regard for this short time we¡¯re working together.¡¹ Spoke so as he raised his right hand. After taking care of Mad Hound¡¯s paralysis poison, he went into the forest again along with the man in the green robe, the Black-Haired Swordsman showed displeased look on his face, £¨Thank god the other party is brain muscle.£© And muttered so while snapping his fingers, a black flame appeared from the feet of the Black-Haired Swordsman, forming a circle around him. The black flame burned the body of three test-taker into ashes in just a moment, the figure of the Black-Haired Swordsman himself turned into a beardy middle-aged man with white hair. And then, the boy and girls who should¡¯ve been killed by Mad Hound a while ago lay down on the ground as if nothing happened to them. £¨They didn¡¯t even realize that their target is actually the marionettes prepared by us, I doubt they can scratch the skin of That Personage.£© When the White-Haired Middle-Aged man clapped his hands, three lumps of fire appeared in front of him, forming the silhouette of humans. £¨Please bring those children back to the plaza.£© The three humanoid black flames nodded and then ran toward the plaza, bringing along the three unconscious test-taker with them. £¨Most unnecessary garbages in the area who¡¯re not needed in the plan have been evacuated.£© The white-haired middle-aged man thought so as he crossed his arms with an entranced look on his face. £¨OUR REVERED SUPREME GOD! WE, YOUR LOYAL SERVANTS WILL DO OUR BEST TO ASSIST YOU!£© It was such a passionate vow of loyalty. The passionate look on his face was similar to those people from Subjugation Picture Book, maybe even surpassed those fanatics. Volume 4 - CH 25 Act 4-25: Dissonance(Side: Somni Barrel) After three test-taker girls joined their team, the pace of Somni¡¯s team in subjugating the undead increased at an alarming pace. Somni¡¯s abilities were the bane of the undead. The human-shaped zombie that they met at first was still stronger. As for the white skeleton undead, their movement was monotonous, and slow, as if they were asking to be attacked. Fire magic or enchanted weapon aside, they were so weak to the point that an ordinary kicks could literally pulverize them. £¨Well, that¡¯s it I guess.£© He expected that much from the entrance exam of Babel. It was far cry from sacred martial arts tournaments or kingdom knight academy in which the member of the family famed for their martial arts prowess gathered. Though he expected something more difficult since the Babel entrance exam was so infamous for its difficulties, it was after all playground for the students. He felt it was way too easy to the point that he could win even with his eyes closed. When he slew an undead who was relatively stronger than the other undead in one hit, ¡¸Somni-sama is so cool!¡¹ ¡¸His slash looks so natural!¡¹ ¡¸Please give me your autograph after this test!¡¹ The girls were rushing to Somni¡¯s side with flushed red cheeks as they raised the same praises as they said before for who knows how many times already. ¡¸Yeah, sure.¡¹ When he replied so with a bright smile on his face, the three girls raised a shrill scream at once. This is it. This was a normal reaction. Yeah, Lyla¡¯s reaction was the abnormal one. When he somehow felt relieved by the reaction of the normal girls, ¡¸Hey, show me the thing in your right hand!¡¹ Lyla circled behind the girl with short red hair, seized the latter¡¯s right hand, and twisted it. ¡¸OUCH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!¡¹ A golden badge dropped from the hand of the girl with short red hair. Lyla kicked the badge toward Somni. Pick that badge and try to look at it, ¡¸This is my badge.¡¹ Somni had no idea about how his badge ended up in the girl¡¯s hand. ¡¸Y-YOU¡¯RE MISTAKEN! I MEAN, SOMNI-SAMA DROPPED THAT BADGE A WHILE AGO!¡¹ The red-haired girl shook off Lyla, clinging to Somni as she cried. "" ¡¸But¡­¡¹ Seeing Somni hesitated to say something, ¡¸Somni-sa~n. There¡¯s no way these amateur girls can steal the badge from an expert like you unnoticed. The girl is right, she just picked it up.¡¹ Egg didn¡¯t waste the chance to protect the red-haired girl. But, upon further consideration, Egg¡¯s remark did make sense. The girls were amateur no matter how they look at it. And it was literally impossible for such a girl to steal something from Somni unnoticed. Thus, she might really just pick it up. ¡¸Thanks a lot.¡¹ He put his badge into the pocket and bowed to the red-haired girl to express his gratitude. ¡¸It¡¯s fine! I want to know what the woman who treats me as a thief going to do though!¡¹ ¡¸Seriously impossible!¡¹ ¡¸She¡¯s the worst, just drop dead already!¡¹ Lyla was only looking at the exchange between Somni and the girls who kept cursing her and yet, she only shook her head with an undisguised dumbfounded look on her face, and looked at the area around them again as if completely ignoring the rest of her team. She didn¡¯t seem to be irritated by the girls, she only send a look of pity that she never showed until now. ¡¸You¡¯ve been accusing her. Apologise to her!¡¹ Somni raised his voice as he spoke to Lyla. He demanded the latter who accused others to apologise since the latter didn¡¯t seem to feel sorry for her action. Which made him wonder just what kind of parent raised such a rude girl. ¡¸I¡¯m just pointing out the truth for you to notice. I did the right thing and have no intention to apologize to that girl.¡¹ She replied with cold voice without even looking at Somni, seemingly completely looking down on the latter. ¡¸You¡ª¡¹ Somni who couldn¡¯t stomach such egoism was about to shout at Lyla but, ¡¸There there, Somni-san, we shouldn¡¯t involve ourselves with such a rude woman. I remember that you told me that a while ago.¡¹ Egg grabbed his right shoulder and stopped Somni from cursing at Lyla. ¡¸Indeed.¡¹ Somni heaved a sigh as he realized that he almost lost his temper, and then talked with Egg and the three girls again, completely ignoring Lyla¡¯s presence this time. Volume 4 - CH 26 Act 4-26: The Bitter Reality(Side: Somni) Somni and co continued their exploration for a while after that. Even if it was called exploration, since the enemy was only low-rank undead, Somni and Egg aside, even the three girls who were working together with them could beat the undead without any problem. It was as if the five of them are just walking in the park. In fact, Egg rarely participates in battle and just wooing the three girls, trying to invite them to dinner. Leaving Lyla as the only one on the lookout. Seeing that, both Egg and the girls mock her as a coward. That moment¨D¨D ¡¸!!!¡¹ Lyla¡¯s finely shaped eyebrows rose up and unsheathing her long sword as if she noticed something, when she readied her stance while looking at the surrounding area, ¡¸It¡¯s an emergency.¡¹ She didn¡¯t forget to warn her other teammates. ¡¸What emergency?¡¹ She who sensed the undead¡¯s presence had sensed a presence much stronger than the one they met so far. Yet, the other thought that it might be just another small fry undead. Though not as skilled as Somni, Lyla¡¯s swordcraft was the real deal. But since the others regarded her as being too wary of her surroundings, they thought she was a coward. The reason was Somni and co had realized that there was only weak undead in this practice test. Thus, Somni didn¡¯t let his guard up since he thought that no matter what happened, he wouldn¡¯t lose to that weak undead. ¡¸Don¡¯t ask her again, Somni-san. Even if that undead is small fry, a scary thing is still scary.¡¹ When Egg said such a remark with a slightly ridiculing voice upon hearing Somni asking Lyla, the girls responded with sneers on their faces. ¡¸Draw your sword! We¡¯re being surrounded!¡¹ And yet, Lyla just told them that, speaking rapidly as she looked around, completely ignoring Egg and co who were sneering at her. ¡¸We¡¯re surrounded? Just how delusional can you be?¡¹ When Egg was trying to get close to Lyla, ¡¸HURRY UP, TAKE UP YOUR WEAPON!¡¹ Lyla shouted back at him while wiping the beads of sweat on her forehead. ¡¸I say, what are you talking about?¡¹ Hearing that, Egg went toward the forest with a deep frown on his face. ¡¸STOP, DON¡¯T GO INTO THE FOREST!¡¹ When Egg turned around upon hearing Lyla shouting desperately at him, "" ¡¸You don¡¯t have to act like that. I know that scary thing is scary, though it¡¯s a plus on your charm.¡¹ He shook his right hand as he spoke to Lyla with a mocking voice. ¡¸Unfortunately for you, that girl is right on the money.¡¹ ¡¸Eh£¿¡¹ Suddenly, Egg¡¯s right arm fell to the ground along with that mocking voice. ¡¸¡­¡¹ Though he was looking dumbfoundedly for a while at the fresh blood spraying from his arm, the moment he catch up with reality, Egg fell to the ground, screaming in pain as he held onto the cross-section of his right arm. And before he know it, a giant bald-headed man armed with the huge curved sword had already stood in front of Egg. ¡¸¡­¡¹ That bald man was clearly the one who severed Egg¡¯s right arm. In short, an enemy in the real meaning, Though Egg should¡¯ve already dead since he didn¡¯t even raise his guard up, Somni ended up dazed for a while as he saw Egg screaming in pain while holding onto the cross-section of his arm. Maybe because he never saw a person dying before, he still couldn¡¯t accept the reality in front of him. ¡¸WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? DRAW YOUR SWORD IF YOU DON¡¯T WANT TO DIE!!¡¹ ¡¸Y-Yes.¡¹ He barely managed to draw his sword amidst such confusion thanks to Lyla¡¯s reminder. The Bald Man only took a glance at Somni, and then, his eyes were fixated on Lyla. ¡¸Hou. Not bad, brat.¡¹ And spoke to Lyla while touching his chin with his free left hand. This was the first time Somni was completely ignored by his opponent. Thus, he felt extremely humiliated. ¡¸YOU BAS*TARD, GET AWAY FROM EGG!¡¹ Somni was enraged. For the first time, the bald-headed man was looking at Somni with an annoyed look on his face, ¡¸Ha~h, so you¡¯re the greenhorn swordsman in the request huh? Heck, do you even understand the current situation?¡¹ He shook his head, shook his shoulder as he spoke to Somni with a sneer on his face. ¡¸GET AWAY FROM EGG! OTHERWISE¨D¨D¡¹ "" ¡¸Otherwise you¡¯re going to kill me, eh?¡¹ The bald-headed man pointed his curved sword toward Somni. ¡¸HIIIII!!¡¹ Somni ended up shrieking in fear just by seeing the simple gesture of the bald-headed man. ¡¸Y-YEAH!¡¹ Though he realized that he was scared right now, he barked back as if trying to regain his confidence. ¡¸Sorry but that¡¯s impossible. Abilities aside, aren¡¯t you just a greenhorn? A single glance is enough to confirm that.¡¹ ¡¸DON¡¯T SCREW WITH ME! I¡¯M THE SEMI-FINALIST OF THE SACRED MARTIAL ARTS TOURNAMENT! I WON¡¯T LOSE TO SOMEONE LIKE YOU!!¡¹ Hearing that, the bald-headed man squinted his eyes as he looked at Somni, and then sneered at the latter. ¡¸How courageous. For a small fry, that¡¯s it.¡¹ He then proceeded to trample on Egg¡¯s head, who was still writhing in pain on the ground as he mocked Somni. ¡¸I SAID, GET AWAY FROM RGG!¡¹ The Bald-Headed man heaved a deep sigh with an undisguised dumbfounded look on his face. And then, the thin smile that he always wore on his face vanished for the first time. ¡¸If you really want me to get away from this useless clown, do it with your ability instead of yapping non-stop. We¡¯re warriors and martial artists after all. In short, the weak are¨D¨D¡¹ He spoke with a bone-chilling voice. ¡¸Prey for the strong.¡¹ He stabbed Egg¡¯s right thigh with his curved sword. ¡¸GIGUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡¹ Egg raised another high-pitched scream. ¡¸S-STOP!¡¹ ¡¸I¡¯ve told you to stop me with your ability instead of your mouth, right?¡¹ The Bald-Headed man said so as he twisted his curve sword that was dug into Egg¡¯s thigh. ¡¸Dammit!¡¹ And yet, no matter how hard he ordered his body to move, Somni¡¯s body refused to budge. ¡¸WHY!?¡¹ He desperately tried to move his body and yet, his body refused to move. ¡¸I¡¯ve told you, right? It¡¯s because you¡¯re just a small fry.¡¹ ¡¸ME, WEAK!? I¡¯M THE YOUNGEST HOLY KNIGHT OF HIS HIGHNESS GILBERT! SACRED MARTIAL ART TOURNAMENT ASIDE, I WON VARIOUS OTHER FIGHTING COMPETI¨D¨D¡¹ ¡¸Officially, that¡¯s it. You have fatal weakness namely the lack of life and death combat experience. That¡¯s the very reason you ended up in this kind of situation.¡¹ The Bald-Headed man pulled out his curved sword from Egg¡¯s thigh and then closed in toward Somni with bizarre footwork unbefitting of his giant physique. ¡¸Eh?¡¹ Seeing that, Somni could only let out a bewildered voice. ¡¸My mission isn¡¯t to bring you uninjured, or without physical defect, so I¡¯ll bring you after I silence that annoying mouth of yours.¡¹ The Bald-Headed man raised his curved sword as he spoke. In that situation where Somni¡¯s train of thought was paralyzed due to fear and could only look at the curved sword with a dumbfounded look on his face, ¡¸GET DOWN!¡¹ A woman¡¯s yell suddenly resounded in that situation. Suddenly, Somni felt his paralyzed body and mind regain their freedom, and he fell to his knees immediately. The next moment, he could hear the sound of metal clashing against metal. When he raised his face, he saw Lyla stop the blow of the Bald-Headed man with her sword. ¡¸Hellner style, 1st form: Lull!¡¹ Lyla¡¯s long sword diverted the orbit of the Bald-Headed man¡¯s curved sword while at the same time drawing a circle as it headed toward the Bald-Headed man¡¯s head but, the man took a step back to dodge the counter. ¡¸You really trying to kill me just now, yeah? Congratulation female brat, you¡¯re the only one who passes!¡¹ The Bald-Headed man was licking his lips, and for the first time since his appearance, he took a combat stance. ¡¸I¡¯ll keep him busy in this place! Take Egg and those girls with you and get away from this place, NOW!¡¹ ¡¸B-But¡­¡¹ Seeing Somni¡¯s hesitation, ¡¸JUST DO IT!! EGG IS ABOUT TO DIE!!¡¹ Lyla¡¯s loud voice felt like a bolt in the blue in Somni¡¯s ears. "" ¡¸!!!??¡¹ With a snap, he rushed toward Egg who was lying on his side, tore the sleeve of his clothes with a trembling hand, tied up the Egg¡¯s right arm to stop his bleeding and shouldered him, and then went to the side of the three girls. ¡¸FOLLOW ME, WE¡¯LL GO BACK TO THE PLAZA IMMEDIATELY!¡¹ He ran in the direction from where they came from as he urged the girls to follow him. === TN: Check out my new project too! The Replacement for Suicidal Undead catches up with the raw. Volume 4 - CH 27 Act 4-27: A Simple And Most Obvious Truth Despite running with Egg on his shoulder, Somni¡¯s mind was in a completely chaotic state right now. Somni was a big shot who placed 4th in the famous sacred martial arts tournament. Thus, he assumed that he wouldn¡¯t be lost against thugs. And yet, he couldn¡¯t even move an inch in front of the bald-headed man. And as if that wasn¡¯t shameful enough, he ended up being protected by Lyla Hellner whom he was supposed to protect as a knight and escaping while carrying Egg on his shoulder. And left her behind to distract the enemy. £¨The girl herself willingly takes that role!£© But, no matter how many times he tried to persuade himself with such thoughts, he only felt defeated, and guilty toward her. ¡¸Somni-sana, we¡¯re almost at our limit!¡¹ Naturally, he who running at full speed like a madman had almost forgotten that the girls who followed behind him wouldn¡¯t be able to keep up with his running pace. ¡¸Ah, sorry!¡¹ He stopped in hurry. ¡¸No, we¡¯re the ones who should be apologizing for being a hindrance to you!¡¹ The red-haired girl with short hair was bowing her head as she apologised to Somni. "" ¡¸No, I am also at fault for failing to notice that fact.¡¹ He also apologises to the girls. And continued, ¡¸But, please endure it, we¡¯re about to arrive.¡¹ We¡¯re about t arrive at the plaza. This place didn¡¯t seem to be safe either. Let¡¯s continue for a while and take a break behind the thickets. The three girls exchanged glances with anxious look n their faces upon hearing that, ¡¸Yes.¡¹ ¡¸If that¡¯s what you wish.¡¹ ¡¸It can¡¯t be helped then. Let¡¯s do our best!¡¹ And spoke those words. ¡¸Thanks! Now let¡¯s go!¡¹ And just as he was about to run while carrying Egg on his shoulder again, he heard the girl¡¯s voice come from behind. ¡¸Those guys are already on the roll, right?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah. I guess it¡¯s safe now since they¡¯re already separated from that girl.¡¹ ¡¸I agree.¡¹ Their voices were strangely cheerful for this kind of situation. ¡¸You girls¨D¨D¡¹ When Somni was about to turn around, he felt a dull pain running down his back, he felt power leaving his body as he fell face up. ¡¸Unfortunately. Somni-sama can¡¯t move anymo~re.¡¹ When he somehow managed to move his face, the red-haired girl with short hair had already peeked at his face. ¡¸W¡­ Why?¡¹ ¡¸Your judgement of the situation is so bad, Somni-sama. Well, the truth is, we received a commission to deliver you to the abandoned ruin ahead of this place.¡¹ ¡¸Co¡­ mission?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, it¡¯s a commission from a big shot.¡¹ They had no idea about the reason for him to be delivered in that particular place but, all they had to do was deliver him to that place. To do that, they had to seal his movement. ¡¸No way¡­ You people are¡­ in cahoot with that man from before?¡¹ Upon hearing him asking with a feeble voice, ¡¸Nope. But well, we might¡¯ve received the commission from the same person though.¡¹ The red-haired girl with short hair replied so as she shook her head. ¡¸The worst.¡¹ The same person as the man who was so close to killing Egg means that they¡¯re Somni¡¯s enemy too. Hearing that, Somni realized that Lyla was telling the truth about them trying to snatch Somni¡¯s badge. ¡¸So you¡­ really are¡­ trying to snatch my badge back then?¡¹ ¡¸Correct.¡¹ The red-haired girl replied so as she made V-sign with both hands, a smile on her face. ¡¸It¡¯s really nerve-wracking when we try to steal your badge you know!¡¹ ¡¸Yep, even though we shouldn¡¯t have to risk ourselves like that if not for the requirement of snatching this badge.¡¹ ¡¸Shut up. It¡¯s the thrill you know! the fu*cking thrill that I enjoy! The thrill of wondering whether I¡¯m going to be caught for stealing or not. That kind of excitement is what I enjoy the most!¡¹ ¡¸Your taste is as mysterious as ever.¡¹ ¡¸Well, I think I understand a little bit. I really enjoyed the moment when this idiotic man got flustered when he realized that he lost his badge.¡¹ ¡¸¡¸You evil woman!¡¹¡¹ Somni was truly enraged. Someone was about to die right in front of them. And yet, it felt as if the women before him were pulling pranks on him and Egg. The change in their personality was too absurd to the point that he rather think of this as a mere nightmare. ¡¸You¡­ Women¨D¨D¡¹ He mustered his remaining strength to ask them a question but, ¡¸Well then, let¡¯s take that thing and be done with this commission.¡¹ ¡¸Yeah. Let¡¯s take him to the designated place and leave this creepy place immediately!¡¹ ¡¸Things going to be rather tricky if the poison wears off, so how about we cut off his ligaments to render him immobile?¡¹ ¡¸Agree.¡¹ The red-haired girl took out a dagger with experienced movement as they continued their dangerous conversation. Currently, Somni felt that he was the most stupid and miserable guy in the world. He realized that Lyla was right after all. Or rather, only now did he realise that she was right about doubting the three girls. He failed to see such a reality since Lyla was blatantly treating him coldly. And just as the dagger of the red-haired girl was about to reach Somni. ¡¸Do you really think that you can escape from me, thieving cats!?¡¹ Fire spear pierced her forehead along with the enraged voice of a man, and then exploded. And just like that, the red-haired girl had lost her life. ¡¸GUH!¡¹ Right after that, several fire spears pierced the body of the second girl with long, black hair, causing her to die an agonizing death. ¡¸HIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!¡¹ As for the last girl, her back was pierced by a fire spear when she tried to escape, which then exploded and turned into numerous charred pieces. Seeing all three of them turned into pieces of charred meat in the span of several seconds, ¡¸UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!¡¹ Somni raised a loud scream but, ¡¸SHUT UP! I DON¡¯T WANT MORE HYENAS TO COME TO THIS PLACE COZ OF YOUR WAIL! SLEEP FOR NOW!¡¹ Dull shock ran through his abdomen and Somni¡¯s consciousness descended into darkness. Volume 4 - CH 28 Act 4-28: Prediction North of Babel, 1st area of ¡¾Death Metropolis of Flower¡¿ The bald-headed man unleashed a fierce downward swing. And yet, the blonde-haired girl easily parried that swing as if it was a mere branch of willow. The cute girl managed to fend off the greatsword with ease. Any greenhorn who saw their battle would think that the bald-headed man was dominating the battle. But, the one who always seized the initiative was the blonde-haired girl, Lyla. ¡¸DAMMIT! WHY CAN¡¯T I LAND A HIT!¡¹ Despite him berating like that, the bald-headed man-Mad Hound- Understood the very reason why this happen. It was an absolute gap between their strength. As much as he refused to believe, when it comes to combat experience, talent, literally everything, he was inferior to the girl called Lyla. And finally, Mad Hound¡¯s curved sword got flicked away by Lyla¡¯s sword, thrown in the air, and fell to the ground. ¡¸This is the end!¡¹ Mad Hound could only grit his teeth in frustration when the tip of Lyla¡¯s long sword was pushed to his neck but, ¡¸Yeah right.¡¹ He smiled as he said those words. ¡¸Seriously, I can¡¯t believe that you lost to a brat like her!¡¹ A petite man wearing a green robe and the same coloured hunting cap appeared from within the woods, dragging Somni with him. Mad Hound didn¡¯t say anything back and just seized the blade of the long sword that was pointed to his neck, ¡¸You¡¯re indeed stronger than me. But, Victory is¨D¨D¡¹ He sent a kick with his right foot toward Lyla¡¯s abdomen. Seeing Lyla was trying to rebuild her stance as fast as possible despite being blown back by Mad Hound¡¯s kick, the latter used that chance to roll on the ground and picked up his curved sword and then swung up his sword as he rushed toward Lyla, ¡¸MINE!¡¹ And exclaimed his victory as he swung up his curved sword with all his might. Lyla who failed to ward off the power of that swing got sent flying, drawing a parabola in midair, and fell to the ground. But ¨D¨D ¡¸Now, the table has been turned around. Throw away your sword if you care about that Young Master¡¯s life over there.¡¹ Now, it was the Mad Hound¡¯s blade that was pointed to Lyla¡¯s neck. ¡¸GUH!¡¹ Lyla could only grit her teeth in frustration as she threw away her long sword. Mad Hound¡¯s face was warped in madness, ¡¸Properly speaking, I don¡¯t have any interest in brats like you but, a strong woman is another matter. I¡¯ll make a special offer to you, become my woman.¡¹ ¡¸My apologies but, I refuse!¡¹ ¡¸KUHAHAHA!! INTERESTING! THAT MAKE ME MORE AND MORE INTERESTED IN YOU!!¡¹ Mad Hound then took out something like a choker from his pocket with his left hand. ¡¸This is a cursed tool for slaves. You won¡¯t be able to go against me in my entire life once you wore this choker.¡¹ ¡¸!!!¡¹ Lyla took a step back as if she tried to escape but, she was easily stopped by the tip of the curved sword before her. ¡¸Don¡¯t worry. You¡¯ll be treated well for your entire life as my slave!¡¹ When Mad Hound was trying to install the choker in his left hand to Lyla¡¯s neck, Mad Hound¡¯s left wrist got seized by a man with long black hair that appeared out of nowhere. ¡¸Skull, you bas*tard, what are you trying to do!?¡¹ Mad Hound brought forth his enraged face to the man with long black hair called Skull. ¡¸Take that girl too.¡¹ ¡¸Ah!? Don¡¯t screw with me, this girl doesn¡¯t have anything to do with this commission you know!?¡¹ ¡¸Indeed. But, it seems that this girl, Lyla Hellner is the acquaintance of Kai Heineman. We can use her as bait to lure him in.¡¹ The moment the name Kai Heineman came out of Skull¡¯s lips, the lustful look on Mad Hound¡¯s face vanished immediately as he clicked his tongue, and reluctantly tucked in the choker back into his pocket. ¡¸KAI!? WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO TO KAI!!?¡¹ And yet, Lyla suddenly panicked upon hearing that name. ¡¸He seems to act disrespectful toward Prince Gilbert. And going to be disposed of.¡¹ ¡¸I won¡¯t le¨D¨D¡¹ Before Lyla managed to finish her exclamation, Skull tapped the nape of her neck, and just like that, she got knocked out and fell like a puppet with its strings cut off ¡¸Leave her to me. You don¡¯t mind this suggestion, right?¡¹ ¡¸Hah! Have it your way! But, the remuneration is¨D¨D¡¹ ¡¸I know, I¡¯ll keep my words about dividing the remuneration equally between the three of us. That¡¯s what you want right? While we¡¯re at it, I¡¯ll deliver those two boys too, both of you can continue to look for Kai Heineman and guide him to the designated place.¡¹ ¡¸I know without you ordering us!¡¹ Mad Hound shouted those words before he spat on the ground and vanished into the woods again. The man with the green robe shrugged his shoulder, placed Somni to the ground and then followed after Mad Hound. A while after their figure vanished in the forest, ¡ºWHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, LUCAS!?¡» A black skeleton wearing a black robe appeared as he asked such a question. ¡¸Yeah, I know that you¡¯ve enough reason to be pissed off by this, Deimos.¡¹ The man with long black hair called Skull transformed into the figure of a middle-aged man as he replying with to Deimos with a friendly tone, unlike the cold, emotionless tone that he used when he spoke to Mad Hound and co. ¡ºYOU KNOW!? THEN FOR WHAT REASON DID YOU GO AGAINST YOUR ORDER!? LYLA-SAMA IS THAT PERSONAGE¡¯S ACQUAINTANCE! AND HE ORDERED ME TO PROTECT HER! EVEN IF IT¡¯S GIRIMEKHALA-SAMA¡¯S ORDER, I ABSOLUTELY HAVE NO IDEA WHY I¡¯VE TO HOLD BACK AND WATCH THOSE TRASHES FROM SHADOW!¡» Deimos¡¯ jaw made a clattering sound as an enraged voice resounded from his very soul. ¡¸Because they can¡¯t harm Lyla-sama. Even if they can, we won¡¯t allow it.¡¹ ¡ºIt¡¯s to prevent real harm! That Personage had ordered me to protect Lyla-sama! He showed his trust in me! To me who committed an extremely disrespectful attitude to him! And what you did is akin to destroying that trust! You have an explanation for this, right!?¡» His eye sockets shone with ominous crimson light as by fingers bone made a creaking noise, by the next moment, his body had already been covered with a crimson aura. His action was akin to a dog who bare his fangs toward Lucas. Depending on the answer, Deimos was prepared to fight Lucas. ¡¸Because it¡¯s something that we¡¯ve to do.¡¹ ¡ºSTOP SPEAKING IN A ROUNDABOUT WAY! JUST TELL ME THE SIMPLE ANSWER!¡» ¡¸Wait, are you really have no idea about this? Though this matter seems to be the order from that aforementioned idiot prince, the central church and part of Babel¡¯s big shot is riding on this plan.¡¹ ¡ºSo!? They¡¯re just puny humans. We can literally wipe them off from existence with a wave of our hand!¡» ¡¸Yeah, no doubt about it. If it really is involving pure humans that¡¯s it, we can literally assassinate them with ease. But, it seems that the existence whose strength could rival Girimekhala-sama and co was backing them up. In short¨D¨D¡¹ ¡ºThe moment they pointed their blade on our master, it¡¯ll be equal to declaring war on us. Is that what you want to say?¡» ¡¸Yeah, I¡¯ve no idea where are they right now. Nonetheless, they actually tried to kill That Personage! Not to mention that all they do are sending in such weaklings. This is an ultimate sin, you should know how we feel at this point, right!?¡¹ The thick blood vessels throbbed repeatedly on Lucas¡¯ forehead as he spoke. Which is followed by a resentful voice at the end. ¡ºOI, Lucas!¡» ¡¸Sure enough, that stupid prince! Even if we managed to lead him by the nose so easily, it doesn¡¯t mean that we¡¯ll forgive him for disrespecting OUR GOD! Even more so when they¡¯re still my relative! Yeah, I¡¯ve got enough of them since a really long time ago!¡¹ Seeing Lucas declared so with light of madness dwelling in his eyes, ¡ºCalm down, Lucas!¡» Deimos regained his composure and even tried to calm Lucas who seemed about to explode instead. Hearing that reminder, Lucas shook his head a few times and, ¡¸My apologies, the topic seems to be derailed a little bit. Anyhow, the die has been cast, they¡¯ve already declared war on us.¡¹ He declared so to Deimos. ¡ºBut, there¡¯s no reason to involve That Personage Or Lyla-sama in that conflict, right!?¡» ¡¸No need to involve That Personage you say? Deimos, you¡¯ve been misunderstanding the situation.¡¹ ¡ºWhat do you mean?¡» Seeing Deimos asked with a doubtful voice, ¡¸Girimekhala-sama had told me about this before. The train of thought of Our Supreme Ruler isn¡¯t something that bugs like us can understand. The moment I heard that it felt like a bolt running into my spine. My faith is still, too shallow.¡¹ Lucas joined his hands together as he gave such a lecture to Deimos with an entranced look on his face. ¡ºIn short, all of this is actually part of That Personage¡¯s grand plan and those idiots don¡¯t even realize that they¡¯re actually dancing on his palm?¡» ¡¸Yeah, including their foolish plan to use Lyla-sama as a bait to lure That Personage.¡¹ ¡ºIf that¡¯s the case, why did he entrust the protection of Lyla-sama to me?¡» ¡¸Naturally, because he needs a proper justification to eliminate those fools. The matter of you being the bodyguard for Lyla-sama is insurance to prevent irregular situations. That Personage is truly terrifying. Even the fact that us, moving behind the scene to drag out all those cowards whose only ability is manipulating people from behind the scene is also part of his plan!¡¹ Lucas who spread his arms spoke triumphantly of his nonexistence achievement like a minstrel singing a heroic song. [TL: At this point in time, Kai¡¯s subordinates had already misunderstood their master¡¯s attention.] Naturally, Kai had no idea about all of these, it was just make-believe of his subordinate. And yet, Deimos ended up clattering nonstop upon hearing Lucas¡¯ revelation-like speech, ¡ºS-So that¡¯s what he means!¡» He nodded a few times as he spoke like an enlightened person. Yes. Due to the effort of the fanatics who regarded him as an omniscient being, in their eyes, Kai¡¯s strategy was actually going in accordance with his plan without a hitch. ¡¸The plan is progressing smoothly. That Personage will personally exterminate those fools, so restrain yourself for now. Doing so will increase our morale and enable us to sweep all of those fools at once. What a supreme plan! Just imagining it alone is enough to send a chill into my spine!¡¹ ¡ºSo my indignation is also within That Personage¡¯s expectation. Sure enough, if that¡¯s really the case, then all of these nonsensical chains of events made sense to me now. Then, is that mean I can go and fight with my all in the case that Lyla-sama¡¯s life is in danger!?¡» ¡¸Yeah, you can.¡¹ "" Lucas nodded and then snapped his fingers. Suddenly, the area around them was surrounded by black flame, and the figure of Egg that lost his right arm appeared. A few seconds later, the black flame transformed into the shape of a person. ¡¸Please take this child to the evacuation shelter.¡¹ The humanoid figure who wore black hats and black clothes took Egg on their shoulder and ran toward the plaza. And then, another black flame turned into a humanoid figure and then transformed into the figure of Egg who had lost his right arm. ¡ºWhat are you trying to do with those dolls?¡» ¡¸Naturally, to verify those trashes.¡¹ ¡ºLucas, you¡¯ve been corrupted way too much by the fanatics you know?¡» Upon hearing Deimos¡¯ muttered so with a slightly dumbfounded voice, Lucas¡­ ¡¸Yeah, I might¡¯ve been dyed in their colour.¡¹ Shook his head lightly with a madman-like smile on his face. The next moment, his body was enveloped by black flame and transformed into the figure of a swordsman with long black hair. ¡¸Well, let¡¯s get going.¡¹ He walked with Lyla on his left arm, Somni and Egg¡¯s doll on his left arm. And then proceeded forward for the sake of advancing the plan to the next stage. To realize His Supreme Master¡¯s wish. Surely, it was a fact that the people who planned to harm Roman and Lumine had roused the wrath of history¡¯s strongest monster. But, that alone wasn¡¯t enough for him to warrant their death sentence. The fact that they went as far as involving Even if Lyla Hellner got caught up in their conspiracy, he still intended to end the matter peacefully. But, due to the top misunderstanding, the fanatics ended up pouring gasoline into that tiny flame and turning it into a grandiose explosion. Right at this very moment, the hostility between the monster and the mastermind had reached the point of no return. Volume 4 - CH 29.1 Act 4-29.1: Last Pride of A Knight(Side: Somni) ¡¸¡­ Up¡­!¡¹ Somni frowned as he felt a dull pain in his head. ¡¸Wake¡­!¡¹ That pain gradually became stronger. ¡¸WAKE UP!¡¹ When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the ceiling of ruin with cracks all over the place. And standing beside him was a blonde-haired youth don in pure white armour who was looking down on Somni with a displeased look on his face. ¡¸Guardian Knight Tamri?¡¹ He was the guardian knight of prince Gilbert. Somni¡¯s senior, and also a young prodigy despite his age. At the same time, he was also the target of discrimination by the other guardian knights, despite being acknowledged by the other guardian knights, they¡¯re in fact keeping him at distance. ¡¸Finally awake huh, you good-for-nothing.¡¹ ¡¸Tha-¡­¡¹ Somni tried to raise his upper half, as he heard Tamri¡¯s rude remark. Despite looking like being absentminded, his mind was crystal clear, and recalled the nightmarish event that happened before he passed out, ¡¸What about Egg and Lyla!?¡¹ And shouted the name of his teammates. ¡¸If you¡¯re looking for that brat called Egg, he is over there.¡¹ A bald-headed man with a skull tattoo on his head who leaning on the wall behind Tamri was pointing at the corner of the room with a wicked smile on his face. The first thing that he expected was the figure of Egg, safe and sound despite losing his right arm. ¡¸¡ª!?¡¹ The moment he saw the reality, he raised muted scream as he tried to stand up but, his hair was grabbed by Tamri who then slammed his face on the cold floor. He felt as if he saw countless sparks before his eyes, he felt dull hot pain running in his nose. His mind was a mess. ¡¸W-WHY!?¡¹ He shouted at Tamri. Or rather, he had no choice but to do that. The reason being he would never expect that they would show him Egg¡¯s corpse, and most of all, he had no idea why Tamri, his fellow guardian knight who served under the same master, prince Gilbert was pinning him down on the cold floor like this. ¡¸Because it¡¯s your fault.¡¹ ¡¸My¡­ fault?¡¹ He repeated Tamri¡¯s remark like a parrot. Either way, the current situation was too absurd for him. Why? I mean, even amongst royalty, the guardian knight should be the second highest rank knight after the royal knight. They¡¯re the furthest existence with cruelty. And yet, Tamri¡¯s remark sounds like he was involved in Egg¡¯s death! ¡¸Yes. That guy has to die because he¡¯s in the same team as you.¡¹ Hearing Tamri declared so with a flat voice, ¡¸What kind of reason is that!?¡¹ Somni raised his voice again as he asked that question. ¡¸Ask that question to your superior!¡¹ Tamri brought his face closer and then slammed Somni to the floor again, upon seeing the latter trying to get up, the former was starting to kick the latter. Somni felt searing pain running all over his body as he endured the abuse, ¡¸What¡¯s the meaning of this!!?¡¹ And repeated his question just to be sure. ¡¸I said that it¡¯s your fault, you idi*ot. Despite his grief, his Highness decided your disposal since you¡¯re too fu*cking weak. Ah¡­ Now you seem to realize just how much His Highness grieved when he make such a decision.¡¹ Maybe because he was too excited, Tamri was looking up at the ceiling as he hit his che*st with his right fist. ¡¸That¡¯s strange¡­¡¹ Seeing Somni was at loss for words, ¡¸Therefore, that brat over there has to die young.¡¹ Tamri declared so. ¡¸What¡¯s the reason for my disposal!? I¡¯ve never done something against chivalry up till now, nor did I disrespect His Highness!!? So why!?¡¹ ¡°His Highness Gilbert want to dispose of me?¡± Was something that Somni couldn¡¯t understand since he saw no reason for that. ¡¸It¡¯s disrespect. A blasphemy for the weak to become guardian knights! That¡¯s why his highness ordered me to dispose of you. The end of weak and disqualified guardian knight is to be disposed of off.¡¹ Somni¡¯s train of thought stopped the moment he heard that reply and, ¡¸WHAT NONSENSE! THERE¡¯S NO WAY HIS HIGHNESS WILL SAY THAT!¡¹ He desperately tried to refute the fact. There was no way such a kind person would do that. ¡¸Good grief, just where in the world did you get such confidence?¡¹ Seeing Tamri looking down at him with a sneer on his face had caused Somni to have mixed feelings in his heart but, ¡¸Because I¡¯m one of the best 4 of sacred martial arts tournament!¡¹ He shouted to show that he was strong. His remark was truly humorous since there was no way he would be pinned down so easily on the ground by Tamri if his remark was true. Nevertheless, he still believe that achievement was the truth. Because if that wasn¡¯t the truth, it means that it was his fault that Egg had died. ¡¸How pitiful. The reason why you can advance so far is thanks to the influence of your father, lord Lunpa. He must¡¯ve paid a lot of money for that. Everyone who got bought by your father might desperately think of a way to lose to you in a less miserable way.¡¹ ¡¸LIES!¡¹ ¡°IMPOSSIBLE! THAT MUST BE A LIE!¡± was what he thought and yet, deep in his heart, he knew that his father was someone who would do that. ¡¸That¡¯s the truth. Rather, this is an open secret amongst the guardian knight of His Highness. Yes, you¡¯re the only one who¡¯s left in the dark about this matter. Rather, everyone can tell in just a glance that you won¡¯t be able to advance to the final round of the tournament with your swordcraft.¡¹ ¡¸It¡¯s¡­ Lies.¡¹ ¡¸Though I don¡¯t care about such things, in a certain meaning, you¡¯re a victim. Your father¡¯s goodwill now backfired on you.¡¹ ¡¸¡­¡¹ Somni couldn¡¯t retort anymore. Only now did he realize why those thieves targetting him. And the last words of the girls before they got killed. And then, Tamri¡¯s unnatural speech and conduct this time. All coming together to hit him. Only now did he realize the cruel fact when it was told right in front of his face. ¡¸Worry not. Your death won¡¯t be in vain. That incompetent brat will be arranged as the culprit behind your death. And I, will become the hero who executed that incompetent, in that way lord Lunpa won¡¯t pursue your death either.¡¹ Somni felt the reality around him, everything that he believed until this point had collapsed upon hearing Tamri¡¯s extremely selfish remark. ¨D¨DHis pride in his swordcraft. ¨D¨DHis trust toward his father who said that the latter believe in him. ¨D¨DEven his loyalty toward prince Gilbert who he vowed to protect with his life, everything had collapsed till nothing was left. Seeing Somni whose mind had almost collapsed, ¡¸Unlike a failure you, I won¡¯t end at this kind of place! Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll show a hell in the earth to the point that incompetent will regret that he ever born in this world, he¡¯ll pay for the sin of humiliating His Highness!¡¹ Tamri delivered a passionate speech as he made a fist with his right hand. ¡¸Oh yeah. I get a side benefit from taking this job too.¡¹ The bald-headed man with a skull tattoo on his head who stood behind Tamri was looking at the beautiful blonde-haired girl who sleep on the stone table, his expression was dyed in undisguised lust. ¡¸YOU BASTARD, WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER!?¡¹ ¡¸Ain¡¯t doing anything yet. This woman seems to be that incompetent brat¡¯s woman. I¡¯ll ra*pe her to my heart content in front of that incompetent.¡¹ ¡¸Tokotsu, I know what you¡¯re thinking about but¨D¨D¡¹ ¡¸I know, I won¡¯t leave any evidence and dispose of this woman too.¡¹ ¡¸YOU SCUMBAG! ARE YOU REALLY A HUMAN!¡¹ Seeing the enraged Somni, the bald-headed man with a skull tattoo on his head, Tokotsu hoisted the cane in his right hand, ¡¸GAHAHAHAHA! THOSE REMARKS ARE THE BEST PRAISE FOR ME. WHY YOU ASK!? IT¡¯S BECAUSE¨D¨D¡¹ And reciting something like aria as he revealed an eerie smile on his face. ¨D¨DBOOM! At that moment, the stone beside him broke apart, and then a two metres tall youth whose skin was almost scalped appeared beside him. ¡¸BECAUSE I AM A TRANSCENDENT EXISTENCE!¡¹ Volume 4 - CH 30.1 Act 4-30.1: You Guys Made A Wrong Choice ¨D¨D¡¾Death Metropolis of Flower¡¿, Front Plaza. I, carrying the unconscious Roman and Lumine, was surrounded by several teacher-like personnel upon arrival in the front plaza of ¡¾Death Metropolis of Flower¡¿. Everyone pointed their weapons at me, it appears I¡¯m not welcome here. ¡¸Why are you in this place!?¡¹ The tall, blue-haired teacher with a crew cut shouted at me with a restless voice. Going by his speech and conduct, he most likely knew about me. I mean, his question made it clear that I¡¯M NOT SUPPOSED TO BE IN THIS PLACE. Well, the possibility of me retiring from the test aside, there is also the chance, in their perspective, of me returning to this place for a short break for preparation. But well, my reason aside, there was only one reason for them to point their sword toward me. In short, I was included in the execution targets too. ¡¸Why do you think that I shouldn¡¯t be in this place?¡¹ I asked back as I observed the teachers around me. ¡¸Those two aren¡¯t your teammates! What happened to the other one? Did you attack them!?¡¹ Just as I expected, these people knew about that trash sycophant. In short, there was a high probability that the one who tried to kill Roman and Lumine was in this group of people from Babel. ¡¸Dunno, he might be seeing a really nice dream right now.¡¹ He was currently being interrogated by Beelzebub; it wouldn¡¯t take a long time for him to spit out his relationship with these people. I would only make my move for real after that after I separate the blacks from whites. For the time being, let¡¯s see how much Babel(these people) is involved in this matter. ¡¸What do you mean!?¡¹ The tall teacher with a crew cut pushed his sword even further till it arrived right in front of my nose. ¡¸I¡¯m going to leave that to your imagination. ¡¹ ¡¸DON¡¯T MESS WITH ME! HAND OVER THOSE TWO! ¡¹ The tall teacher with a crew cut shouted with an enraged look on his face. ¡¸Noisy. Do you really think that I¡¯m such an idiot like the other innocent youths who you¡¯ve been killed until now?¡¹ ¡¸WHAT! HOW DARE YOU INSULT US!¡¹ The tall teacher with a crew cut pushed his sword even further until it touched the nape of my neck. From the way he behaved and his swordcraft, he seems to be no different from the examinees out there. Not even qualified to get my attention. Well, his rotten personality aside, considering the fact that he was a teacher of Babel, he might be more skilled in using long-range magic while covering his defence with the sword. ¡¸Well, I guess that¡¯s enough to tell me that you guys are involved in this matter.¡¹ That¡¯s it, I guess. I¡¯ve seen the bottom line with them. They had lost their value as a source of information. Moreover, I¡¯ve been having a bad premonition for a while. Lyla was still participating in the test. Deimos, who I assigned to protect her was too inexperienced. He is still far cry from being able to cross sword with a truly strong man. Thus, I was actually racing with time. Maybe I should entrust Roman and Lumine to Rose and co. who was standing by nearby? I mean, Asta was acting as Rose¡¯s temporary protector while I¡¯m away after all. Even though she was the last boss(LMAO) of that easy dungeon, she should be able to escape when push comes to shove. And just when I was about to execute my plan, another ¡®teacher¡¯ clad in a green robe ran toward us and whispered something to the tall, crew-cut teacher. At that moment, the tall teacher with crew cut¡¯s face formed an evil grin, he brought his face closer to mine and then, £¨Lyla Hellner seems to be in trouble right now. Now you¡¯ve to follow our instruction, and hand over those two.£© He whispered with a low voice that only I could hear. It seems my bad premonition was right on the money. The organization called Babel wants to declare war against me. ¡¸Is that a threat?¡¹ If that was the case, these people are truly unsalvageable idiots. The past me aside, something as boring as threat wouldn¡¯t work against the current me. The naive mindset of surrendering to the threat of the weak had long since been abandoned by me in that easy dungeon. £¨No, it¡¯s just a message from your enemy. We, the examiners have nothing to do with them.£© ¡¸How foolish.¡¹ How ridiculous. They had already confessed their relationship with that said enemy the moment he forwarded their message to me. ¡¸It¡¯s intriguing but, let me tell you one thing¡¹ This idiot might think that I would yield to his demand. Thus, the tips of his lips rose up, sneering as he spoke those words to me. ¡¸What is it?¡¹ ¡¸There is an absolute order in this world. And a mere incompetent swordsman like you won¡¯t be able to go against it. That¡¯s why you should just shut your mouth. That¡¯s the correct thing to do.¡¹ Don¡¯t go against the current order huh? That was one thing I hated the most. The small fries who dare to spout such words in front of me seem to be really had a death wish. Whatever. Either way, I¡¯m tired of this farce. I placed Roman and Lumine on the ground and then, ¡¸Can I ask you a question?¡¹ I calmly questioned the tall, crew-cut man. ¡¸Uhm? What is it?¡¹ And just as I expected, the tall man with a crew cut asked by with a composed look on his face, ¡¸Can I think of your opinion as the consensus of the ENTIRE Babel?¡¹ This was the final confirmation from me, just to be sure. ¡¸OF COURSE, IT IS! I¡¯VE TOLD YOU BEFORE, RIGHT? AN INCOMPETENT LIKE YOU SHOULD JUST HANG YOUR HEAD DOWN AND OBEY US!¡¹ Hearing that, I heaved a sigh of relief and, ¡¸You guys made the wrong choice.¡¹ I informed the idiots with low, threatening voice and then pinched his sword¡¯s blade in front of my nose and twisted it. ¡¸Eh£¿¡¹ The teacher raised a dumbfounded voice upon seeing me snapping the sword¡¯s blade effortlessly. That wasn¡¯t the end of it, I further crushed the sword¡¯s blade with my hands, and kneaded it into spherical lump of metal. ¡¸¡­¡¹ I ignored the tall man with a crew cut who just stared dumbly at his sword which had lost its blade and summoned Subjugation Picture Book in my right hand. I walked past the sparse tent built in the plaza and arrived at the deserted empty lot behind those tents. This place should be big enough for my army. The page that I had opened was a page titled ¡ºAnti-Personal Troops¡». This page appeared a while after I subjugated that weak dragon, Azi Dahaka. In fact, there was addition in the cover of subjugation picture book, namely ¡ºlevel £²¡» written below its title and the creation of this page after I subjugated that weak dragon. According to my understanding, this page apparently specialized in ¡ºAnti-Personal Combat¡» with condition called ¡°Anti-Personal¡± but, the abilities of each monster which I designated as combat potential in this page got enhanced, it seems to have special effect called limited buff in accordance to the divine protection of commander from the happy fellow from subjugation picture book. The reason why I said ¡¸Seems¡¹ was because I received a reminder,¡ºDoesn¡¯t Meet The Condition for Anti-Personal¡» from subjugation picture book. In short, I only fulfilled the summoning condition right now. ¡¸Come out.¡¹ As the picture book shone along with my voice, thousands Battaman filled the entire empty lot. ¡ºGIGA!¡» All Battamans stood in orderly formation as they straightened their back. ¡ºSALUTE TO OUR SUPREME LORD!¡» Hearing the order from Nemea, the beastman with head of lion, standing in the front most of the stalwart statue like formation. ¡ºGIGI(HAH!)!¡» Thousands Battamans cupped their hands and bowed at once. It seems Battamans were counted as anti-personal unit. Moreover, all of them were wearing special costume and mantle. Even Nemea was clad in his golden armor. This might be what the book said about special effect. But, was Battaman, the weakest combatants of subjugation picture book, really enough to gain total control of Babel? I mean, I totally didn¡¯t want to lost my precious subordinates just to subjugate those trashes from Babel. Well they received buff in anti-personal and Nemea was there for their safety. That way, they should be able to at least evacuate when things getting too dangerous for them. ¡¸HIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!¡¹ In the plaza that enveloped by eerie silence, the tall man with crew cut who received angry glare from Battamans and Nemea raised a scream that sound familiar to the wannabe immortal bird with dread face. I took a glance at that sorry figure as I spread my arms, ¡¸Gentlemen, this Babel has declared themselves as my enemy. So, let¡¯s overrun them as fast as possible. In addition, you mustn¡¯t touch any students or examinees. And you¡¯ve to prioritize your own safety above all else. That¡¯s the only requirement from me in this operation. The rest is up to you, rampage all you want.¡¹ Gave my order to the Battamans. ¡ºGI GA(HA)!¡» The Battamans replied in unison as they stump their feet on the ground, causing a slight shockwave. The tremor induced a fear in the tall man, he saw the end of the world. The other teachers who surrounded me gathered around him, trembling like newborn calves. Worthless trash indeed. But the die had been cast, by their hands nonetheless. Since that was the case, I shouldn¡¯t compromise either. Volume 4 - CH 30.2 Act 4-30.2: You Guys Made A Wrong Choice ¡¸W-WAIT! PLEASE WAIT A MINUTE!¡¹ A swordsman wearing red bandana rolled out from the tent and stood in front of me as he asked me to stop. ¡¸Bri Stamp, are you my enemy too? If that¡¯s the case, I won¡¯t go easy on you.¡¹ I unsheathed ¡¾Murasame¡¿ from its sheath, and took a stance. He might be a greenhorn, but this man was a swordsman. That¡¯s why I had to at least honor him as a swordsman. Moreover, I scrapped the word restraint from my dictionary the moment they kidnapped Lyla. My opponent was an organization, so I had to crush every single trace of them till there was nothing of them in this world. ¡¸I¡¯VE NO INTENTION TO BECOME YOUR ENEMY! AT LEAST BABEL ALSO DOESN¡¯T WISH TO BECOME YOUR ENEMY! ¡¹ ¡¸What in the hell are you talking about!? These idiots and some other idiots are conspiring to kidnap my childhood friend, Lyla Hellner. They even want to assassinate my two relatives over there.¡¹ I looked down at the tall man with crew cut who still fell on his rear while flapping his useless mouth non-stop like some sort of idiot as I spoke, the person himself twitched the moment he heard me say so. Seemingly perplexed upon hearing my declaration, Bri was looking at Roman and Lumine who was lying on the ground and then at me but, his gaze instantly moved to the tall man with crew cut¡¯s coworker, he was clearly enraged, ¡¸You guys, is that true?¡¹ He asked with trembled vice as if to make sure but, ¡ºHe¡¯s telling the truth.¡» The one who replied to his question was a clear, transparent voice. I moved my eyes toward the newly arrived group who was led by a beautiful woman clad in a pure white robe. She was still far away from our position, so, normally speaking, her voice shouldn¡¯t reach this place. It seems she used some sort of magic to transmit her voice. And maybe, the gaze that has been following me a while ago was hers. Anyhow, the woman herself just acknowledged the fact. In short, ¡¸I see, so, you¡¯re an enemy too.¡¹ Naturally, I of all people realized that my lips formed a smile. Because the other party was Babel¡¯s headmaster, Inea. In short, she was the ruler of Babel in name, and reality. Babel¡¯s strongest. Moreover, behind her was a small yet muscular man wearing red robe, the guild master of Barse¡¯s hunter guild, Ralph Excel. It seems they saw me in high regard since two of humanity strongest hero-samas came in person. I see now, maybe they appeared before me since they had confidence in their strength. Well since the opponent was two heroes, the battamans might be in trouble. In that case, I had to fight in person. ¡¸KUHAHAHAHA! Interesting. YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!¡¹ They came at the right moment since all I fought lately was small fries. The only one who dared to fight me from the front without running way was that three-headed giant lizard. But, I guess I wouldn¡¯t lack a worthy opponent with Babel¡¯s strongest headmaster and hunter¡¯s hero, Ralph Excel as my opponent. ¡¸Wake up, ¡¾Murasame¡¿¡¹ I loaded as much mana as possible into ¡¾Murasame¡¿ as I spoke, and then the sword started to pulsate few times as it spread extremely wicked aura. ¡¾Murasame¡¿ awakened for the first time in a long time. This sword would turn into wild horse once it got awakened from its slumber. In that state, a simple swing of mine could turn the area around me into empty lot. Thus, I had to be careful to handle this sword in its awakened state. I lowered my stance, completely focused in combat. ¡¸Please don¡¯t misunderstand. The reason I appear is to purge the traitors of Babel.¡¹ ¡¸Hah?¡¹ Inea smiled lightly as she raised one of her hands, ¡¸Catch them!¡¹ The Babel¡¯s staff, led by a man with slit eyes, clad in black robe, rushed toward the idiots who surrounded me a while ago with desperate look on their face, and restricted them with metal shackles. Those shackles appeared to be a cursed tool. ¡¸They¡¯ve committed a grave sin by putting the examinees in extremely dangerous situations. Please be prepared since all of you, along with the one who gave the order to you won¡¯t escape from the harsh punishment.¡¹ Inea declared so while looking at the idiots with cold piercing gaze, as if looking at trash. ¡¸NO WAY, IS THERE ANY EVIDENCE FOR THAT!¡¹ The tall man with crew cut refuted but, ¡¸Are you still talking about evidence in this kind of situation? ¡¹ He timidly stared at me with extremely frightened look on his face the moment he heard Inea¡¯s answer, and then looked down again. Inea then stared at my direction and bowed toward me, ¡¸This incident happened because a runaway of the faction these idiots belong to, it¡¯s definitely not the consensus of Babel. So, will you lower your weapon for now? ¡¹ And said those words with courteous tone. ¡¸You think I¡¯m a five years old kid? Why should I trust you here? ¡¹ ¡¸Indeed, you¡¯ve no reason to trust us in this kind of situation. But then, we gain nothing by making an enemy of you. Moreover, you of all people should be aware that you can¡¯t afford to make a new enemy in this kind of situation. ¡¹ Dammit, this woman had actually one step ahead of me. She was right, I couldn¡¯t stay for too long in this place since I had to safe the kidnapped Lyla. But whether I choose to believe this woman or not was another story. ¡¸I don¡¯t believe you guys. I got a hunch that crushing you once for all right now was the best choice.¡¹ I pointed Murasame toward Inea, and raised it up. Surely, I wanted to go as soon as possible to save Lyla. But, Roman and Lumine would become their hostage as a result. These people were way too composed with their underlying scheme. Since Nemea was weaker than me, he might lose against two human heroes. And most of all, I could tell that this woman was really cunning one. Definitely not the kind of person that I could trust. Thus, the best option was to erase them right in this place. ¡¸P-Please wait right there! ¡¹ And then, Inea, who looked fully composed till a moment ago suddenly called me to stop with an impatient voice upon seeing me about to unleash my sword skill¨D¨D ¡¸KAI!¡¹ Three of my acquaintance suddenly appeared out of nowhere, forcing their way between Inea and me. It was the trio of Rose, Asta, and Zack. Since their presence just suddenly appeared out of thin air, Asta might have used her teleportation magic to teleport here. Despite her sorry title, Asta was surprisingly talented. Anyhow, Rose and co. entered the scene right at the most critical moment. Did someone ask them to become an arbiter? Normally speaking, the one who asked them should be Babel, but since that was impossible, does that mean Inea was truly unaware of this matter? No wait a minute, things might become complicated because the runaway of one part of Babel¡¯s staff, Inea herself got nothing to do with this. Dammit, that was complicated. ¡¸Her Highness! Please help us to persuade Kai-sama! Please tell him that we¡¯re truly not related!¡¹ The man with slit eyes, Sigma was crying, or rather, was on the verge of crying as he pleaded to Rose. Rose was looking at me, the thousands battaman, and then Lumine and Roman who lay on the ground beneath me, and then heaved a sigh. ¡¸Kai¡¯s source of anxiety is these two, right? Then leave the protection of these two to us.¡¹ She made a clever declaration. Though the way she looks completely perplexed from start to end was weighing on my mind, I knew that it was safe to entrust Roman and Lumine to Rose. This was also the best option since Asta could use her teleportation magic in case the worst situation happened. ¡¸Okay, I¡¯ll leave them to you.¡¹ Seeing that Asta used teleportation to come to this place, Lumine and Roman¡¯s safety had been guaranteed. Moreover, not even Babel would dare to harm Rose, the princess of Amelia kingdom. Thus, a temporary armistice was achieved. But maybe I had to show a gesture of armistice to seal Inea¡¯s movement for the time being. Well, in short, let¡¯s set this matter aside for now. I had a more urgent matter right now. ¡¸Sorry for summoning you guys for nothing but, please return for now.¡¹ ¡ºHAH!¡» The Battamans, led by Nemea bowed once and then went back into subjugation picture book. ¡¸Well then, I¡¯ll leave this place to you!¡¹ I entrusted Roman and Lumine to my comrades, and ran back into the forest again. Volume 4 - CH 31 Act 4-31: Extremely Ominous Sentence(Side: Inea) As soon as the Monster vanished into ¡¾Death Metropolis of Flower¡¿, Inea fell to her knees. Her leg trembled non-stop as her body got drenched in cold sweat, as if her sweat glands had broken. Though other Babel staff, who took pride in themselves as one man army, also showed similar reactions. Currently, everyone felt relieved; they had barely managed to avoid war with a Monster. ¡¸Master! You actually dared to stir up trouble with him, ARE YOU INSANE!? If anything had gone south back then, all hunters in this Babel might have died because of your stupidity!¡¹ The woman wearing very short pants and breastplate drew closer to Ralph Excel with tears in her eyes. ¡¸I know already. This old bone is scared shi*tless too. Rather, it felt like my life span just got shortened by few decades. Please do spare me from having to face that guy¡¯s wrath again.¡¹ Ralph heaved a sigh and sat on the ground; and then, shifted his gaze to princess Rosemary, who stood smiling by his side, ¡¸We, the hunter guild have nothing to do with this case. May I ask your help in this matter, Your Highness?¡¹ And then asked with tired look on his face. ¡¸Yeah, I¡¯ll convey this matter to Kai later. Kai won¡¯t be hostile as long as Ralph-sama and co. aren¡¯t hostile to him.¡¹ No negative feelings, such as anxiety, were visible on the princess¡¯ face as she replied with a wholehearted smile. ¡¸Hunter guild side just happened to be present and Shifu is a reasonable person. Ya ain¡¯t have anything to worry about. Rather, the one in trouble are those fellas from Babel.¡¹ A 2 meters tall muscular man with wild look on his face, Zack, pointed at Ralph while glancing at Inea, possibly misunderstanding the situation. The current situation happened because Inea and co. decided to participate in the plan concocted by Kai Heineman¡¯s subordinate. But that reason alone wasn¡¯t enough to reduce their punishment. Because Kai Heineman ended up so pissed off to the point of wanting to wiping Babel¡¯s existence from the world. ¡¸You feel that way too?¡¹ ¡¸Well. The truth is that a certain idiotic prince who doesn¡¯t know his place touched Shifu¡¯s reverse scale. He¡¯s a goner for sure. Not to mention that it is already happening. ¡¹ He pointed his thumb toward the members of vice headmaster faction behind him who only hung their heads down in this situation. ¡¸So does that mean, the future of Babel depends on Lyla Hellner¡¯s safety?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, in fact, Shifu cares about his family more than he thought. That isn¡¯t just limited to Lyla Hellner. The same situation can happen if anything happen to any of us.¡¹ ¡¸So, if something happens to Lyla Hellner¡­¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, Shifu will ignore your plea and just straight-out destroy Babel till nothing is left. And don¡¯t expect us to stop him since we have no intention to do so. Now let¡¯s pray that the young lady called Lyla is safe and sound.¡¹ ¡¸I see¡­¡¹ Inea felt a crack form on her smile. She knew that she was currently treading on a very tight rope, and understood that Kai was recognizing himself as a human. But, his essence was that of a strongest transcendence. That¡¯s why there was no guarantee that he would keep acting like a human. ¡¸There¡¯s no doubt that this is Girimekhala faction¡¯s plan, and you guys just participate in it. But, it¡¯s also a fact that only a member of your organization is the one who dared to bare their fangs toward Master first, right?¡¹ The one who to question amid yawning, as if she had zero interest in this matter, was a beautiful woman wearing a monocle and foreign attire. ¡¸Yes.¡¹ Kai Heineman¡¯s assassination was a commission from a certain idiotic prince, which was taken by the vice headmaster¡¯s faction. And their faction was undoubtedly part of Babel. That¡¯s why it wasn¡¯t wrong to put blame on Babel here. ¡¸Since that¡¯s the case, we literally reaped what we sow.¡¹ ¡¸Right. Since that¡¯s the case, aren¡¯t you glad that you guys got involved in Girimekhala faction¡¯s plan?¡¹ Zack crossed his arms as he muttered so with serious look on his face. ¡¸Sure enough, you might be able to salvage the situation a little if you let Master know that you¡¯re involved with those fanatics. If this organization called Babel is really useless to be destroyed just like that, that worm-loving(human) Girimekhala faction won¡¯t chose a roundabout way called contacting Babel.¡¹ The woman with monocle and Zack had a mysterious conversation. But, Inea had no idea why they brought up such a topic? She became scared as she heard their words. ¡¸Right. But speaking of uncle Girimekhala, you know that he¡¯s THAT kind of person, right? We just have to guess how he would wrap up this matter safely¡¹ Hearing Zack muttered so carefreely as if it wasn¡¯t his problem, ¡¸Well, Lucas has been dispatched too. So, as long as there¡¯s no irregular factor mixing in, this matter should be resolved by only Master¡¯s hands.¡¹ ¡¸Seriously, using old man Lucas at this situation makes me feel that things are going to get more troublesome than it already has. Moreover, speaking of irregular¡­ isn¡¯t that a jinx?¡¹ Zack pondered for a while as he touched his beard, and then questioned the monocle-wearing woman wearing a given-up face. ¡¸Well, it might be just my imagination¡­¡¹ The monocle woman, who was smiling scornfully, suddenly frowned, looking in the direction of ¡¾Death Metropolis of Flower¡¿, and after that, ¡¸¨D¨D Or maybe not.¡¹ She muttered such an ominous remark. Volume 4 - CH 32 Act 4-32: Securing a Guide Lyla Hellner. In the hundreds of thousands of years during my imprisonment in that easy dungeon, I forgot almost all of my memories from before. Some memories returned upon clearing the dungeon, among them was my time with Lyla. Maybe that was just how important Lyla¡¯s existence was to the previous me. Maybe because our parents decided to betroth us at birth, I¡¯ve spent my childhood always by Lyla¡¯s side. We ate lunch together, taking afternoon nap under warm sunlight together, even sweating together during our sword training. For me, her existence was akin to an older sister, although our ages were same. That¡¯s why, it was only natural for me to get agitated when I came to knew she was in danger. I stopped upon feeling undisguised killing intent directed toward me, ¡¸Show yourself.¡¹ Now that I¡¯m pissed off, I yelled to the one who dared to show me hostility in this kind of situation. I grasped¡¾Murasame¡¿¡¯s hilt. ¡¸You noticed, huh.¡¹ A baldie carrying a curved sword on his shoulder with a scarred body showed up. ¡¸Well, yeah.¡¹ That was only expected, he didn¡¯t even try to hide his killing intent. ¡¸That stance, that attitude. Yeah, you¡¯re strong. Completely different from those young masters playing swordsman. Seeing you in reality, I don¡¯t think I need Skull to remind me¨D¨D¡¹ ¡¸Stop the useless chit-chat. Just tell me what you want.¡¹ I¡¯m racing against time after all. I didn¡¯t have the time to play along. Thus, I interrupted his speech and urged him to get to the point. ¡¸YOU CHEEKY BRAT!¡¹ The baldie¡¯s smile vanished, replaced with an enraged face as he raised his curved sword. ¡¸Not good. Not good at all.¡¹ To be enraged by that was a show of his immaturity. To be honest, even Riku had much better temperament as a swordsman than this guy. I mean, in my eyes, he was no different from those trash hunter who tried to rob me in back alley back then in Barse. ¡¸HAH!? WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY NO GOOD!?¡¹ ¡¸I mean everything¡¹ ¡¸BULLSHI*T!!¡¹ The baldie charged ahead like a wild boar and swung his curved sword. I twisted my body to dodge by a paper-thin margin. A downward slash followed by a full-strength horizontal slash, and lastly a diagonal slash from to the nape of my neck. I dodged all of it perfectly. ¡¸DAMMIT! WHY CAN¡¯T I LAND A HIT!¡¹ ¡¸Because you¡¯re too immature.¡¹ ¡¸SHUT UP! OI, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!¡¹ The baldie took some distance from me and then shouted. How stupid! Didn¡¯t he literally tell me that someone has been waiting for an ambush all along? Well, not that I care about it since I¡¯ve long since discovered the position of the greenhorn who didn¡¯t even know the ¡°A¡± of ambush. And just as expected, three fire spears came from diagonal left behind me. I parried it with ¡¾Murasame¡¿, and sent it back toward the caster. The fire spears flew dozen times faster and created small-scale explosions upon hitting the target. What followed after was a painful wail as the baldie¡¯s helpers dropped down. ¡¸I-impossible!¡¹ I sent a glance at the retreating baldie, ¡¸Both of you guys are no good.¡¹ I unleashed ¡¾Deadline¡¿ and turn the trees around to ashes. ¡¸Eh?¡¹ The baldie let out a dumbfounded wail as he observed the area that had already changed into circle deadland. And then, color drained rapidly from his face. ¡¸M-MONSTER!!¡¹ In the end, he shouted such boring comments. ¡¸If you have a time to get flustered like that, you should use it to escape, or try to land a sneak attack!¡¹ The next moment, I closed the distance between us in few steps, grabbed his hand holding the curved sword, and twisted it. ¡¸Ke?¡¹ The baldie got pulledto the side. And next ¨D¨D ¡¸GUGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!¡¹ I seized the screaming baldie with my right hand, ¡¸So noisy. Shut up.¡¹ I ordered him with an irrefutable tone. ¡¸HIIIII!?¡¹ The baldie, whose face was dyed in horror, raised a shriek. ¡¸Well then, I need you guys to act as my guide. That¡¯s your job, right?¡¹ I dragged the baldie as I walked to his colleague, but that person was nothing more than charred corpse at this point. ¡¸HIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!¡¹ The baldie raised a shriek upon seeing the charred corpse. ¡¸Am I clear now? This is the fate that awaits you if you dare disobey me. Now guide me to Lyla Hellner¡¯s location.¡¹ I whispered into his ears in a bone chilling tone, the baldie nodded in no time with teary eyes. I threw the baldie¡¯s body to the ground as he started walking despite trembling like newborn foal. ¡¸RUN! FASTER!¡¹ I shouted at him in an enraged voice¡­ ¡¸HIIIIIIIIIIII!¡¹ The baldie sprinted with his face smeared with tears and mucus. Wait for me, Lyla! I¡¯ll save you for sure. I swore in my heart as I ran behind the baldie. Volume 4 - CH 33 Act 4-33: Silent Rage(Side: Deimos) TN: Sorry for the delay, my laptop has been fixed! Enjoy the release! === Deimos was truly surprised by his action. This was part of Supreme Ruler¡¯s plan, and his order was strictly limited to protect Lyla. Thus, he should stay quiet as long as his target of protection was safe. Especially when the other party was a youngster who dared to insult Kai-sama, Our Supreme Ruler. Properly speaking, I shouldn¡¯t save this kind of youth. And that should be the correct choice. And yet, strangely enough, I felt refreshed instead of regret by doing this. ¡¸What are you, an undead? Moreover, one that retained intelligence. A new species huh¡­¡¹ The baldie with skull tattoo on his head squinting his eyes as he spoke that soliloquy. ¡ºShut that dirty mouth of yours.¡» Why? Why do i feel that I can¡¯t forgive this basta*rd? In the past, Deimos had stopped being a human to reach the extremities of magic. He, at that time, had cast aside his human emotions. He cast aside all kind of hesitation and conducted all kind of inhuman experiments like the man before him. Thus, he felt disgusted when he saw his past¡¯s reflection in front of him. Specifically when he recalled his previous contractor, Ruby, it was the worst memory in Deimos¡¯ life. Him at that time had murdered so many innocent. It wasn¡¯t wrong to say that the Deimos at that time was as disgusting as Tokotsu and Tamri before him. And this mission had made Deimos to remember a lot of unpleasant memories that he cast aside as trivial. And he understood the reason. It¡¯s Kai-sama. A transcendence with overwhelming strength, strong to the point it suffocated everyone when he unleashed a bit of his power. For a transcendence like us, it was normal thing for us to have not a shred of interest in the people of lower realm. And yet, Kai-sama is different, he drinks with us, eats with us, laughs with us, and sometimes gets angry at something trivial such as human life. And it wasn¡¯t just when he was with transcendents. He treated human and transcendence equally. Thus, it was only natural for us, his subordinates to see his essence upon seeing that. It was different from the kindness showed by capricious gods from time to times. In his case, it was as if his subordinates were part of his family. It was a completely refreshing feeling for Deimos. He was the exact opposite of Deimos who cast aside his humanity. Surely, it was the humanity of Kai-sama that attracted Girimekhala-sama and the others to put interest in humans. Though it was considered as the biggest taboo amongst taboos, it was only natural for kai-sama who was originally a human like me. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t become an existence that understood humans so much nor could he get close to them. Thus, Deimos finally understand the pain in his heart when he saw the youth, it was the rage of his human soul that he cast aside. And I¡¯m sure that Kai-sama would do the same if he was in my position. No doubt about it. ¡¸A mere skeleton ain¡¯t supposed to yapping yer mouth.¡¹ Tokotsu scorned at Deimos as he looked at the latter in scorn. Strangely enough, I felt nothing when called skeleton by this low-life. On the other hand, I felt the silent rage in me grow stronger the more I heard him insulting Lyla-sama and Kai-sama. That¡¯s why¨D¨D ¡ºHumph, a remark befitting of 3rd rate, nay, fake Necromancer.¡» Deimos taunted Tokotsu. ¡¸Hah, fake?¡¹ And just as he expected, when Tokotsu barked at him, baring his teeth¡­ ¡ºKeep barking, small fry.¡» He hoisted his left hand, and focused his mana into his left-hand. Suddenly, a black sword with jet-black blade appeared from thin air and he proceeded to grab that. ¡¸And here I thought that you¡¯re some sort of big shot, turned out just skeleton who acts like a swordsman. Haah¡­ What a kill-joy. Oi, finish him.¡¹ Tokotsu walked toward the corner of the room while waving his right arm, as if he had completely lost interest in Deimos. ¡¸Good grief! Such selfish fella. But, undead extermination is also my job as a guardian knight after all.¡¹ The blonde youth clad in white armor, Tamri said so as he readied his sword. ¡ºEnough chit-chat. Come if you may.¡» Deimos took a stance as he raised his black sword. ¡¸You¡¯re the one who talks too much, skeleton bastard.¡¹ Tamri was closing in toward Deimos with enraged look on his face, as he raised his sword, and swung it down toward the latter. Deimos controlled his black sword and parried Tamri¡¯s blow with smallest possible movement. ¡¸N-NHAAAAAA!?¡¹ Seeing that, Tamri¡¯s eyes opened wide in shock, ¡ºSuch crude skill. But, it¡¯s not a reason for me to show mercy.¡» Deimos attack was the signal of the beginning of the battle(farce). Volume 4 - CH 34 Act 4-34: The End of Hubris Knight They had clashed so many times, and yet Tamri¡¯s sword could never reach Deimos. ¡¸IMPOSSIBLE! I¡¯M GUARDIAN KNIGHT OF YOUR HIGHNESS GILBERT! FAMOUS SWORDSMAN OF THE KINGDOM!¡¹ And I had been trained thoroughly in various martial arts, swordcraft by transcendences for years in that strange realm. I knew that he was a master of swordcraft in just a few clashes, but still far from my level. Rather, Deimos got really confused from Tamri¡¯s confidence with such meagre swordcraft, which barely reached the master realm. ¡ºThough I have no idea from where your confidence comes from, in our eyes, your prided swordcraft is just child¡¯s play. ¡» This was an undeniable truth. The reason being even the children who trained in that mysterious realm had also become scarily powerful; they definitely won¡¯t lose against the trash before me. In fact, anyone in that city could insta-kill this hubris swordsman before me. ¡¸Child¡­ Play?¡¹ Tamri glared at Deimos with enraged eyes. ¡ºYou¡¯ve been abusing that youth over there for a while, right? Calling him weak and such. You¡¯re absolutely right. That youth is weak. But, he actually isn¡¯t that much weaker than you.¡» ¡¸HOW DARE A MERE SKELETON CALL ME WEAK! DIEEEEEEEEE!¡¹ Maybe because of his built up fatigue, Tamri swung his sword in an disorderly manner toward Deimos as he ran out of breath, and naturally, none of those childish swings ever reached Deimos. ¡¸KIEEEEEE!!¡¹ Demios observed Tamri swing his sword at his head with a strange wail, ¡ºYou won¡¯t be able to land a hit with such large swings. ¡» Deimos dodged it, and swept Tamri¡¯s feet. ¡¸UWO!?¡¹ Tamri fell to the ground in the most unsightly way, his face planted right on the ground. ¡¸YOU! I KNOW NOW! THE SOURCE OF YOUR POWER IS THAT BLACK SWORD!¡¹ Hearing that baseless yet stupid declaration, Deimos was utterly dumbfounded. ¡ºNo, it¡¯s simply a difference in skill.¡» Surely, I created this black sword with my magic, but it is just an ordinary sharp sword. It has no power whatsoever to boost physical strength, neither would it make me more skilled. I just wanted to measure just how much skilled my swordcraft had become without the assistance of my magic. That was something that I wanted to understand after experiencing the hellish training in that mysterious realm. ¡¸YOU COWARD, HOW DARE YOU TO USE MAGIC WEAPON IN THIS SACRED DUEL! WHAT A COWARD SKELETON!¡¹ Whether Deimos heard it or not, Tamri kept babbling on and on, creating a non-existencial situation in his mind. How ridiculous. Is he doing this because he simply can¡¯t face his own weakness? It felt like I saw my own reflection before I met Our Supreme Ruler. Nevertheless, this sorry excuse of a man actually dared to touch the sensitive scale of Our Supreme Ruler. At this point, only one end awaits him. ¡ºIt seems you really are an unsalvageable fool.¡» Deimos slashed with his black sword at Tamri, who keep prattling non-stop like an idiot, severing his right arm down to its root. ¡¸Eh?¡¹ Tamri raised a dumbfounded voice as he looked to his right, with his hand lying on the ground still gripping his sword. A moment later, Tamri raised a bestial roar, probably due to the scorching pain in his shoulder. Deimos pointed his black sword at Tamri¡¯s nose, ¡ºIf you¡¯ve time to scream, you should use that to pick your sword! You still have your left arm, right?¡» Muttered such cold remark that didn¡¯t allow any refusal, ¡¸HIIIIIII!¡¹ Tamri retreated as he raised a scream with a horror filled face, ¡¸S-SAVE ME, TOKOTSU!¡¹ "" ¡¸¡­¡¹ Tokotsu completely ignored Tamri, his line of sight completely focusing on Deimos for a while, forgetting about Tamri¡¯s existence. ¡¸OI, TOKOTSU! ARE YOU DEAF!?¡¹ Seeing Tamri shout toward Tokotsu again, ¡ºI¡¯ll say for the last time! TAKE YOUR SWORD!¡» He was threatening Tamri by the second part of his remark and yet, ¡¸I-I, I can¡¯t fight anymore!¡¹ Tamri replied in the most unexpected way. ¡¸Haa?¡¹ What in the hell is this guy talking about? ¡¸I can¡¯t fight anymore with this injury!¡¹ ¡ºAre you fu*cking serious?¡» Can¡¯t fight just because you lost an arm? Even the children who participated in that hellish training camp wasn¡¯t as sissy as this guy. Rather, they would use their tears to invoke sympathy from the other party while secretly aiming to turn the table. Even the youth called Somni, who he called a weakling a while ago, was still trying to accomplish his mission despite the wound that prevented him from using right arm. Even as a joke, a kingdom knight shouldn¡¯t be as sissy as this guy. Or maybe¡­ I see now. He wanted me to let go of my vigilance toward him, huh. Indeed, his acting is so real that it almost fooled me. Since he knew that he couldn¡¯t win against me from the front, he chose sink or swim tactic. Since that was the case, all his crying and bawling might be just a performance. ¡ºJust how, much are you looking down on me, BRAT! You think your crude acting can fool me hah!¡» Deimos was Kai¡¯s subordinate. Thus, he thought that Tamri was doing something like trying to dishonor his Lord as part of the latter¡¯s plan to turn the table against Deimos. But, smearing mud on their Lord¡¯s face was the biggest taboo for all member of subjugation picture book. ¡¸Y-Y-YOU¡¯RE MISTAKEN! I REALLY CAN¡¯T FIGHT ANYMORE! ¡¹ Tamri screamed desperately with tears and mucus smearing on his face as he held on the cross section of his bisected right arm. ¡ºYOU CAN STILL BABBLE SUCH NONSENSE HUH! THEN I SHALL PUNISH YOU SO THAT YOU CAN¡¯T SPAT THAT KIND OF NONSENSE ANYMORE! ¡» Deimos erased the black sword in his right hand and then stepped in closer toward Tamri. And then, he unleashed dozens of punches with his left hand toward Tamri¡¯s abdomen. It was a storm of a punch with residual strength and rapid pace enough to suspend Tamri¡¯s body in the air in the form of letter ¡°¤¯¡± from start to finish. === Deimos: ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA! Volume 4 - CH 35 Act 4-35: Another Emergency After The Case Has Settled Tamri, who fainted from a punch to the abdomen, fell on the stone floor. Naturally, he who couldn¡¯t resist ended up getting beaten black and blue. Deimos stopped when his opponent was on the verge of death. He was a man who deserved the worst death after committing the greatest taboo for Deimos and co., namely speaking ill of their Supreme Ruler. Deimos really wanted to kill Tamri, but stopped since the human was a precious sacrifice for their plan. That was the only reason for Tamri to still breathe. ¡¸Are you an undead who was originally human and had mastered martial arts?¡¹ Tokotsu asked an irrelevant question with a deep frown on his face. ¡ºWrong. Martial arts is something that I learnt after becoming immortal.¡» By now, the time he spent inside the mysterious realm, in which time flows differently from the real world, to train his martial art had long since surpassed the time he spent delving into the mystery of magic as a human. It was truly a hilarious story that made him chuckle. He who chose to become undead in pursuit of ultimate magic had practically been trained in martial arts by transcendences for a time that was much longer than the time he spent to study magic, an amount of time until he felt that his goal to pursue the ultimate magic was a trivial and hazy childhood dream. Not to mention that the magic he always pursued for his entire life was achieved so easily due to a miracle. The divine protection that he got from the great ones were the reason for that. In short, something that he regarded as the penultima, the final truth of magic turned out to be nothing more than small milestones for the transcendences. ¡¸Bullshi*t! Magic aside, as if there¡¯s an idiot in this world who chose to become undead just to learn martial arts!?¡¹ ¡ºThat very person is right here though.¡» Well, I was half forced to experience those hellish experiences though. Everything seems to be trivial once someone tastes those hellish days. As if that wasn¡¯t worse enough, the one who finished and allowed to go out after that training camp was the Wind Cat¡¯s folks. As for Me, Titan, Lucas, Oboro and co., that training was nothing short of an appetizer. ¡¸Hah! You liar. Becoming undead while maintaining human consciousness has always been a necromancer¡¯s lifelong goal. It¡¯s impossible unless they¡¯re a necromancer. And I¡¯ve never heard about that being achieved either.¡¹ ¡ºBut here I am.¡» Sure enough, he was right about transforming into undead while keeping one soul has always been the focus of necromancer. But, I did that despite not being a necromancer. Or so I used to think. Only after knowing those transcendences did I realized that it was nothing more than short of a child play. ¡¸Oh whatever, I¡¯ll dig out the information from you later.¡¹ Tokotsu spoke while licking his lip and then turned around toward the undead high ogre who stood silently behind him, ¡¸Restrict this skeleton.¡¹ And ordered. Hearing Tokotsu¡¯s order, the high ogre started moving while raising a bestial roar. The ogre who spent his days quietly with his family till it got killed because a scoundrel took his daughter hostage, and then he turned him into an undead. The old me who lost my human heart might regard this as trivial matter. But, for the current Deimos¨D¨D ¡ºHow nauseating.¡» Deimos desperately held back the extreme disgust that he felt in his heart. Deimos was fully aware that he had no right to condemn Tokotsu. But that doesn¡¯t mean forgiving Tokotsu. He felt that the guy before him was truly a selfish human beyond saving. For some reason, Deimos really wanted to be a little selfish with his judgement this time. ¡¸Kukuku! High Ogres are strong you know! Let see how much your swordcraft can ma¨D¨D¡¹ Without waiting for Tokotsu to finish his remark, Deimos pointed his right palm toward the high ogre who was rushing slowly toward him and, ¡ºFlame Parasol¡» Black flame appeared above the head of the high ogre the moment He spun the words of power. The black flame then spread down till it formed a hemisphere that covered the high ogre¡¯s entire body. The high ogre, whose body was burned down by the black flame crumbled on the spot. The high ogre body was burned down by the black flame and yet, ¡ºThank you¡­¡» The Ogre muttered these words of gratitude right before his body turned into ashes the next moment. Don¡¯t thank me for this! I can¡¯t do anything to save you after all! Deimos could only grit his teeth as he tasted the bad after taste boiling up from within. Though Tokotsu didn¡¯t even flinch when he saw the high ogre turned into ashes right before him, he suddenly shuddered, sweating like waterfall from all of his body, ¡¸Y-YOU BASTARD, WHAT DID YOU DO JUST NOW!?¡¹ And shouted at Deimos. ¡ºWhy should I answer your question?¡» Hearing Deimos replying with dumbfounded voice, ¡¸Then, I¡¯m gonna beat you till you¡¯re willing to!¡¹ Tokotsu got annoyed then started chanting aria. It was a chant in ancient language. Hearing the composition, Deimos barely managed to recollext that it was a necromancy. Reason being the grammar used by Tokotsu was a total mess. It was a spell to mass produce mid-rank undead to take care of small fries. And this spell had a fatal weakness, namely its long aria. In the first place, this place was most suited to be used when the user was hiding. It had the worst compatibility with close combat opponents, with the user was being exposed. ¡ºCancel¡» The current Deimos could disturb the magic as easily as blowing small flame from candle. Tokotsu spell got interrupted midway. ¡¸Eh?¡¹ Seeing Tokotsu raise a dumbfounded voice upon witnessing such phenomenon, ¡ºIf you really had exceeded human standards, you should be able to cast this kind of low level magic without aria.¡» He spoke while raising his right hand, conjuring several magic circles. Thereupon, ten armored skeletons rose up from the ground. ¡¸I-Is this my, ¡ºSummon Undead Knight¡»? No¨D¨D Different! This is a completely different magic! What king of magic is this!? Why I¡¯ve never seen this magic before!¡¹ ¡ºThis is Summon Undead Knight.¡» It was undoubtedly ¡ºSummon Undead Knight¡»but, thanks to the divine protection granted to Deimos¨D¨D ¡ºPerfection of Magic¡», the effect of his magic got enhanced dozens of times. In fact, the strength of the skeleton summoned by Deimos could rival Over rank adventurer¡¯s class, and all of them was equipped with armaments. So, each of them could easily kill the likes of Tokotsu. ¡¸Impossible! This is impossible! I¡¯ve never seen such magic before! Aren¡¯t you a former swordsman?¡¹ Tokotsu started to mumbling incomprehensible remarks as he retreated. ¡ºWhen did I say that I¡¯m a former swordsman? My name when I was still alive was Star Laneige. I¡¯m a sorcerer.¡» ¡ª The memories of my life when I was a human that I¡¯ve been forgotten for a long time became vivid clear lately. According to Girimekhala-sama, this wasn¡¯t the effect of his divine protection. None of his peers¡¯ divine protection had this kind of effect too. Maybe, the reason why my memory got refreshed was directly connected to that Supreme Ruler. £¨Such irony¡­£© Deimos recalled his passionate youth and come to a realization that he had long since lost sight of his true goal. It might be too late for him to correct his mistake. But, him who regained his passion decided to turn over a new leaf and atone for his past mistakes. ¡¸Star¡­ Laneige? DON¡¯T MESS WITH ME! AIN¡¯T THAT THE NAME OF ONE EYED SORCERER, THE GREATEST SORCERER OF THE PAST!¡¹ ¡ºThey did call me that.¡» At this point, I realized that I got too cocky with the ¡°Strongest¡± title. Honestly, I feel nothing but embarrassment recalling that embarrassing name. ¡¸If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll save the questions for later and beat the crap of you!¡¹ Tokotsu glared at Deimos, and looking outside of the building, ¡¸Oi, Dragon Zombie! I¡¯ll give you the life force of the knight sleeping over there! Beat those guys!¡¹ And shouted an order. Yet, no one replied back to him. Countless presences outside of the building vanished before he realized it. Something that Deimos realized too. Dragon Zombie¨D¨D Was the corpse of one of strongest race in this world that become undead. They possessed intelligence despite being an undead. It was the kind of opponent that could give Deimos a run for his money, in the past, that¡¯s it. But, the current Deimos could make a dragon run away with its tail between its legs. ¡¸What are you doing! Kill him quickly!¡¹ And yet, the one who replied to Tokotsu¡¯s impatience voice was¨D¨D ¡¸No one will come no matter how much you call them.¡¹ A swordsman with long black hair entered the building, dragging something huge with his right hand. ¡¸SKULL! THIS GUY IS DANGEROUS! WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO ESCAPE IF WE COOPE¡­ rate¡­¡¹ Tokotsu¡¯s loud voice toned down at the end. That was only natural since the thing that got dragged in by the swordsman with long black hair was the head of a dragon that had its flesh melted in various parts. ¡¸Good grief, to think that I¡¯ll have such hard time due to their overwhelming number.¡¹ The swordsman with long black hair tossed the melted head of the dragon as he muttered such complaints. Tokotsu¡¯s mouth was flapping non-stop as he saw the head of the dragon crashed down on the stone floor. ¡¸Im¡­ Possible.¡¹ And barely managed to squeeze the word. ¡¸Deimos, there¡¯s a change in our plan due to your ad libs. We don¡¯t have to move behind the scenes anymore. I guess your ad libs is also part of Our Supreme Ruler¡¯s plan.¡¹ ¡ºRight.¡» That¡¯s right. Maybe, this was a test from That Personage for me. A test to see whether we could move in accordance to his plans or not. I¡¯m sure that we would lose trust of That Personage if I decided to let that youth die a while ago. ¡¸Skull, what¡¯s the meaning of this?¡¹ Upon hearing Tokotsu¡¯s bewildering question, Lucas turned around as he returned to his original appearance-a middle-aged man- with a wide grin on his face. ¡¸You bastard¡­¡¹ Maybe because he noticed that he just got duped by the duo, Tokotsu could only cursed with vexed look on his face. ¡¸My name is Lucas. A faithful retainer of Our Great Personage. It¡¯s pleasure to meet you.¡¹ Lucas bowed lightly with theatrical gesture. In fact, human might be a wrong expression to call the curent Lucas. ¡¸What¡¯s happen to the other undead!?¡¹ Seeing Tokotsu asked with impatient look on his face, causing local rain of saliva, ¡¸Naturally, I killed them all. Well since they¡¯re undead, the correct expression is returning them back to soil.¡¹ Lucas replied without erasing the grin on his face. ¡¸LIES!¡¹ Tokotsu sprinted; Deimos ordered his summoned skeleton knights to guard Lyla and Somni before he went after Tokotsu. ¡¸Fuhehehe, this must be¡­ a dream.¡¹ Tokotsu fell on his knees upon seeing mountain of corpses around the building, crying and laughing at the same time. Deimos, who saw that knew that Tokotsu had lost his fighting spirit. Thus, he could entrust Lucas to finish the job while he delivered Lyla to Kai. ¡¸DEIMOS!¡¹ Lucas, who was still composed a while ago suddenly called out to Deimos with tense voice. That moment, several red lights fast approaching him. Deimos invoked magic shield to protect himself. Lucas also shook his right hand as if swatting a fly. And then, one of the red lights hit Tokotsu through his head, evaporating his head in an instant. The body that had lost its head fell to the ground like a potato sack. The one who fired the red light was a grotesque being donned in black clothes and black hat covered their melting square shaped face, dancing with strange movements. Volume 4 - CH 36 Act 4-36: Vessel to Acquire Greatest Flesh ¡¾Death Metropolis of Flower¡¿ Area 5¨D¨D Rotten King Palace Time rewinds. A man with a physique resembling that of balloon, wearing sunglasses as he lay down in the bright red bed inside a giant building resembling pulsating meat¨D¨D The Rotten King bent forward as he looked at the projection in front of him. ¨D¨DALL OF YOU ARE JUST COWARDS! When Somni swore in the projection, the Rotten King wasn¡¯t focusing on Somni, Tamri, or Tokotsu, he didn¡¯t even care about the swordsman with long black hair that exterminated the undeads like a demon god, his focus was on the beautiful, blonde-haired girl who slept on the stone table. ¡ºOooh¡­ Found it, found it, I FOUND IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!¡» The Rotten King raised hysteric roar, trembling all over as he touched his cheeks with his hands. ¡ºI found it, I found it?¡» Four monsters with star, circle, inverted triangle, and square-shaped head sang a chorus as they dance around his bed. ¡ºTHAT¡¯S, THAT GIRL, IS MYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY¨D¨D!!¡» The Rotten King was crying as sphere shaped tears fell down from his sunglasses. ¡ºThat girl is Your Majesty Rotten Kiiiiiiing¡¯s?¡» And just as expected, the four monsters weren¡¯t missing a beat to dance along the tune of the Rotten King as their unnaturally sounding chorus came out from their zombie¡¯s mouth. ¡ºVESSEL TO ACQUIRE THE GREATEST FLESH £Ä£Å£Á£Ô£È!¡» Seeing the Rotten King dancing joyfully as he spread his arms, the four monsters dance became more erratic. The Rotten King¡¯s delighted face vanished in the next moment as he stood on the bed¨D¨D ¡ºBring that girl to me, noooooooooooooooooooow¡» The four zombie monsters with square, star, circle, and inverted triangle head bowed and left at once. Seeing that, the Rotten King nodded with satisfied look on his face, and then spread his arms as he cried joyfully, ¡ºIn the thousand years being sealed by Ares, not even a moment I forget about my hatred¨D¨D¡» He cried with enraged look on his face. Moreover, his face turned into that of joy in the next moment, ¡¸¨D¨DAAAAAAAAAAAAND, THIS SECRET WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISH!! THIS ENCOUNTEEEEEEEER, IS MY, MY, MYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY, FIRST STEP OF REVENGE TO THOSE NEAT A*SSHOLES AND ALSO THE FIRST STEP OF CHANGING THIS WORLD INTO A ROTTEN PARADISE £Ä£Å£Á£Ô£È!¡» He raised another out of tune scream. Volume 4 - CH 37 Act 4-37: Predicament and The Closure(Side: Deimos) The square headed zombie with black cloth clapped its hands and bent backward, ¡ºFollow the order of the great personage? You plebeians should follow his order?¡» And spoke as if they owned the place. Deimos¡¯ train of thought froze for a moment when he heard such joke like remark, and then exploded in rage in the next moment. ¡ºHow dare a mere low rank undead to mock me!¡» And spewed a remark unbefitting of a skeleton(low rank undead). Lucas had also cranked his hands while revealing a faint smile toward the square headed undead and, ¡¸How annoying. You tell us, who obey the will of Our Supreme Ruler, to lower Our head to you?¡¹ He slowly approached the square headed zombie as he asked that question. There was no stopping for them, Reason being the square headed zombie¡¯s remark was the biggest insult for Deimos and co. It was akin to the square headed zombie spitting on the face of their Supreme Ruler. Currently, there was no one but their Supreme Ruler who could stop them. ¡ºRotten King-sama is an extremely tolerant person? And he needs a lot of manpower to wage a war with Ares¡¯ force? Your life is guaranteed if you swear your loyalty to him¨D¨D Otherwise, otherwise, otherwiseeeeeeeeeeeeee?¡» The next moment, Lucas had already stood right behind the square headed zombie who snapping their fingers in rythmical manner. Grabbed their head and then¨D¨D ¡¸DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTING!DISGUSTIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!¡¹ Slammed it down on the ground with bloodshot eyes. Small crater created as he slammed the zombie¡¯s head on the ground, it became bigger and bigger with each slam. Oh cra*p, Lucas-dono is truly pissed off right now. I understood why he was so angered but, he would end up destroying this building and harming Lyla-sama if he kept doing that. ¡ºLUCAS!¡» Lucas stopped as soon as Deimos called out to him, revealing a smile and, ¡¸Woopsie. It seems I overdid it a little bit.¡¹ After he got away from piece of meat that had already lost its original shape, he shook his hand to get rid of the pieces of meat and blood stuck on his hand and wiped it with the handkerchief he took from his pocket. ¡ºIt¡¯s not just a little bit though¡­¡» Dear me, it seems his skill has improved again since not even I reacted when I saw his movement to that zombie when he got past me a while ago. And this man is supposed to be a human, right? Both Lucas and Oboro, it was as if they were transformed into unknown creature in order to chasing after the brilliant sun, Our Supreme Ruler. ¡¸Well, we failed to get more information about that disgusting thing who called themselves Rotten King.¡¹ As soon as Lucas said so, the lump of meat that had already lost its original shape suddenly started moving again, forming its original shape, complete with their black clothes. When the square headed zombie standing on their feet while shaking their head, star headed zombie appeared from inside the building and, ¡ºSquare, be careful? These guys are apostles of another god?¡» Warned the square head with a song. Different from before, the square headed zombie stopped their weird dance this time, completely raised their guard up. ¡¸Deimos, leave this guy to me. I shall teach them an extremely painful lesson for their transgression of mocking Our Supreme Ruler.¡¹ Lucas¡¯ face warped into that of belligerent smile. Despite the earth-shaking change in regard to his strength, Lucas never forgot his chivalry. Thus, anyone who dare to mock their Supreme Ruler would meet an extremely tragic end. And the target happened to be the zombie who stood before them. Whether it was Tamri, Tokotsu, or Lucas, the previous Deimos had always been looking down on the human. Deimos thought that if it really happened in accordance to their Supreme Ruler¡¯s plan, Lucas who look calm outside was in fact a volcano that was already on the verge of exploding. ¡ºUnde¡ª!!?¡» The moment Deimos about to give his consent, he felt that the presence of the skeleton knight summoned by him was vanished. ¡ºNO WAY!¡» He entered the building immediately but, Lyla¡¯s figure had already gone, the only thing left was an empty stone bed. He left the building immediately and, ¡ºTHEY KIDNAPPED LYLA-SAMA!!¡» He shouted. Lucas body stiffened the moment he heard that, and then trembling non-stop, ¡¸YOU BAST*AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARD!! HOW DARE YOU TO KIDNAP OUR SUPREME RULER¡¯S DEAREST PERSON!! DON¡¯T EXPECT THAT YOU¡¯LL GET A PEACEFUL DEATH! YOU¡¯LL TASTE THE HELL ON EAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARTH!!¡¹ He roared toward the heaven with enraged look on his face. ¡ºI¡¯ll try to recover Lyla-sama!¡» Deimos about to run but, ¡ºNot so fast?¡» But got obstructed by the star headed zombie. Just like Deimos and Lucas, these zombies were also an existence beyond the norm of this world. In short, they¡¯re the subordinates of the other god that that was mentioned by Girimekhala before the start of the operation. Good grief, never in my wildest imagination had I expected that I would end up getting myself involved in the battle of gods. But, since this battle related to the safety of the people that Our Supreme Ruler care about, defeat isn¡¯t option. ¡¸Deimos, quickly secure Lyla-sama!¡¹ Suddenly, Lucas¡¯ hands popped out from the star headed zombie, he did so right after he crushed the square headed zombie. By now, the square headed zombie had already crushed to pieces, and when they were about to be burned to crisp by Lucas¡¯ black flame. Deimos went to chase into the ruin immediately but, the flesh of the star headed zombie suddenly moving on it¡¯s own, forming a giant wall of flesh that blocked Deimos¡¯ path. ¡ºI won¡¯t let you go~?¡» Cra*p. Lucas is clearly more powerful than those star and square headed zombies. He could easily beat them down in proper fight. But, after they realized that Lucas and I were also the apostle of another god, their previous self-conceitedness vanished. Now they were completely focused on buying time. Moreover, if my guess is correct, the other party had the worst compatibility with Lucas. At this rate, Lyla-sama would fall into an extremely dangerous situation. I had to avoid that at all costs. Frankly speaking, the one who received the order to protect Lyla was Deimos. But, Lucas could move faster than him. Thus, he judged that it wasn¡¯t the time to worry about his honor, he had to prioritize Lyla safety by choosing the best course of action. ¡ºLucas, let me to handle those guys. You go and retake Lyla-sama!¡» Deimos invoked his divine protection¨D¨D¡¾Pinnacle of Magic¡¿, and activated the legendary class magic that he knew with his enhanced magical power. ¡ºInferno(World-Destroying Conflagration)!¡» Several crimson red spheres appeared beside the square headed and the star headed zombie, rushing toward the wall meat behind them as they tried to dodge. Though the wall of meat melted down due to extremely high heat, another wall of meat appeared to reinforce the wall, making it bigger, and thicker. ¡ºIt¡¯s futile? Our regeneration power can¡¯t be compared with the likes of those lowly undead? Moreover, the more you attack¡¡¨D¨D¡» No matter how much Lucas chopped up the wall of mat, it kept getting thicker and thicker. ¡ºThat¡¯s right? Rotten King-sama has almost acquired new flesh? When that happen, we will become stronger too! We can easily defeat the like of Ares¡¯ army?¡» When the square headed zombie said so with triumphant look on his face, a tall and muscular baldie fell in front of the building. And then with his face that was covered with tears and mucus, ¡¸This is the place! I received order to guide you to this place!¡¹ He raised a shriek as he pointed toward the building with trembling hand. Standing in front of that baldie was none other than the person who was referred by Deimos and co. as their Supreme Ruler. Volume 4 - CH 38 Act 4-38: The Only Way to Destroy it Safely After following the baldie who ran desperately to guide me, we came out of the forest and arrived in the ruins area, welcomed by a mountain of undead on the ground. Those undeads were clearly different from the ones found around this area. Two familiar faces were confronting some sort of melting monsters with serious faces. Standing behind those monsters was a meat wall. The meat wall must have been conjured by that star head. ¡¸This is the place! I received order to guide you to this place!¡¹ The baldie didn¡¯t seem to have the leeway to care about the situation ignored the monsters and pointed at the ruined building with his trembling finger. And then, even though both of them were in front of their enemies, Deimos and Lucas kneeled the moment they saw me. Seeing their faces, I could guess what had transpired. Maybe¨D¨D ¡ºMy deepest apologies! Lyla-sama got kidnapped by them because of my blunder!¡» Deimos reported the situation with trembling voice. ¡¸No, this incident happened due to my blunder and the fact that I overestimated my ability. This is definitely my fault!¡¹ Lucas also blamed himself as he reported to me. In the end, Lyla still got kidnapped, huh¡­ My bad premonition really did come out to be true. "" ¡ºYou dare to look away in the middle of battle against us¨D¨D?¡» ¡º¡¾How absurd?¡» The star headed undead was singing sang it approached Lucas, while the square-headed undead neared Deimos while ridiculing the latter, but I chopped their body below neck to atomic level including the meat wall behind them with¡¾Murasame¡¿loaded to the brim with my mana. The meat wall behind the two undead crumbled down to dust, as if it melting into air. ¡ºEh?¡» ¡ºEh?¡» Maybe because they failed to see through, the star-headed and the square-headed undead stared at me with a dumbfounded face for few seconds, ¡ºW-Why it¡¯s not healed!?¡» The square-headed undead kept mumbling and the singing until now had finally asked that question with a normal, bewildered voice. Well, monsters like them were dime and dozens in that dungeon after all. It come to the point that I always loaded my sword with mana and slice them up without any question the moment I saw them, since fighting a prolonged battle against them was a chore. In short, what I used on them was a normal slash that hadn¡¯t sublimated into a skill. Well, that alone should be enough to kill these small fries and send them up to afterlife. I stabbed ¡¾Murasame¡¿ into the square-headed face, sewing it on the ground, ¡¸Shut up. Wait there, your turn will come in a while.¡¹ I declared in an irrefutable tone. That simple action was enough to shut the mouth of the square headed and star headed zombie, and drive them to fear. Let¡¯s ignore these two small fries who couldn¡¯t even talk properly until a while ago. I have to improvise with my plan immediately. ¡¸Lucas, Deimos, keep your explanations for later. Nothing will change the current situation even if you kneel. You failed this time, make sure that you learn from this failure and not repeat this kind of failure again.¡¹ The moment I told them, ¡¸HA!¡¹ ¡ºHAH!¡» Both of them bowed respectfully to me. Despite my remark, I really couldn¡¯t bring myself to blame them after seeing the desperate look on their faces. To begin with, I wasn¡¯t so cruel to give an extremely harsh punishment to those who tried their best to accomplish their duties. Anyone would experience failure in their life. They could only grow after learning from those failures. But, fact still remains, we are racing against the time. So, I had to postpone the consultation with my subordinates for later. ¡¸Now you guys should go back to plaza while protecting the remaining examinees and regroup with Asta and co.¡¹ ¡¸Your wish is my command!¡¹ ¡ºAs you wish!¡» Lucas vanished the moment he said so, and despite gritting his teeth in frustration, Deimos went into the building and then came out with a youth on his shoulder as he ran toward the plaza. Well then, seeing that Lyla had really been kidnapped, I guess I couldn¡¯t afford to waste my time. In addition, I shouldn¡¯t act unrestrained. I have no idea about the identity or whereabouts of the other party but, they actually dared to kidnap my childhood friend. I guess I shall respond in the same manner as them. ¡¸YOU LOTS, COME OUT!¡¹ I flipped open the subjugation picture book, and summoned my subordinates. Urgent situation needs to be dealt ASAP with my all. Thus, I called all the elite members of subjugation picture book. The big shot who managed the top spot of each faction, those monsters whose number reached few hundreds appeared one after another from subjugation picture book. ¡¸HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!¡¹ The baldie raised a shrill scream the moment my subordinates appeared, ¡¸Ah, that¡¯s right. I¡¯ll give you a painless death as a reward for guiding me to this place.¡¹ After I said so with a spine-shiver voice, I plugged his mouth that kept spewing nonsense scream and blasted his head with dozens left punches. I was almost convinced that this man was one of the thugs hired by Babel to hunt down the examinees including Roman and Lumine. If they used this kind of shitty examination, this guy might¡¯ve already killed many examinees, youngsters who had yet to grow up. I had no intentions to letting this kind of trash go off alive. ¡ºHIII!¡» ¡ºGIHI!¡» The square and star headed undead could only look at the situation as they screamed. Fools. If they¡¯re already scared shitless with this level of strength, they should just buckle up in their nest and never come out. ¡¸¡­¡¹ I heaved a sigh, and looking around at the monsters who just come out from the subjugation picture book, whether they were standing on the ground, trees, on top of the building, or flying in the sky, all of them prostrated themselves in front of me at once. ¡ºOur Supreme Ruler, We await your order.¡» A golden dragon with seven heads¨D¨D Ladon stepped forward as a representative. I pulled ¡¾Murasame¡¿ from the skewered square headed undead on the ground, tapped the back side of the blade on my shoulder as I took a deep breath, ¡¸MY CHILDHOOD FRIEND HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED BY OUR ENEMY! PROTECT THE BLONDE-HAIRED GIRL! THAT WILL BE YOUR TOP PRIORITY! AND THEN, EXTERMINATE THE PEST BEHIND THIS INCIDENT! YES, IT¡¯S A MOUSE HUNT! WE WILL HUNT THEM DOWN TILL THERE¡¯S NOT EVEN A SPECK OF DUST OF THEM LEFT IN THIS WORLD!¡¹ I gave a strict order to my subordinates. Hearing that, the top brass of the subjugation picture book raised a yell at once, and scattered to all direction at once. I grabbed the star and square headed undead, who leaked some sort of liquid from their eyes and noses, with my left hand, and raised them up in the air, ¡¸Now listen, pray. Pray that no harm, not even scratch on the skin of the girl that you just kidnapped. Once that happens, you can only wish as peaceful death is the last thing that you¡¯ll get.¡¹ And whispered those sinister words into their ears. ¡ºUAAAAAAAAA¡­¡» ¡ºGUHIIIIIII¡­¡» As I sent sidelong glance at the square and star head who raised despaired scream, ¡¸Belze!¡¹ A giant, bipedal fly with crown on their head rushed out from my shadow as I called their name. When Beelzebub was out in the world, their favorite nest(space) seems to be my shadow. ¡¸Extract the information regarding Lyla Hellner¡¯s whereabout from this square and star head, ASAP!¡¹ ¡ºWith pleasure.¡» Beelze, who wore plain clothes ignored the scream of the square and star headed undead as they took them with flew back into my shadow. Cross examination like this should be left to a specialist, Beelze. They should be able to provide me with the information in no time. Actually, it was much easier to find the culprit if I turned the entire region into wasteland but, I had to avoid that method since Lyla was kidnapped by them. It would be much faster to move after I got the specific information from Beelze rather than wandering aimlessly in such vast place. Once I find the place, it would take no time for me to get there on my feet. All I had to do now was wait for Beelze to deliver the information while letting the top brass of subjugation picture book to encircle the culprit and their subordinates, narrowing down their course of action. ¡¸Please be safe, Lyla.¡¹ Feeling the impatience for the first time in a really long time, I grit my teeth while muttering those words. Volume 4 - CH 39 Act 4-39: Nightmarish Lullaby The sphere-headed undead, Maru, snickered carrying the blonde-haired girl on its back. They would be rewarded by the rotten king for accomplishing such an easy job. They had estimated that the Rotten King would possess the blonde girl¡¯s body and would easily destroy Ares. After Ares¡¯ fall, this world would fall under Rotten King¡¯s control. Humans would become livestock for them, both in name and reality. They could literally do anything with them, it wouldn¡¯t really matter whether they break the humans, kill them, or eat them. There was nothing better than that kind of high-quality livestock. They imagined the moment when they would chop up a couple in front of the other, or when they force a mother to choose between her two children, that was the best entertainment for Maru. £¨Uhm, I can¡¯t wait for that to happen?£© As the Rotten King¡¯s subordinate ran while humming, the triangle head beside him spun. Yes, it spun, literally. ¡¸¡­¡¹ It halted in reflex upon seeing that and took the distance from triangle head and yet, triangle head of his subordinate kept spinning nonstop, followed by their body spinning in the reverse direction. ¡ºS-Sankaku?¡» When Maru asked timidly, the head of the triangle head, called Sankaku, suddenly separated off from their neck and spun in mid-air. Something like white mist then oozed out from its body. ¡ºHIIIIIIIII!?¡» Maru retreated, raising a scream and yet, something caught their head from behind. ¡ºHeya, where are you going now?¡» Chills ran down its spine the moment they heard that bone chilling voice of a woman, and when they tried to turn their head around, Maru saw that the culprit was none other than the blonde-haired woman it carried. ¡¸¡ª!?¡¹ Maru ended up raising a mute scream. That was natural since blonde-haired woman¡¯s innocent smile split until her ears, and pair of sharp tusk peeked out from the split. No matter how they think about it, that tusk, and the crafty smile of the woman wasn¡¯t that of livestock(human). In short, the woman herself wasn¡¯t even a human to begin with¨D¨D Thus, Maru tried to shook of the woman from their shoulder. But¨D¨D ¡ºW-Why I can¡¯t shake her off!?¡» Yes. Despite her slender arm that look like it was going to break at any moment, the power of her grip was no joke. Something like human-shaped mist came out from Sankaku¡¯s body and then stretching their arms. That moment, Sankaku¡¯s body crumbled down to dust. ¡¸N-No way¡­¡¹ Maru could only let out a hoarse exclamation upon seeing that. Impossible! This is impossible! We, the direct subordinates under Rotten King-sama were supposed to be endowed with divine protection of ¡¾Restoration¡¿, we were be able to recover immediately whenever we got sacked. And yet, Sankaku got killed so fast? Does that mean Rotten King-sama¡¯s divine protection aren¡¯t functioning properly? Rotten King-sama is an evil god. He didn¡¯t bound by the logic of this world. Only an existence of similar level could negate the effect of his divine protection. In short, this blonde-haired woman and the human-shaped white mist are¨D¨D ¡ºGUGIII!?¡» The moment Maru reached such conclusion, the blonde-haired woman pulled its head with terrifying strength unbefitting of her slender arm. And then, the human-shaped white mist also approached maru. ¨D¨DThey¡¯re too terrifying! Maru lost everything the moment human-shaped white mist touched them. Any intelligent creatures could accept this result normally. And yet, for some reason, they failed to detect the presence of such evil being. At the end of their life, Maru felt a malice that far surpassed even their Rotten King from the human-shaped white mist and the blonde-haired woman. They realized that they¡¯re dying slowly while being tortured by the extreme pain from their wound. £¨H-How did it come to this!?£© Due to the divine protection of the Rotten King, Maru and co. could recover instantly from any wound, and supposed to never felt any pain. And yet, now they were tossed around by extreme pain that carved slowly and carefully, bit by bit on their body. They raised a bestial scream as they felt the terror of the pain that was akin to their limbs being torn off, something that they had long since forgotten. Amidst their cracked field of view, ¡ºI see. You guys has been protecting Our Supreme Ruler¡¯s dearest person all along huh¡­¡» A tall man with an intimidating face appeared before them and the human-shaped mist extended its hand toward Maru. Maru fell into a never-ending nightmare the moment that human-shaped mist¡¯s hand connected. Volume 4 - CH 40 Act 4-40: Participation of The Biggest and Strongest Faction After Maru and Sankaku¡¯s heads fell to the ground and turned into white ashes, the man with intimidating face glared at the blonde haired woman, whose appearance no longer resembled human, ¡ºGirimekhala, how¡¯s the safety of Our Supreme Ruler¡¯s dearest person?¡» He asked, The blonde-haired girl stood on her feet, placing her hands on her hips as she transformed back into her original form, a giant, long-nosed monster. ¡ºWHAT A FOOLISH QUESTION! SHE¡¯S SLEEPING QUIETLY INSIDE MY REALM!¡» His scream shook the air in the area. ¡ºAbout this matter, does our Supreme Ruler know abo¨D¨D No, have you told him about this?¡» The intimidating man shook his head as he asked, ¡ºNaturally, That Personage already know everything!¡» Girimekhala replied so. His three, bright red eyes filled with absolute faith. It was the look of a faithful servant without shred of doubt on their master. ¡ºYou guys seriously overdid it this time. You might get re-educated from That Personage after what you know? Or rather, that might be considered as reward for you guys¡­ Good grief, you guys are truly beyond help.¡» The man with the intimidating face shrugged, turned around and then vanished. Several grotesque beings appeared around Girimekhala as soon as the men left the place. Every single one of them were pillar-class evil god, one man army in the subjugation picture book, and together, all of them formed the strongest and biggest faction amongst Kai¡¯s subordinate. ¡ºYOU LOTS, THIS IS THE OPENING WAR OF OUR SUPREME RULER IN THIS WORLD! WHAT SHOULD DUNG BEETLE LIKE US DO!?¡» The ground shook when Girimekhala asked that question¨D¨D ¡ºEVEN IF OUR ENEMIES ARE JUST SMALL FRIES, WE SHALL BECOME THE LIMBS OF OUR SUPREME RULER, AND CRUSH THEM TILL THERE¡¯S NOTHING LEFT!¡» Featureless existences with their entire bodies dyed in black and a ring floating behind their back replied immediately. ¡ºWhat shall we do to those foolish undead who dare bare his fangs toward Our Great Supreme Ruler?¡» ¡ºMERCILESS SLAUGHTER!¡» A naked, grotesque looking youth with eight eyes on his upper body shouted. ¡ºTHEN, THERE¡¯S ONLY ONE THING THAT US, DUNG BEETLES HAVE TO DO! KILL! BREAK! SMASH! CRUSH! EVERYTHING IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE ORDER OF OUR SUPREME RULER!¡» The grotesque beings raised bestial roar along with Girimekhala; the strongest and biggest faction was making their move. Volume 4 - CH 41 Act 4-41: Little Garden For Mouse Hunt The Center of Area 3 of ¡¾Death Metropolis Flower¡¿, Ruin The with long-nosed monster , Girimekhala, appeared out of nowhere smoke and observed his surroundings, ¡ºThis place look okay.¡» He sat right on where he stood, and drew a symbol with his hands. Suddenly, vast amounts of dark mist gushed out from his body, and quickly engulfed the entire ¡¾Death Metropolis of Flower¡¿. ¡ºNow then, without interference of a being on par with me, none of those cretins should escape.¡» As he said so, the human-shaped white mist suddenly appeared by his side, ¡ºGirimekhala, those shi*tty undead invading this area have been exterminated. We should use this chance to completely encircle them.¡» And reported. ¡ºFast, as expected¡» ¡ºThat¡¯s only natural. Everyone was so fired up since this is divine order of Our Supreme Ruler¡» ¡ºI guess we mustn¡¯t falling behind either. This is a chance to prove our faith to our Supreme Master.¡» Girimekhala stood on his feet, and spread his arms as he spoke¨D¨D ¡ºEXTERMINATE THOSE RATS TILL NONE OF THEM ARE LEFT, THAT¡¯S THE WISH, THE DIVINE ORDER OF OUR SUPREME RULER! THIS DUNG BEETLE WILL MAKE SURE TO SEE YOUR ORDER FULFILLED!¡» Girimekhala, whose three eyes were dyed bright red, shouted loudly, even shaking the air in the entire area. Thus, the little garden mouse hunting steadily reached its completion. Volume 4 - CH 42 Act 4-42: The Completion of Little Garden for Mouse Hunt Area 4 of ¡¾Death Metropolis of Flower¡¿ ¡ºHave you met Maru-sama?¡» The zombie, a former red dragon, received the blessing of Rotten King¨D¨D Redred asked their subordinate. ¡ºI received a report that they have kidnapped the aforementioned woman.¡» And received a reply. ¡ºWell, I guess there¡¯s nothing to worry about.¡» Maru, Sankaku, Hoshi, and Shikaku, the four of them were evil gods who received blessing from the Rotten King. Their power was simply beyond imagination. Whether it was the dragon race or the demon king, the four of them far outclassed every living being in this world. The only one who could rival them were the same outlier being as them, Holy Warrior Ares, who managed this world. And there was no report about Ares¡¯ apostle coming in until now. Most of all¨D¨D ¡ºEven with this amount of force, Ares won¡¯t recklessly go declaring a war on us.¡» Zombie monsters such as dragon race, mythical beasts, spirits, and many other monsters. Those who once challenged the Rotten King, got defeated and pledge their allegiance to him, every single one of them was a thousand-man army in themselves. Fighting against them was simply¨D¨D ¡ºRedred-sama, there¡¯s a black mist over us¡­¡» When Redred observed above him upon hearing his subordinate reporting with anxious voice, they saw a dome-shaped black mist covered the entire ¡¾Death Metropolis of Flower¡¿. ¡ºIs that a, barrier? No, that¡¯s impossible.¡» This place is supposed to be rotten realm of Rotten King-sama. In short, his sanctuary. It should invalid all kinds of gift, divine protection, and miracle. It¡¯s literally impossible to cover the entire sanctuary with a barrier. In the first place, making a barrier that can cover the entire ¡¾Death Metropolis of Flower¡¿ is¨D¨D ¡ºREDRED-SAMA!¡» Another one of their subordinates returned as Redred was caught in their own train of thought. ¡ºIs something the matter?¡» ¡ºEh¡­¡» They were at loss for words, looking at their subordinates with dumbfounded face. That was only natural since the being caught in their line of sight was a majestic, seven-headed golden dragon. And then¨D¨D the momentary silent shattered by a myriad of screams. ¡ºS-SINCE WHEN DID!?¡» Countless grotesque beings appeared out of thin air, in the sky, above the building, wilted forest, and ground as if those being surrounded them. Their measly few hundreds manpower was nothing compared to the army of the Rotten King. And yet, Redred¡¯s intuition told them to escape as far as possible, the alarms in their head kept ringing, as if trying to make them leave. "" Against the overwhelming numbers of Rotten King army, the seven-headed golden dragon acted, ¡ºIf you want to blame something, blame your own rotten luck.¡» Blowing such words at Redred and co. as if the latter was nothing more than a bug. ¡ºWho are you pe¨D¨D¡» The moment Redred tried to ask a question, ¡ºOur Supreme Ruler has been displeased by your existence. That alone is enough reason for extermination. Thus, as the representative of Our Divine Dragon army, the Royal Guard of Our Supreme Ruler, I shall deliver divine punishment to you and your people!¡» They got interrupted with such haughty speech. ¡ºWAIT RIGHT THERE, LADON, DON¡¯T USE THIS CHANCE TO CLAIM THE POSITION OF ROYAL GUARD!¡» ¡ºTHAT¡¯S RIGHT! SUPREME RULER¡¯S ROYAL GUARD SHOULD BE US, GODDESS UNION!¡» ¡ºOI, STOP TRYING TO USE THIS CHAOTIC SITUATION TO FULFILL YOUR DESIRE!¡¹ Various banters resounded. Every single one of their booing was strong enough to distort space, sending crackling lightnings flying in the air, or creating a local storm. The gust created by their overwhelming magical power sent dozens of Rotten King¡¯s soldier flying, they either landed on the ground, or were smashed to pieces after colliding with one of the ruin. ¡º¡­¡» My facial muscles twitched. Even though their state look like a joke a moment ago, they were army of the Rotten King. They were supposed to be the strongest in this world. And yet, some random gale from those people had actually killed some of us? This must be a dream. Or, is this some sort of illusion? And yet, for a mere illusion to exterminate Rotten King Army is¨D¨D ¡ºGetting a cold facing against several hundred bugs, eh. Yer really sloppy, eh! Redred, if ya don¡¯t want to go, I¡¯ll be the one who kicks their as*ses!¡» Dekkadeka, leader of the giant undead army, came forward with steps that caused small tremors, shouldering a giant metal rod on their shoulder. The giant undead army was the elite of elite amongst Rotten King army. And their leader was none other than Dekkadeka. Strength wise, Dekkadeka could rival Redred. ¡ºIt¡¯s No-chan¡¯s turn.¡» On the other side, a human-like girl with her face covered from her hair came forward, raising her right fist. Unlike before, the other party suddenly look like as if they saw the most unexpected sight. ¡ºAre you kidding me, that Norn is actually taking the initiative?¡» ¡ºYeah, that Norn who fell asleep as soon as something felt troublesome-even if that something is just a meal- has actually motivated!¡» ¡ºThis look like a bad omen no matter how you look at it. A really bad omen¨D¨D Though well, we¡¯re lucky that she¡¯s on our side.¡» The mysterious group was starting to clamoring amongst themselves. £¨Something is amiss.£© That girl shouldn¡¯t be able to defeat Dekkadeka. And yet, none of her allies showed a shred of doubt. I mean, all she did was just coming forward ahead of her peers. And yet, that point alone seems to cause a shock to them. No matter how I perceived this situation, it¡¯s clearly way too abnormal¨D¨D ¡ºOI DEKKADEKA, BE CAREFUL OF THAT GIRL! SHE¡¯S WAY TOO CREEPY!¡» Redred warned their ally immediately, and yet, ¡ºHah? That runt won¡¯t even be able to scratch this great Dekkadeka¡¯s steel-like muscles!¡» Dekkadeka replied so, while squinting their eyes, completely looking down of the girl as they tapped their metal rod on their shoulder. ¡ºFinishing this guys off will allow No-chan to monopolize Master¡¯s pats for her.¡» The girl stepped out, leaving her comrades behind and stood in front of Dekkadeka¡¯s giant frame, declared so as her beautiful eyebrows formed a sharp curve. A brief silence followed that bold declaration and then, ¡ºDON¡¯T MESS WITH ME!¡» ¡ºNO STEALING START!¡» A storm passed along with the girl¡¯s enraged roar. And then, the white-haired girl¡¯s enraged roar made none of the undead army see the girl came out as the victor. £¨As I thought, something is really off.£© With exception of Maru-sama and the other three, Dekkadeka is one of the five strongest in Rotten King army. The most prominent factor about them was their extreme physical strength. No, the difference is already obvious even at glance just from the difference between the two¡¯s frames alone. Dekkadeka¡¯s victory is clear. And yet, that girl¡¯s overly composed manner is simply too bizarre. ¡ºDekkadeka¨D¨D¡» They tried to warn Dekkadeka again but, their entire body trembled from rage, the throbbing vein on their forehead look like as if it was about to explode, ¡ºDON¡¯T LOOK DOWN ON MEEE!¡» And brandished their metal rod toward the white-haired girl as they raised an enraged roar. Dekkadeka¡¯s metal rod was enchanted with flame, a weapon granted in person by the Rotten King. This girl¡¯s body would be crushed under the metal rod¡¯s might, her bones toasted till nothing left¨D¨D Or so it was supposed to be. ¡ºEh?¡» The first one to raise dumbfounded voice was Dekkadeka. And not without reason. The girl actually stood unscathed right in the center of the melting ground, she caught the metal rod with her right-hand. Maybe because something unrealistic happened right before their eyes, Dekkadeka could only stand still with a dumbfounded look on their face for a while after that but, they snapped right away and tried to raise their metal club again. But¨D¨D ¡ºI-It won¡¯t move.¡» The metal rod caught in the hand of the fragile looking white-haired girl, who appeared to break on touch, didn¡¯t move an inch even when Dekkadeka tried to pull it with their full strength. And then, it didn¡¯t take long for the enchanted metal rod to raise a cracking sound. ¡ºIMPOSSIBLE!¡» Dekkadeka tried desperately to pull back their metal rod as they raised such scream. But the metal rod refused to budge an inch. And finally broke apart with a loud dry metallic sound. "" ¡ºM-Monster¡­¡» Dekkadeka looking down on the girl while raising such terrified voice, completely aware of the abnormality of the girl before them. That moment, the girl¡¯s figure flickered as she delivered an elbow strike into her opponent¡¯s abdomen. ¡ºW-Wait a minu¨D¨D¡» And those were the last words of Dekkadeka. ¨D¨DPOP! Their flesh torn apart, bones crushed to pieces. Literally exploding into tiny pieces. Dekkadeka¡¯s upper-half smashed to pieces, and their lower-half fell to the ground like sack of potatoes. ¡ºWait, at this rate Norn will take all the glory! IT¡¯S FIRST COME FIRST SERVE!¡» Suddenly, one of the unknown groups raised such ominous sounding exclamation. That moment, Redred suddenly recalled fear that they had long since forgotten. ¡ºRun¨D¨D¡» Otherwise, we¡¯re dead. They tried to act in accordance to their instinct but¨D¨D ¡¸!?¡¹ "" They suddenly lost their voice upon seeing a creature with black smooth body and weapon resembling a red ring had already arrived before their eyes. The next moment, Redred¡¯s line of sight suddenly turned around many time as their head separated from their neck, landing on the woods and crushing many ruined buildings before stopping. And then, crashed onto Rotten King Palace without even the chance to raise a scream, thus, Redred¡¯s consciousness descended into eternal darkness. In this way, area 4 of ¡¾Death Metropolis of Flower¡¿ that had already transformed into garden for mouse hunt turned into hell for the mouses. Volume 4 - CH 43 Act 4-43: Mouse Hunt The one who stood on the ground was a petite girl whose entire body was covered with amulets. ¡ºHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!¡» A subordinate of Rotten King whose appearance resembled that of giant turtle ran away from such girl while raising such desperate cries. The petite girl casually pointed her palm toward the turtle. And just like that, the turtle whose entire body rottened suddenly stopped in its place as its body rose in the air. The petite girl then clasped her hand, and just like that the rotting body of the giant turtle squeezed till it become round sphere of meat along with unpleasant sound as if it just got squeezed by giant invisible hands. The giants whose leader got killed by the white haired girl decided to fight back with resolution to die. ¡ºDIE!¡» ¡ºMONSTER!¡» Few giants who wore decayed armor was rushing forward while creating small tremors and swinging down their metal rod toward the red-haired youth with red wings growing from his back who stood right in front of them. The youth didn¡¯t dodge their attack, he just let the strike to land right on the crown of his head. "" The youth¡¯s height was around two metres. It looked like that he would be crushed far too easily by metal rod of the giants who were dozen times bigger than him. Normally speaking, the youth¡¯s brain should be smashed by now. But¨D¨D ¡¸!?¡¹ The metal rod melted like candle. ¡ºI-IMPOSSIBLE! THE ENCHANTED WEAPON I GOT FROM ROTTEN KING-SAMA IS MELTING!¡» The red-haired youth seems to be extremely displeased upon hearing the rotting giant¡¯s rambling and then, ¡ºHah! Even though it just a brittle weapon that can¡¯t even withstand Norn¡¯s strength, why do you think the weapon of such weak evil god will work on me, THE PHOENIX!?¡» He shouted back with enraged voice. His name was Phoenix. The immortal divine bird gained the ability to take human form after registered into subjugation picture book. The moment Phoenix snapped his fingers, a fire pillar descended from the sky, burning all the giants flesh and bones till not even speck of dust left of them. ¡ºI guess that terrifying Personage is truly enraged now. Somehow it made me remember just how foolish my past self back then.¡» His body then rose slowly in the air while muttering such words with self-derision smile on his face, and started gliding in the air as he truly began the total annihilation as his master order. Several giant rotting dragon that should be one of the strongest race in this world could only raised despaired roar as they tried to run as fast as possible. When the eyes of one of the head of seven headed golden dragon shone, golden thunderbolts raining down from the sky, reducing the rotting dragons to nothing, not even a single cell of them left in the world. Moreover, another head opened its jaws, and unleash crimson flame that reduced numerous undeads to nothing. ¡ºHEY LADON! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US TOO!?¡» ¡ºTHAT ATTACK JUST NOW KILLED ALMOST ALL ENEMIES IN THIS AREA! ARE YOU TRYING TO HOARD THE CREDIT FROM SUPREME RULER-SAMA!?¡» Loud protests resounded from the entire hunting ground, and yet, the golden dragon with seven head, Ladon didn¡¯t even pay any attention to those voice, he just keep trampling down on the remaining rats in the area. And then come¨D¨D The strongest faction whose strength rival Divine Dragon faction. Featurless being who floated in the air unfasten the red ring floating on their back, and throwing it toward the undead.The red ring rotated at extremely high speed, decapitating one undead head after another. The body whose head decapitated by the red ring was melting like burning candle in just a moment as the red ring went toward its next target. The decapitated head wasn¡¯t even spared as they just floating unsteadily around the featureless being. Several group of undeads was rushing forwardwith resolution to die. The youth whose naked upper body had eight eyes were shrugging his shoulder and swung his right arm casually to the side. The undead of giant serpent who happen to be in line with his claws got filleted into three portion. Countless bubbles arose on the surface of the filletted meat before it explode. The exploded meat were also affecting the other undead, turning them into burning fine pieces of meat. ¡ºGIHI!¡» The youth pointing the palm of his right hand toward the back of mytical beast-like undead whose appearance resembled giant monkey who escaped with tail between their leg. The next moment, countless bubbles appeared on the skin of the giant monkey before it exploded with a bang. Seeing that, the youth smiled as he walked in the battlefield again, searching for the next prey. Volume 4 - CH 44 Act 4-44: What a Foolish Question ¨D¨D Front of a tent in the plaza,¡¾Death Metropolis of Flower¡¿ Black mist enshrouded the deepest part of ¡¾Death Metropolis of Flower¡¿, located faraway. As a result, the exam ended in a hurry and the students were ordered to evacuate to the tower. Thus, the only one left to watch the situation in front of the plaza were apprehended members of vice headmaster faction, Inea, and her subordinates from headmaster faction, several hunters including Ralph Excel, and lastly, Rose and co. Currently, they¡¯re looking at the situation inside the black mist from the projection created by Asta, the monocle wearing woman claiming to be Kai Heineman¡¯s subordinate. ¡¸T-The dimension¡­ Is way too different!¡¹ The chief of research division, Chloe, voiced out what everyone in that place-Excluding Rose and co- felt right now while sweating profusely. The projection depicting the group of undead got trampled down mercilessly, not even getting the chance to resist. The spectacle of the undead getting trampled so thoroughly showed the other party¡¯s strength. ¡¸Tell me Asta, is Kai¡¯s subordinates truly that powerful?¡¹ Hearing Rose asked with puzzled voice, ¡¸You are asking that now? Despite how they usually act, all of them are cream de la cream of the combat power in ¡¾Gods¡¯ Ordeal¡¿. Not to mention that they¡¯ve become even more powerful thanks to Master¡¯s power. Those lowly bugs are nothing.¡¹ To others, it looked like as if it wasn¡¯t the answer they¡¯re looking for. At first, Asta appeared to be wary toward ¡¾Death Metropolis of Flower¡¿ but, it only took a few moments for her to return to her usual languid face. ¡¸Gods¡¯ Ordeal¡­ Is that place has something to do with the reason why Kai suddenly become so powerful?¡¹ ¡¸That place isn¡¯t a place where a mere bug(human) can enter wantonly. ¡°Ignorance is bliss¡±.¡¹ After voicing such ambiguous remarks, her lips formed a straight horizontal line as if to say that she wouldn¡¯t open her lips anymore. The reason being the scope of the topic was beyond mortal understanding. That moment, a flying object pierced the black mist, flying toward their direction at high speed. The flying object came from black mist then landed right in the plaza, creating a huge crater as a result. A while later, the flying object was clear for everyone to see and was none other than the rotting head of a dragon. And it didn¡¯t take a long time for a featureless existence with entire body dyed in jet-black color, wielding a weapon that resembled a red ring fastened on their back. It landed right beside the head of the dragon that fell a while ago. ¡ºThis is my blunder.¡» The featureless existence bowed to Asta. And then, it came toward the rotting head of a dragon, making it float in the air. The next moment, they became flash of light, and returned inside the black mist. ¡¸Ah, so the big shot of Girimekhala faction is making their move too, eh. Those undead truly screwed this time.¡¹ When Zack made such serious statement, ¡¸And the worst thing in this situation is the fact that event those evil beings who used to work behind the scenes are given the chance to come to the front stage. Well, I guess it¡¯s about the time for the climax scene.¡¹ Asta nodded in agreement while voicingg such meaningful remark. ¡¸I have a question. Is Kai really far more powerful than all of them?¡¹ Hearing Rose¡¯s question, Asta just blinking silently for few seconds before she opened her lips, ¡¸What a foolish question.¡¹ As if supporting the fact, Asta replied so with a wicked smile on her face. Volume 4 - CH 45 Act 4-45: The Fall of Rotten Desire ¡¾Death Metropolis of Flower¡¿ Area 5¨D¨D Rotten King Palace ¡ºShi*t?Shi*t?Shi*t, Shi*t?Shi¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ªt¡» The supreme rotten body would arrive anytime now, thus the Rotten King hummed happily as he rolled in his bed, dreaming the rotten world within his grasp. As the manager of this world, Holy Warrior Ares was the only one vigilant against the Rotten King. Thus, as long as Ares was defeated, no one in this world could stop the Rotten King. Four great demon kings? Dragon race? Mythical beast? Beings who weren¡¯t even divine beings wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat the Rotten King. This had nothing to do with being good or evil. Definitely not a place for some mob. Rotten King had already received a report from Maru, informing the former that the latter had successfully secured the ultimate vessel for him. The moment he gains an ultimate rotten body, this world will fall into his hands to play with. ¡ºOh right, it¡¯s time for afternoon snack, £Ä£Å£Á£Ô£È. BRING ME THE SNACKS£Ä£Å£Á£Ô£È!!¡» Waking up from thousands of years of sleep, he wore his stylish dress before having the main dish. ¡ºYES!¡» The zombie butler bowed respectfully and left the room. ¡ºShi*t?Shi*t?Shi*t, Shi*t?¡» He floated from the bed, humming, sitting in the chair in front of grandiose round table; momentarily, a zombie maid came and placed a napkin on his chest. ¡ºThank you for waiting.¡» Few minutes later, the zombie butler appeared in a chef¡¯s attire carrying two giant plates. Cloth napkin hung on each of those plates, moving restlessly, indicating that the ¡°Ingredients¡± were still alive. ¡ºI shall do a live cooking show of the freshly caught human.¡» The chef placed his hand on his chest, and bowed respectfully, ¡ºFresh meat! I love it! I¡¯m waiting, £Ä£Å£Á£Ô£È!¡» With a fork in his right hand and a knife in the left, he happily poked at the clothes. After another bow, the chef uncovered the clothes, revealing a man and a woman, bound with some restrain on the plate. The male being the shorty giving off a young master vibe, and the female a blonde-haired woman with braided hair. Both were crying and shouting desperately from the gags in their mouth, alas, it was futile resistance. Blood-like red liquid covered their body, restricting them. ¡ºAre they domesticated?¡» ¡ºOur scout happened to catch them in the wild. After washing them clean and using my secret sauce to cover them, I hope Your Majesty will enjoy their fresh, wild flavor.¡» A smile formed on the balloon-like face of the Rotten King upon hearing that, ¡ºAwesome, £Ä£Å£Á£Ô£È! Live, wild livestock(human)! My tongue smeared in despair is a really tough one, bu~~~~t, no one hates the sweet rotten taste!¡» Rotten King shouted triumphantly; it was the usual nonsensical song. Seeing the two ¡°Ingredients¡± screaming even louder, ¡ºAlas, the best is to start from the head¨D¨D¡» Rotten King opened his mouth, suddenly widening several times the normal size, showing the rows of sharp teeth inside. And then, right when he was about to take a bite of the woman¨D¨D ¡ºBeelzebub debu~? Beelzebub debu~~?¡» A humming could be heard from above. Hearing that, Rotten King¡¯s mouth returned to normal as he stood from his chair, ¡ºWHO¡¯S THERE £Ä£Å£Á£Ô£È!?¡» He asked so despite looking around desperately. That was natural. Because that very place was the sanctuary created by Rotten King, a god¡¯s sanctuary. An existence that could destroy it shouldn¡¯t exist in this world. Even if they did exist, it would be at most as strong as him. Thus, he wondered if that was Ares¡¯ apostle? But dismissed that immediately since he paid special attention to Ares¡¯ apostle and would realize immediately if they entered his realm. Also, his realm was hidden thoroughly this time. Thus, not even an apostle could ever hope to find, or infiltrate his realm. If there was someone who could do that, it would be Ares himself, or other gods¨D¨D As Rotten King pondered, ¡ºFound him, Supreme Ruler-chama~¡» He suddenly got interrupted by the bipedal fly who appeared out of nowhere. ¡º!!!?¡» A glance at that fly was enough to instill an indescribable fear that he never felt before, he took a step back, preparing to fight with his all. ¡ºW-W-WHAT THE HE*LL IS THAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!!¡» Rotten King realized that the bipedal fly before him was in a completely different league. They¡¯re gods, moreover, one strong enough to stand on the zenith of each mythological system. £¨DON¡¯T MESS WITH ME! HOW CAN SUCH A MIGHTY BEING APPEAR IN THIS BACKWATER WORLD£Ä£Å£Á£Ô£È!£© It was common knowledge that there was a restriction placed on each great god who stood on the zenith of each mythological system. And, they couldn¡¯t even enter reality. ¡ºN-N-N-N-No way¡­¡» He raised a despaired voice as realization dawned upon him. A fact that this world would become miniature garden for THAT war. £¨Y-YOU MUST BE KIDDING ME£Ä£Å£Á£Ô£È!£© If his guess was right, Rotten King was almost convinced that he had somehow found himself right in the middle of war between ancient gods of GOOD and EVIL. The infamous Gods¡¯ Death Game(Death War). It wasn¡¯t a place in which a being like Rotten King wouldn¡¯t even be considered a foot soldier. The only silver lining of the current situation was the fact that the fly before him didn¡¯t seemed to come from the GOOD faction. Rotten King still had the chance to get out of the pinch since the other party seemingly came from EVIL faction. ¡ºYour Majesty name is¨D¨D¡» The moment Rotten King said so, the fly suddenly kneeled in a certain direction. That moment, the surrounding was wrapped in black light. And then, only few moment for him to realize that his Rotten King¡¯s palace had already turned into a vacant lot. ¡º!!!?¡» When he rose in the air due to the confusion, ¡ºWhat in the world just happened?¡» He confirmed that his surroundings turned into a vast vacant lot. His Rotten King palace, his kin who lived inside, everything had already been annihilated including the core of his palace, the only things left was the round table with two restrained living humans, the great god of fly who kneeled on their knees, and Rotten King himself. ¡ºHIIIIIIII!?¡» And then, he noticed. The fact that he had already been surrounded by a few hundred gods. Every single one of them could kill Rotten King in less than a second. ¡ºIMPOSSIBLE! THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE£Ä£Å£Á£Ô£È!¡» He wondered what caused him to face such impossible line up? Initially, the bipedal fly was already powerful enough to rival the zenith of each mythological system. Since it come to this, Rotten King was convinced that something that he did had provoked the wrath of the gods who surrounded him. The gods who surrounded the Rotten King only spared a glance to the latter, who raised an unsightly scream as he slapped his balloon-like face before they kneeled at once toward a certain direction. In the direction they faced was a normal, weak, human youth, walking toward the Rotten King with a long sword in his hand. Volume 4 - CH 46 Act 4-46: This Place is Your Graveyard TN: Check out my new project too! The Replacement for Suicidal Undead catches up with the raw. TN: Ko-Fi Exclusive Project for $10 Supporter Is Available for Monthly Subscriber Here === Right after I gave my order, a doom-shaped black mist enclosed the entire region. This sensation, it was definitely Girimekhala¡¯s cursed realm. Though he didn¡¯t appear before me, I could guess that he had secretly interfered with this event behind the scene. Well, the fact that he didn¡¯t appear before me when I summoned all upper echelons was already strange though. Moreover, his cursed realm was tough. Not to mention it was perfect for isolation of information. Nevertheless, it wasn¡¯t perfect. My connection with Beelzebub was disturbed by the cursed realm too. Nevertheless, there was nothing to worry about since I just received communication from Deimos a while ago mentioning that he managed to get out safely with Lyla. It seems Deimos found Lyla safe and sound right outside the perimeter of the cursed realm, she was just unconscious. Naturally, the timing was too good to be true. So, I realized immediately that the Lyla that got kidnapped before must be one of my subordinates disguised as Lyla. Since that was the case, the only thing left was to exterminate the harmful pests in this region. Reason being they tried to kidnap my relatives. Thus, I had to break, twist, crush and exterminate them till nothing is left. ¡ºFound him, Supreme Ruler-chama~¡» That moment, Beelze¡¯s voice resounded in my head. At the same time, vivid images and the map of the intricate cursed realm popped out in my head. I honestly didn¡¯t care about this, but, Girimekhala seems to be overreacting again. Well, none of those pests would be able to escape from this place though. And since Lyla was safe and sound, I¡¯ll play along with Girimekhala¡¯s plan. After running in accordance to the map given to me, I arrived in front of a uselessly huge building that looked like it was made of pulsing red flesh. So the guy who tried to kidnap Lyla was right inside this abominable looking building, eh. I guess I would never get along with the one who made this abominable-looking building. Maybe it just a knowledgeable undead who got overly excited. ¡¸How foolish.¡¹ I found it laughable that an idiot built this building so brazenly in this world filled with strong(TN: Misunderstanding). That fella was asking for death. I scanned the building with ¡¾Divine Eye¡¿ and grasped its inner structures. Aside from Beelze, there were two people tied up on huge plate covered cloth, and a balloon-like monster donning another world sunglasses. There was also butler and the cook looked scared shi*tless. It seems that balloon with sunglasses was the mastermind. Surprisingly enough, the two people on the huge plate were none other than my teammates. Uhm, I thought that they had already retreated after my threat but, I guess they got unlucky and were captured by those undead. I guess it would leave a bad after taste if I didn¡¯t save them while I can. Okay, time to end this game. I unsheated ¡¾Murasame¡¿ from its sheath hung on my back, and raised it up. That form should be the most suited one to destroy a structure. Thus, after confirming with ¡¾Divine Eye¡¿ that there was no other human aside from my two teammates, I targeted everything except the balloon-like man, my two teammates, and Beelze. ¡¸Tru Commandement Sword Art, One Sword Style; 7th Form¨D¨DSekai(World Destruction)¨D¨DRevise¡¹ I swung down ¡¾Murasame¡¿wrapped in jet-black aura. The blade fired jet-black wave, every building in its way decaying and crumbling down in an instant. In the blink of an eye, all that was left was the vacant lot. And the bipedal flew kneeling toward me, to the table with my two teammates, and the balloon-like man who kept rambling. Amidst those surreal spectacles, the members of subjugation picture book surrounding this vacant lot kneeled down at once to me. ¡¸Thank you for the hard work.¡¹ "" Everyone hung their heads down when I thanked them. ¡¸Well then, all that left is your disposal.¡¹ The balloon-like man with sunglasses could only stare at me, trembling in fear. ¡ºPlea¨D¨DGUGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!¡» I bisected right arm of the guy who rushed toward me, begging for forgiveness. His screams resounded in the vacant lot in area 5. ¡¸Forgive you? What are you talking about? You tried to kidnap people dear to me. Since you tried to commit such folly despite your weak power, it¡¯s only fair for you to prepare for the consequences.¡¹ I mean, from my perspective, his strength was not that much different from a goblin. Even if I left him to his own devices, this small fry undead will be dealt by hunter guild or Babel sooner or later. Yet, this guy actually dares to hurt those dear to me. I wasn¡¯t so naive as to let this guy off the hook. ¡ºWhy £Ä£Å£Á£Ô£È?¡» ¡¸Hah?¡¹ ¡ºWHYWHYWHYWHY CAN I FEEL PAIN£Ä£Å£Á£Ô£È!? I AM AN UNDEAD! I SHOULD BE UNABLE TO FEEL PAIN AND YET¨D¨D¡» I sliced off his left arm too. That moment, the balloon-like man with sunglasses rolled in pain on the ground. ¡¸Shut up. I don¡¯t care about whatever shi*t happens in your body. I don¡¯t even care if you¡¯re an undead or whatever you call yourself, the only end waiting for you after angering me is death.¡¹ ¡ºImpossible¡­ £Ä£Å£Á£Ô£È¡­¡» The fella shook his head as he retreated, trembling in fear both in body and expression. ¡¸Hah?¡¹ ¡ºI CANNOT PERISH£Ä£Å£Á£Ô£È!¡» Seeing that him trying to jump back, I severed both his legs as well. Which made him scream in pain again. I looked at the miserable balloon-like man who almost turned into a real balloon, ¡¸This place is your execution ground. You¡¯ll die in the unsightliest, and pitiful way with no one to speak for you. Unfortunately, I¡¯ve to tell you¨D¨D another bad news.¡¹ This would be my last gift. ¡ºWorse news?¡» The fella asked back, ¡¸I¡­ Have zero intention to simply just end the matter with killing you.¡¹ After I gave my verdict, I lowered my center of gravity, and pointed ¡¾Murasame¡¿¡¯s tip behind. And lastly, I loaded an enormous amount of mana into its blade. This form was an outlier one that directly attacked the soul of the target. The number of times I used this form in that easy dungeon could be counted on one hand. I only used it when I deemed that my opponent was truly unnecessary. And this Balloon-like man with sunglasses just happened to fall under such category. Not to mention that I couldn¡¯t just let him go after he brazenly tried to hurt Lyla. Thus, I decide to erase his existence, once and for all. ¡ºN-NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!¡» The Balloon-like man with sunglasses turned around in air with his limbless body, trying his best to get away from me, ¡¸True Commandement Sword Art; 8th Form¨D¨DShiranui(Unknown Flame)¡¹ ¡¾Murasame¡¿ flashed, and the Balloon-like man was sliced up beautifully right in the middle. The wound from my slash spread out quickly, as if eating the Balloon-like man from inside. This was the 8th form¨D¨D Shiranui(Unknown Flame). An extremely dangerous skill that directly attacked the soul of the target. This was the form that I gained in the middle of registering as a member of the subjugation picture book. This form had various strict restrictions, and might not be that effective against a truly powerful opponent but, it should be enough to exterminate the vermin before me. Good grief, this examination(farce) that had been going long enough had finally ended eh. ¡¸To all of you, thank you very much for your assistance this time. Let¡¯s have a party after this.¡¹ After I thanked them, the member of the subjugation picture book bowed at once and then returned to the book. Lastly, I looked at the bipedal fly and, ¡¸Beelze, can I ask you to take care of the aftermath? Give your best ¡°Hospitality¡± to those trashes laughing behind the scenes.¡¹ I gave a direct order to Beelzebub to crush the one responsible for the incident. ¡ºWith pleasure.¡» Beelze nodded, and vanished like smoke. I approached my two teammates trembling on top of the plate, severed their binding tool with ¡¾Murasame¡¿ and gave them clothes which I took out from my item box. ¡¸Well then, let¡¯s go back for now.¡¹ Well, I wasn¡¯t cruel enough to leave behind these two who had lost their fighting spirit. Let¡¯s take them along to the plaza. ¡¸¡­¡¹ ¡¸¡­¡¹ The two didn¡¯t move, just staring silently at me, ¡¸What¡¯s the matter? Are you not going to go with me? Well, I don¡¯t really care even if you want to go back to plaza by yourselves you know?¡¹ ¡¸W-We will go with you!¡¹ ¡¸Me too!¡¹ Both of them wore the clothes in a hurry when I asked so. I shrugged my shoulders and waited for them to finish wearing their clothes as I looked in the direction of the plaza. Volume 4 - CH 47 Act 4-47: Song of Ruin I(Side: Krab Ahnstein) ¨D¨DInside one of the most luxurious rooms in Babel¡¯s tower. ¡¸Failure? You mean the removal of Spear King has failed?¡¹ The tall old man donning a green robe, the vice headmaster¨D¨D Krab Ahnstein, asked aggressively to the slit-eyed, expressionless man wearing a similar green robe. ¡¸In-¡­-deed.¡¹ The slit-eyed mas was Krab¡¯s right hand-man, normally brimming with confidence. Even if something went wrong, his face wouldn¡¯t ever pale as now. And then, as one of his eyes opened wide-something that the man never did before-, ¡¸What about that Lumine girl?¡¹ ¡¸Failed too.¡¹ He replied, averting his gaze, sighing as if his soul left his body. ¡¸What about Somni Barrel and the Incompetent?¡¹ "" ¡¸All of the plans failed.¡¹ Seeing his right hand man¡¯s reaction, ¡¸YOU IDIOT! MY REPUTATION DEPENDS ON THIS MATTER! THIS WILL AFFECT THE NEXT TERM HEADMASTER ELECTION! FAILURE IS UNACCEPTABLE! ¡¹ Krab finally shouted at the slit-eyed man but, ¡¸Reputatiooon? Aren¡¯t you just simply incapableeee?¡¹ The latter just replied with an eerie laugh. The other staff raised hysteric scream upon seeing their superior¡¯s right hand man in such state. ¡¸YOU BAST*ARD, WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING FOR!?¡¹ Krab became was now enraged seeing the laughs directed at him. Nevertheless, the slit-eyed man kept laughing without care. ¨D¨DCACKLINGCACKLINGCACKLING! ¡¸STOP LAUGHING!¡¹ Even though the slit-eyed man got blasted away, striking him to the wall behind, he stood up again like a doll and started dancing merrily instead. ¡ºBeelzebub debu~? Beelzebub debu~~?¡» Buubuu, buubuu, babubabu?¡» The slit-eyed man¡¯s limbs suddenly flexed loosely like rubber as the merry laughter continued. At the same time, his bones creaked, and his flesh crumbled down. ¡¸O-OI, STOP! STOP THAT JOKE ALREADY!¡¹ Krab tried to stop the slit-eyed man but, the strange fellow didn¡¯t stop even as he bleeded all over, dancing to his own beats. ¡ºBeelzebub debu~? Beelzebub debu~~? Bubudebabudebu~? Stinkiest amongst the stnky maggots, the King of Fly, His name is, Beelzebub? ¡ºBeelzebub debu~? Beelzebub debu~~? Bubudebabudebu~? Very fragrant even if it covered in shit, that¡¯s paradise that I want babu? ¡ºBeelzebub debu~? Beelzebub debu~~? Bubudebabudebu~?¡» Finally, the strange, rubber like bleeding body lost its shape and transformed into something resembling a bipedal fly. ¡¸HIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!¡¹ One of Krab¡¯s staff tried to escape as soon as he saw the slit-eyed man transform into a fly. ¡¸Oi, you basta¨D¨D¡¹ Krab couldn¡¯t finish his sentence, aimed to stop the escaping staff¨D¨D ¡ºKishishi Kishaahaaha!¡» As the unseeming laugh resounded in the room, several feelers flew out from the mouth of the rubber man who was in the middle of a transformation, skewering the man escaping right in his crown. Though the body of skewered man twitched for a few seconds, he suddenly started another strange dance. Another scream filled the room upon seeing what was used to be the staff, dancing strangely while vomiting blood. The man with slit eyes completed his transformation into a bipedal fly then placed his hands on his hip. ¡ºIt¡¯s a verdict for you. Your action has greatly displeased Our Supreme Ruler. Therefore, I¡¯m sent to punish those deeply involved in this matter.¡» In a completely different voice, the bipedal fly spoke in an extremely solemn tone. That sentence had transformed the room into purgatory. In the blink of an eye, the entire staff present transformed into animals of unknown species. Krab didn¡¯t even show discomfort upon seeing what was used to be his subordinates, ¡º¡­ Hi¡­¡» Even though he felt nauseated, the flow of his blood reversed, he could neither speak nor breathe due to the extreme fear which felt like it almost tore his throat, and managed to retreat toward the window behind him. Krab was desperate. He knew that he would be free from this hell once he left the room. Thus, believing his instinct, he kicked the floor with his entire power and broke through the window. And then, just as he was about to invoke a flying spell¨D¨D ¡¸¡ª!?¡¹ Krab¡¯s last hope was smashed to pieces upon seeing countless fly-like monsters waiting for him right outside. ¡¸PIGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!¡¹ Krab¡¯s consciousness descended into darkness amidst his screams. === V3 cover: Kai and Ashmedia¡­ Another one of his subordinate? Volume 4 - CH 48 Act 4-48: Song of Ruin II(Side: Pandora) ¨D¨DCentral Church¡¯s Babel Branch. ¡¸What did you just say?¡¹ Cardinal Pandora showed her trademark iron wall-like smile in front of the communication magic, questioning with a shrill voice. ¡ºHis Eminence, The Pope has passed away. The same goes for Cardnal Sea.¡» ¡¸Hah? No, I mean, how can it be?¡¹ Her legs shook as she retreated, and plopped in the chair behind, barely managing to keep her calm. ¡ºBecause they offended someone they shouldn¡¯t have.¡» The man in front of his communication magic replied in an awfully calm tone, holding two bundles in his hands. As if convinced of something, ¡¸Who did they dare touch?¡¹ Pandora asked back immediately. But, she was almost convinced of the reason. It was most likely someone related to Lumine Hellner. As for the reason, it was because the one who received revelation about Lumine Hellner¡¯s gift being the one scorned even by Our Father¡¯s god was none other than Cardinal Sea. And Lumine¡¯s execution had literally been approved of by His Eminence as soon as he heard about that revelation. And since it happened now of all time, it was too much of a coincidence. But, those two-If we discounted the four archbishops who hailed as castaway child of god- are supposed to be two of strongest person in central church. Run-of-the-mill methods won¡¯t be enough to assassinate them¨D¨D When Pandora was pondering about such things, ¡¸Guess who~?¡¹ The man who contacted Pandora suddenly burst into mad laugh. ¡¸What¡¯s the matter?¡¹ Pandora got away from the communication magic tool. Archbishop Schnee who acted cold as usual displayed an expression that he had never shown before. ¡ºBeelzebub debu~? Beelzebub debu~~? Bubudebabudebu~? Stinkiest amongst the stinky maggots, the King of Fly?, His name is, Beelzebub?¡» The head of the man suddenly rotated unnaturally as it made creaking sound, his body also started dancing wildly as he sang, ignoring the sound of snapping bones and torn flesh. That moment, the bundles in the man¡¯s hands unveiled¨D¨D ¡¸PANDORA-SAMA! THIS GUY IS BAD NEWS!¡¹ Archbishop Schnee shouted as bead of sweats appeared on his forehead. ¡¸I KNOW THAT! CUT THE COMMUNICATION IMMEDIATELY!¡¹ It was a natural reaction after seeing such gore. The bundle contained the head of a crew cut brown-haired man. That head¡¯s mouth opened wide as blood trickled down from its nose and eyes. ¡¸PLEASE CUT THE COMMUNICATION IMMEDIATELY!¡¹ ¡¸I CAN¡¯T! I¡¯VE BEEN TRYING TO DO THAT, THE MAGIC TOOL ISN¡¯T RESPONDING AT ALL!¡¹ How strange. The communication magic tool should¡¯ve been cut off and yet, it didn¡¯t react at all. Moreover, the strange dance of the priest who used the communication device was kept on display. ¡ºBeelzebub debu~? Beelzebub debu~~? Bubudebabudebu~? I¡¯m faithful follower of Supreme Ruler? His order is my pleasure babu, Anyone who displease him will babu~~~~~? Beelzebub debu~? Beelzebub debu~~? Bubudebabudebu~?¡» Suddenly, the flesh of the priest transformed into a fly-like creature. The fly-like creature then stopped dancing, standing in attention, ¡ºYou¡¯ve offended Our Supreme Ruler. Therefore, anyone deeply involved in this matter shall receive punishment. He won¡¯t be this merciful if something like this happens again.¡» The communication was cut off on after the fly-like creature said so. ¡¸We are¡­ safe?¡¹ As my tense nerves eased out, I plopped on the ground as if my hips just dislocated. ¡¸Maybe.¡¹ Archbishop Schnee confirmed so as he fell on his knee. His current expression was as bad as Pandora, and it might be the first time he felt like that ever since his birth. ¡¸That must be the ultimatum.¡¹ The reason why Pandora was still alive was simply because she wasn¡¯t involved in the execution plan. Anyhow, Pandora¡¯s real reason for visiting Babel was completely unrelated to the plan, she just acted as mere messenger, just happening to receive the communication from the priest when she had nothing to do. Those two factors resulting in her barely dodging the bullet. ¡¸Most likely, the world seems like it¡¯s went mad.¡¹ Lumine Hellner. Though I had no idea why His Eminence the Pope and Cardinal Sea regarded that girl as dangerous, now it was clear to me. The Supreme Ruler mentioned by that fly must¡¯ve been really enraged after discovering that His Eminence the Pope and Cardinal Sea are trying to kill Lumine Hellner, thus sent assassins to eliminate the two as a warning. No, maybe everyone directly involved in Lumine Hellner¡¯s assassination plan had already stopped breating. £¨Rather, maybe I should feel relieved that it only ended up with this degree of damage.£© That was definitely an enemy of mankind, a god. Thats just how wicked the fly she saw was. Due to this incident, the central church had to pay with the lives of Cardinal Sea and the Pope. But it wasn¡¯t a big problem since she knew that personnel change happened regularly. Though the loss of the two were a huge blow, it wasn¡¯t fatal. That fly was definitely far more dangerous than the Demon King. No, the likes of Demon King might be equal to tiny ant on the road for that Fly. They¡¯re definitely not an existence that supposed to be left on their own devices in this world. Even if they exist, it should be our god dealing with them. But, Our god would¡¯ve already entered this world if it was so simple to do so. Even if we mobilize our entire central church force to fight that Fly, I can only see our side being slaughtered one-sidedly, leaving behind a mountain of corpses. Since that was the case, we had no choice but to accelerate that plan. If the four archbishops and I get divine power in true sense, we might be able to fight them. £¨No, that alone might be far from enough.£© The hero¡¯s team. Their strength would grow exponentially once they gained divine force. Though we¡¯re going to dispose them once they subjugate the demon king, we¡¯ve to make a little adjustment to our plan. And it wasn¡¯t just the hero. We wouldn¡¯t be able to fight THAT unless we use everything that we can use. ¡¸Contact the Hero-dono. And then, please arrange a meeting with all archbishops. ¡¹ Maybe because he understood Pandora¡¯s intention, Archbishop Schnee, who usually complained to her, agreed and left the room immediately. £¨This is a war that Us, children of god, can¡¯t afford to lose.£© Pandora clenched her right fist as she steeled her resolve. === TN: Evil God Pazuzu AKA the flashe Volume 4 - CH 49.1 Act 4-49.1: Song of Ruin III(Side: Ares) ¨D¨DCelestial Palace, Goeting Room, Ares Palace The angels in Goeting Room, located in Ares palace, paced around quickly, gathering as much information as possible. To be exact, it wasn¡¯t just in Goeting room. The entire Ares palace has descended into chaos. It began when they received the notice about Rotten King, the worst of the evil gods sealed in Lemuria, the world under Ares¡¯ management, was resurrected, that news sent the entire Ares palace into a state of turmoil. Rotten King was a god with a distorted divinity. And an extremely powerful one on top of that. Not even cardinal Pandora or hero Mashiro, who received a direct blessing from Ares, could ever hope to defeat him. Rotten King was almost immortal. One had to spent so much power to kill him once and for all. Not even Ares could completely kill Rotten King in the past, thus, he had no choice but to seal the latter. Now that the seal had been undone, war against Rotten King was unavoidable. Rotten King¡¯s immortal army was truly powerful. Ares army definitely wouldn¡¯t leave unscathed in a war against the immortal army. ¡¸How¡¯s the situation of the Rotten King¡¯s immortal army?¡¹ Currently, he might be trying to swallow the area around Babel. That guy was a really troublesome foe since he had the ability to make undead put under his curse to follow his order. Something unspeakable would happen in the human world if left as is. ¡¸T-That is¡­¡¹ The angel subordinate spoke with baffled look on their face. ¡¸What¡¯s happend?¡¹ Ares asked, frowning ¡¸The Rotten King¡¯s immortal army has been annihilated. Any trace him has vanished.¡¹ The angel spoke total bs that no one would believe. ¡¸Hah? What did you say just now?¡¹ Ares couldn¡¯t help but question, ¡¸A while after being enveloped by dome-shaped black mist, the Rotten King and his immortal army, even the Rotten King¡¯s Palace has vanished without trace, leaving only a huge empty lot behind.¡¹ Naturally, the angel had no choice but to continue his report with bewildered look on their face. ¡¸That¡¯s impossible, that palace was made by Hermes you now!¡¹ Yes. That palace was made by none other than Hermes, a powerful god, and Ares¡¯ long time friend. Not even the Rotten King could destroy that palace. Thus, he concluded that someone had cleared the condition to unseal the Rotten King. ¡¸That¡¯s true. Not even a blade of grass left in the place where the palace used to be.¡¹ ¡¸IMPOSSIBLE!¡¹ ¡¸Please take a look yourself.¡¹ The angel displayed the scenery of Area 5 of ¡¾Death Metropolis of Flower¡¿located in Babel, the world of Lemuria. ¡¸No¡­ Way¡­¡¹ The picture displayed was a literal circular-shaped empty vacant lot with none of ruin left. The only thing left in that lonely picture was a huge wooden table located right in the center of the vacant lot. ¡¸What in the world is happening here?¡¹ Ares was asking himself alas, he couldn¡¯t find plausible answer for that question. The only thing he understood was the fact that there used to be a palace at that place. It was a sealing facility created by Hermes and no one in celestial world can even left a scratch on it. It was even more impossible for those from lower world. In short, someone, or something had annihilated the palace who known for its toughness along with the Rotten King. But still, being from lower world supposed to be incapable of such feat¨D¨D When Ares was pondering like that¨D¨D ¡¸Corinth-sama is asking for audience.¡¹ A gatekeeper goes into Goeting room in hurry and kneeling in front of Ares immediately. ¡¸We¡¯re facing emergency situation right now, how about later?¡¹ Ares couldn¡¯t help but reply with slightly vexed voice. Did this angel even understand what kind of emergency we face right now? The world under my management, Lemuria, has fell into unprecedented danger right at this very moment! ¡¸I tried that too, but¨D¨D¡¹ When the gatekeeper was about to finish their report, ¡¸S-Sorry, Corinth-sama! We¡¯re in the state of emergen¨D¨D¡¹ Voices of several gatekeepers trying to stop Corinth could be heard from the other side of the gate. The door opened forcefully, and a tall and muscular blonde-haired man with a neat cut entered the Goeting room. He was the mid-rank angel, Corinth. His main job was coordinating with the central church. To be exact, he was the one responsible for the revelation of the human race¡¯s gift in the form of an oracle or giving orders to observe every individual who awakened a highly-dangerous gift in the lower world. But, he was reprimanded due to excessively intolerable acts he committed, such as giving cruel orders to the central church for a specific gift holder. Thus, Ares thought that the reason for Corinth to come this time was to raise an objection in regard to that. And though Corinth¡¯s action tended to be over the top nowadays, he never forgot to show proper respect to god. ¡¸Corinth, we¡¯re busy right now. If you came to protest, return late¨D¨D¡¹ ¡¸Kougiiiiiiiiii??¡¹ Corinth suddenly raised a mechanical laugh before Ares could finish his remark, ¡¸What are you laughing for?¡¹ Despite of Ares asking with a frown, Corinth just raised a mechanical laugh. The other angels murmured among themselves upon seeing that strange state. And then, when he finally stopped laughing, he unwrapped the bundle of clothes he carried under his right-arm. ¡¸!?¡¹ The content was the bald head of a human priest. ¡ºBeelzebub debu~? Beelzebub debu~~? Buubuu, buubuu, babubabu?¡» The eyes of the bald priest suddenly opened wide and sang a strange song as Corinth started to perform a strange dance. ¨D¨DCREAK! CREAK! RIIP! The sound of Corinth¡¯s snapped bones and split flesh resounded in Goeting room. Though the people in that room were dumbfounded for a while upon seeing such bizarre scene, ¡¸CORINTH, STOP THIS MADNESS IMMEDIATELY! ALL OF YOU, STOP CORINTH!!¡¹ Ares snapped immediately and ordered Corinth to stop. Though the angels also tried to pin him down but got blown away as a result. Thus, the dance of death continued on. ¡ºBeelzebub debu~? Beelzebub debu~~? Bubudebabudebu~? Stinkiest amongst the stinky maggots, the King of Fly?, His name is, Beelzebub?¡» === Mia Campanella¡­ Volume 4 - CH 49.2 Act 4-49.2: Song of Ruin III(Side: Ares) At that point, Corinth¡¯s body, already smashed to bits, lost its original shape and transformed into a fly-like creature. ¡¸ATTACK FROM THE GOD OF ANOTHER MYTHOLOGY! EVERYONE GET AWAY FROM CORINTH, NOW!¡¹ The moment Ares ordered so, the fly-like creature stopped dancing and, ¡ºOur Great Supreme Ruler is really really really displeased by your actions. Therefore, They ordered me to punish those deeply involved in this matter.¡» He started talking with solemn voice. And then, ¡ºThis is the ultimatum from Our Supreme Ruler.¡» When the fly-like creature spoke with an inorganic voice that caused the air to tremble, the gatekeepers approached him slowly from behind and pinned him down. And then, right at that moment, Corinth fired tentacles from his mouth. ¡¸HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII¨D¨D Guh¡­.¡¹ A gatekeeper¡¯s head was immediately pierced by that tentacle and twitched for a while, and suddenly stood up and performed that strange dance again. ¡¸KILL THE TWO GATEKEEPERS IMMEDIATELY!¡¹ The entire personnel in Ares Palace moved at once to eliminate the intruder. ¡¸BAD NEWS! WE CAN¡¯T HOLD THEM BACK!¡¹ But then, each attacker turned into fly-like monster, one after another. ¡¸KEEP GOING!¡¹ Ares ordered his angel subordinates to keep rushing forward instead of retreating. As a result, Ares¡¯ palace suffered a fatal blow. At this rate, it was only matter of time before all personnel in the entire palace turned into a repulsive fly-like monster. £¨I have to prevent that at all costs!£© A god who couldn¡¯t even protect their people from evil didn¡¯t qualify as a god. Losing his people meant a complete defeat to Ares. Thus, he had to stop the fly-like monster at all costs. Maybe the main body was Corinth which located in the center. Slaying him should be able to put an end to this¨D¨D Nightmare. Thus, I rushed ahead at full speed toward Corinth, brandished my divine sword Arata toward him but then, it caught so easily with his talon-like right arm. £¨A-Are you kidding me! Not even this divine sword Arata can cut him down!£© Despite asking such question, not even he had the answer. Reason being the divine sword Arata was a sword forged by God Hermes. An extremely famous miraculous sword even in celestial world. Parrying it was by no means a simple matter. And yet, it happened right before him¨D¨D Amidst such bewildered train of thought, ¡¸GUH!¡¹ A kick landed right on his abdomen, sending him flying till he crashed against the wall, creating a huge crater on the wall. Ares frowned as he tried to stand on his feet, his body was riddled with pains. His defeat mean that everything was over. He braced himself, he had to win no matter what. Ares pointed Arata¡¯s tip of toward Corinth, who took the shape of fly stomped on the floor with his feet, plunging himself into a battle that most likely would end with his defeat. Ares¡¯ body was riddled with wounds. But, he managed to prop himself with solely his strong sense of duty. Strangely enough, the group of fly-like monsters suddenly stopped attacking the angels in the room and stopped still as they stared at Ares and Corinth-Fly. ¡¸I WON¡¯T GO DOWN! THE ETERNAL PEACE OF THE PEOPLE LAY ON MY SHOULDERS!¡¹ When he raised his voice as he pointed Arata with little power that was left in his body, the flies suddenly formed a line with Corinth-fly as its center, and dancing with perfectly coordinated movement. ¡ºBabubabu~?Babu~?Beelzebub debu~?¡» All of them danced to that mysterious song. And lastly, took the strange pose, ¡ºPUNISHMENT COMPLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETE!¡» After Corinth-fly shouted, his body twisted again as if he was a mere laundry being wrung dry¨D¨D ¨D¨DPan And then popped off into tiny pieces. ¡¸Has it¡­ ended?¡¹ Just like a puppet with its strings cut off, I plopped on my rear while muttering so. When I looked around, that terrifying existence was no more, vanished into dark mist. When he opened his eyes again, he already rested in the medical ward of Ares Palace. A familiar old face was looking at him with a worried look. ¡¸Deus¡­ Sama?¡¹ This old man was the great god Deus. He was also hailed as king of gods and the strongest god of celestial world. The reason why Deus-sama visited me, a mere high-rank god was simply because he was my grandfather. ¡¸What happened back then, Ares?¡¹ Deus asked his grandson, ¡¸What¡­ Ha¡ª¡ª¨C!?¡¹ I raised my body from bed as the memory of that evil being revived in my mind, but I ended up falling on the floor, and vomited all over. "" The frustration of being unable to save his faithful subordinate, his disappointment of his own weakness, and lastly, the fear toward the unknown evil being gnawed him from inside. When such violent emotions settled down, Ares had finally got a grip on himself. And then, he started to explain the situation to Deus. ¡¸Fly-like, monster¡­ Could it be¡­ No¡­ That¡¯s impossible. That guy should¡¯ve been sealed inside that maddening dungeon. And that fella should be a lump of pride that won¡¯t submit to anyone.¡¹ Deus muttered in soliloquy while shaking his head to the side. ¡¸Deus-sama?¡¹ ¡¸Oh, don¡¯t worry about it. That enemy is clearly a bit too much for you. Leave the rest to me. Don¡¯t involve yourself in this matter anymore.¡¹ Deus left after he patted Ares¡¯ back to give his grandson some reassurance. ¡¸Don¡¯t involve myself in this matter anymore eh?¡¹ Ares asking himself in soliloquy but, only parched laugh came out from his mouth. ¡¸LIKE HELL I CAN DO THAT! WASH YOUR NECK¨D¨D I¡¯LL DEFINITELY AVENGE MY BELOVED SUBORDINATE WHO DIED LIKE A BUG!¡¹ Ares clenched his fists as made such a vow. === ??? Who!? Volume 4 - CH 50 Act 4-50: Last Compassion(Side: Gilbert Loto Amelia) ¨D¨D¨D¨DPrivate Room of A Certain High-End Residential Area In The North of Babel ¡¸Has the report of Somni and the incompetent¡¯s execution arrived?¡¹ The 1st prince of Amelia kingdom, Gilbert Loto Amelia, asked a guardian knight with loach beard, the top dog of his guardian knights, in an irritated voice. ¡¸Though we¡¯ve yet to receive the report, I do understand your worry. We were different from all of your previous untalented senior knights.¡¹ Watching the guardian knight straightened his posture, replying so while pinching his prided loach beard, ¡¸Naturally! I¡¯ve paid exorbitant amount of money for your service after all! I¡¯ll be in trouble if you¡¯re not worth the price!¡¹ The guardian knights smiled. Their figure was overflowed with confidence, they did have the ability to support their pride, and unshakable belief that their side would be the final winner. All of them were martial art masters scouted by Gilbert from all over the world, and offered their service after being promised to be paid handsomely. Hunters, mercenaries, even people from underworld. Every single one of them was a one man army. Until now, only a senior knight with certain amount of military exploit could become guardian knight. But, Gilbert decided to change them, prioritizing real ability over everything after witnessing Somni¡¯s immaturity and Tamri¡¯s timidness, which caused his defeat to an incompetent. ¡¸Yeah, You¡¯ll see just how useful we are.¡¹ ¡¸Spare me your lip service. Show it with your actions!¡¹ ¡¸That¡¯s our intention.¡¹ And as expected, the guardian knight¡¯s loach bearded leader replied so while maintaining a smile on his face. ¡¸So, what¡¯s the explanation that you prepared after the disposal of the two?¡¹ Gilbert sat in the most luxurious chair in the center of the room, heaved a sigh and then asked. ¡¸The incompetent hired Tokotsu to kill Somni. Though Somni managed to kill the incompetent right before he died, Tamri, who fought Tokotsu, ended up killed in action. That¡¯s the scenario we¡¯re going to use. Tamri is useless, as the former leader of Your Highness¡¯s guardian knight, he actually lost to an incompetent, resulting in your humiliation.¡¹ ¡¸That¡¯s good enough. But, are you sure that there really is no problem in there?¡¹ ¡¸Yes, we received information from vice headmaster that they¡¯ve already disposed the incompetent. They¡¯ve confirmed the corpse of that pitiful silkpants called Somni too.¡¹ ¡¸I see¡­¡¹ Maybe because the report he wanted to hear already reached his ears, Gilbert sat back in his chair with a relieved look on his face. With this, he managed to execute the incompetent who was ignorant of his status and dared to humiliate Gilbert, a royalty. In addition, Gilbert had already disposed Somni and Tamri who proven to be useless. He also used this chance to deal with the incompetent apprentice knight. After this, the power of Gilbert¡¯s new guardian knights were greatly augmented. The death of the incompetent would mean the death of Rose¡¯s royal guard too. In crown contest, royal guard and royalty has inseparable relationship, like head and body. The death of one¡¯s royal guard wasn¡¯t a simple matter. It would be followed by a huge penalty, which would make winning crown contest close to impossible. ¡¸Will Rose drop out of competition after this?¡¹ The moment Gilbert beamed delightfully, the entire building shook with deafening sound. ¡¸W-What the hell is that!?¡¹ Seeing Gilbert rise from his chair as he asked loudly, the loach bearded guardian knight raised his vigilance at once, and signaled to his subordinates, the man with lizard tattoo on his right cheek, to check the situation outside. ¡¸¡­¡¹ The man with lizard tattoo drew closer in the entrance at once as he unsheathed the knife from its sheath on his waist. When he was about to reach the entrance¨D¨D ¡¸Uhm?¡¹ The man with lizard tattoo frowned upon seeing several lines on the gate. The next moment, the door broke to pieces along with the man. ¡¸DRAW YOUR WEAPONS! PROTECT THE PRINCE!¡¹ After the loach beard¡¯s order, the guardian knights unsheathed their weapons, and moved forward to protect Gilbert. Standing in front of the sliced door a black-haired youth. ¡¸H-HOW DID THE INCOMPETENT!!?¡¹ Gilbert screamed in shock. That was natural. A baby-faced youth with medium build wearing a foreign attire. That was the description of Kai Heineman supposed to die in the report. ¡¸KILL.¡¹ The moment the head guardian knight gave such order, the tall and muscular red-haired man with crew cut leapt toward Kai Heineman in a flash, and brandished his greatsword toward the latter¡¯s neck. The greatsword was repelled much easily with the wooden sword in Kai Heineman¡¯s right hand, the next moment, body of the red-haired had already been sliced to pieces, and plopped on the ground. ¡¸I-impossible¡­¡¹ The Head knight barely managed to squeeze that word. ¡¸That idiot prince over there, follow me like a good kid. Denial or resistance is futile, this is an order.¡¹ Kai Heineman ordered Gilbert with in extremely arrogant attitude, as if the man with loach beard wasn¡¯t even worth his attention. ¡¸HOW DARE YOU, A LOWLY NOBLE ORDER ME! KILL HIM!¡¹ Gilbert ordered the guardian knights around him but, ¡¸¡­¡¹ Every single one of them trembled in their place. ¡¸WHAT¡¯S MATTER! THIS IS MY, A PRINCE ORDER!¡¹ None of them flinched no matter how much he screamed at them. ¡¸It¡¯s futile. Their eyes¡¯ are that of losers.¡¹ As soon as Kai Heineman said those words, ¡¸WHAT ARE YOU DOING! KILL HIM!¡¹ Gilbert shouted again to the point that his throat was about to rupture. ¡¸Impossible¡­ We can¡¯t win against THAT.¡¹ The captain who showed composed face until now barely squeezed those words. ¡¸DON¡¯T MESS WITH ME! JUST HOW MUCH I PAY YOU GUYS TO USE YOUR SERVICE!?¡¹ Hearing Gilbert¡¯s rambling, Kai Heineman frowned in displeasure, then threw something wrapped in clothes in his left hand, ¡¸Humph. Yeah. Maybe you¡¯ve to realize your current situation first. Open that cloth wrap. That¡¯s the idiot to whom you entrusted that plan.¡¹ And ordered Gilbert with a forceful tone that didn¡¯t allow any refusal. Gilbert who felt humiliated by the way Kai Heineman spoke to him, ¡¸You cur, who do yo¨D¨D¡¹ Was about to curse at the latter but, his line of sight suddenly spun few times before his face slammed right on the wooden floor. ¡¸GIGHU!?¡¹ Gilbert, who felt the intense pain in his nose then noticed than his hair had already been grabbed by Kai Heineman. ¡¸Hey, you¡¯ve to at least confirm it with your own hands. This is the end of the man who died because of your foolish actions, after all.¡¹ Kai Heineman ordered with a voice that sent a chill running down into Gilbert¡¯s spine as he threw the item wrapped in a cloth bag in front of the latter. ¡¸S-SAPHE, MHE!¡¹ Though he ordered his guardian knights as he raised his upper-half, none of them dare to make a move. ¡¸You really are an idiot with zero learning ability, eh.¡¹ As soon as Kai Heineman spoke in a somewhat dumbfounded tone, Gilbert saw another sea of stars. It then followed by intense pain a second later. ¡¸I said, open-the-cloth-bag.¡¹ ¡¸Hwow dwarhe y¨D¨DGUH!¡¹ Naturally, his face was slammed onto the wooden floor again. The next moment, he felt unbearable pain. What came later, ¡¸I-I KNOW! I¡¯LL OPEN IT!¡¹ The moment he said so, the grip on his hair loosened and he frantically opened the cloth bundle before him. And then, when the content of the bundle was revealed to his dimming eyes¨D¨D ¡¸HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!?¡¹ He threw the bundle from his hands. The content of that bundle of cloth was, an old man¡¯s head. And Gilbert was familiar with the old man¡¯s face. It was the head of the vice headmaster of Babel to whom Gilbert made the request to kill Kai Heineman. Seeing the dead head¡¯s eyes wide open and face filled with fear in the last moment of his life sent an unspeakable terror into Gilbert¡¯s whole being. And then, he was assailed by intense nauseating feeling¨D¨D ¡¸GEH!¡¹ And vomited on the floor. ¡¸Shocked with just this eh. To begin with, you should¡¯ve at least committed dozens of such atrocities, right?¡¹ Kai Heineman asked so with a bone chilling voice while looking down at the crying Gilbert, as if the latter was an existence even lower than an insect. Gilbert couldn¡¯t answer that question as he vomited, yet again. ¡¸Properly speaking, I¡¯m going to send Beelze to deal with you too. But, someone made a plea to me, to spare a trash like you. And it was none other than the one you wanted to eliminate on top of that. So, you can rest assured, Rose isn¡¯t the one who pleaded for your life. Even if she did so, I won¡¯t change my decision since she is still your relative.¡¹ Kai Heineman then paused, and turned around, ¡¸Take him to the aforementioned place.¡¹ And gave such order to androgynous beauty clad in foreign attire with monocle on her eyes. ¡¸Roger. What are you going to do about these people?¡¹ ¡¸These guys are¡­¡¹ ¡¸Uwa¡­¡¹ A single glance from Kai Heineman was enough to scare Gilbert¡¯s guardian knights, they abandoned their master at once. ¡¸Fools. I¡¯ve no intention to spare the lowly trash who killed children so brazenly.¡¹ Kai Heineman¡¯s figure blurred for a moment. The next moment, the head of few guardian knights who ran toward the door was already separated from their necks, their bodies tumbling down on the floor like puppets with its strings cut off. And then, the figure of Kai Heineman appeared again at the entrance, holding bloodstained wooden sword in his right hand. ¡¸We surrender.¡¹ ¡¸Rejected. You guys had already crossed the line. Your fate had already been decided the moment you guys tried to harm those innocence children.¡¹ ¡¸GUH!¡¹ Color drained from the face of the head guardian knight as he retreated a few of his steps, ¡¸This is my last mercy for you! I¡¯ll at least let you to die as a swordsman. So fight me with everything you have!¡¹ When Kai Heineman shouted so with wide grin on his face, ¡¸DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!¡¹ The man with loach beard raised a despaired roar and rushed toward Kai Heineman. Kai Heineman calmly raised his wooden sword to upper head stance. The next moment, crimson lines ran through the body of the man, his body cut into pieces and fell on the floor. The only thing left in the room was¨D¨D a Pool of blood, and pieces of meat lost in shape. ¡¸HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!¡¹ In the blink of an eye, the gathering of strong warriors, which supposed to be the strongest group of guardian knights until now, screamed in despair upon seeing their peers turning into minced meat without any resistance whatsoever. ¨D¨DTerrifying. Kai Heineman¡¯s strength was unfathomable! ¨D¨DToo terrifying! As if Kai Heineman¡¯s act of murder was something akin to breathing for him! In Gilbert eyes, the Kai Heineman in front of him had already transformed into a monster in human skin. He tried to escape but, his body refused to move. ¡¸Let Babel deal with the aftermath.¡¹ When Kai Heineman muttered that soliloquy, the androgynous beauty with monocle then grabbed Gilbert by the nape of his neck. The next moment, GIlbert¡¯s consciousness descended into darkness. === Ashmedia-chan!! Volume 4 - CH 51 Act 4-51: I¡¯ve Told You Right? No One Going to Save You Now I opened my eyes and my body was assailed by bone piercing cold. I raised my torso the next moment and was surrounded by greenery and closed thickets. And then, he saw the faces of a few familiar people on his side. ¡¸Father¡­ Prime Minister¡­!!?¡¹ And the last figure entering his line of sight triggered a great terror in his entire being, he choked up. The three people started talking, disregarding Gilbert¡¯s situation. ¡¸Despite being a truant, he¡¯s still my son. Allow me to express my gratitude for giving him a chance.¡¹ The King of Amelia Kingdom, Edward Loto Amelia expressed his gratitude toward Kai Heineman. ¡¸Save your gratitude to that freckled boy and Somni boy. This trash barely avoided most gruesome death penalty entirely due to their request. All I did is just respecting their value for willing to give this trash ne last chance despite being betrayed by him.¡¹ ¡¸I understand. I shall personally express my gratitude to them, the victim of my son¡¯s runaway la¨D¨D¡¹ But then, Kai Heineman raised his right hand, interrupting Edward from finishing his remark. ¡¸No need for that. They might be willing to give this trash one last chance, but that doesn¡¯t equal them forgiving what he did to them. Those two have expressed their extreme fear towards royalties.¡¹ ¡¸I see¡­ Well, that¡¯s natural¡­.¡¹ For some reason, my father spoke with a lonely voice. ¡¸Your Majesty, it¡¯s about the time.¡¹ When the Prime Minister urged my father, ¡¸You¡¯re right.¡¹ Father heaved a sigh as he looked down at me. ¡¸Gilbert, you just committed a taboo for royalty, assassination attempt to your subordinates. I really can¡¯t give any compassion to you who treated others like mere bugs. The only thing I can do as your father is wish that you can overcome the trial that about to fall upon you.¡¹ ¡¸What are you talking about, father!? What trial!?¡¹ Gilbert raised his voice as he felt something was amiss with the way his father spoke those words. But, his father just closed his eyes in silent and, ¡¸Do it.¡¹ He asked Kai Heineman while gnashing his teeth. ¡¸Satori!¡¹ Kai Heineman nodded lightly and conjured a book out of nowhere as he spoke. A green-haired girl with bob cut appeared out of nowhere, ¡ºHave you call me, Supreme Ruler-sama?¡» The girl then bowed respectfully toward Kai Heineman. ¡¸Yes, I want to ask your help to temporarily erase this guy¡¯s memory. And..¡¹ Kai Heineman suddenly placed his hand on his chin before he finished his sentence. ¡¸Make it so that his memory will be back after he fulfilled the condition that I¡¯m about to say.¡¹ And then, Kai Heineman told the green-haired girl with bob cut about the condition to return Gilbert¡¯s memory. ¡¸I see. My deepest apology for causing so much trouble for you.¡¹ Though father shut his eyes while chewing his lips, he suddenly turned around and bowed to Kai Heineman upon hearing the conditions. The current king of the great Amelia kingdom had actually bowed his head toward the incompetent. The Me from before would definitely find a fault in this situation. But, the current me knows for better that Kai Heineman was an unknown monster in human skin. And my father actually sold me off to that monster. Seeing that I¡­ Felt something really repulsive¨D¨D ¡¸FATHER, NO! SAVE ME!¡¹ He pleaded to the king as his son. ¡¸Gilbert, your participation in the crown contest will be suspended until further notice. You may participate again once you gain some essential qualities needed to become the true ruler of Amelia kingdom¡¹ ¡¸What are you talking about!¡¹ ¡¸Yes. You won¡¯t understand it even after you hear the conditions from Kai. That¡¯s why you¡¯ve to be grateful since, at the very least, your life is spared. No matter what kind of a failure you are, it doesn¡¯t change the fact that you¡¯re my son. That¡¯s why, please do your best to pass Kai¡¯s trial with flying colours!¡¹ After saying so, father turned around and never looked back again. I was dumbfounded, it was the first time I saw the back figure of my father, a king trembled like that and, ¡¸Satori, do it.¡¹ Kai Heineman sent his order. ¡ºAs you wish.¡» The green-haired girl with a bob cut appeared before Gilbert again and grabbed his head with her hand. The next moment, Gilbert¡¯s consciousness descended into the darkness. === Faf-chan and Myu-chan¡­ The Nopants siste Volume 4 - CH 52 Act 4-52: Babel¡¯s Aftermath ¡¾Babel¡¿¡¯s Top Floor. Chloe, overlooking the scenery below had heaved who knew how many sighs already. The last event became a herald for various changes, namely a revolution, in various means in Babel. First was the sudden disappearance of the vice headmaster, Krab Ahnstein and his cronies, which were later discovered in the form of corpses that appeared to have experienced hell on earth. At the same time, the fact that the vice headmaster and his faction received requests from several influential figures to murder examinees during the current entrance exam, which become the trigger of that event, was found. That news shook Babel from its very core, and caused the investigation to all of the staff in Babel without exception, excluding the headmaster. As a result, an unheard scandal of receiving a commission from a certain royalty to kill an examinee student was unearthed. Though it was only known by an insider, that certain royalty was none other than Amelia Kingdom¡¯s 1st prince, Gilbert. The reason was his grudge toward Kai Heineman who made him lose his image in public. Naturally, anyone who got a peek at that aberration¡¯s true nature wouldn¡¯t even dare to think about assassinating him. Well, it¡¯s not like that monster would be enraged at a little rabbit that tried to bite him. The only reason he was so enraged was the fact that the stupid prince went as far as involving Lyla Hellner. And then, upon knowing that stupid prince even wanted to kill other examinees including his own guardian knight, Somni Barrel, his rage was so great that he purged the mastermind who hired the assassins, the vice headmasters and his faction, and left none of them was spared, all of them died in the most gruesome way one can imagine. As a result, Inea-sama and co from the headmaster faction could finally put the vice headmaster faction, who in fact got too arrogant as of late in its place. But, since Inea-sama did so by inciting the rage of the strongest transcendent in history, she retired from her eternal headmaster position as a form of apology. The headmaster¡¯s seat never changed since the formation of Babel was now left vacant. And that was the culmination of chaos in Babel¡¯s tower. During the ¡ºMagic Academy Gathering¡» which included the vice headmaster faction-the reason for the power split in Babel¡¯s tower- we publicly announced that this incident had nothing to do with us, everything was due to Krab Ahnstein¡¯s doing. As a result, there was heated political strife between the headmaster faction and vice headmaster faction, which ended with the election of the temporary headmaster. The result of the election was Chloe-who forced by the headmaster faction to announce her candidacy- won by a small margin, and became the new headmaster of Babel. ¡¸Inea-sama, I want to retire already.¡¹ Inea-sama was stripped of her fangs after that event and lost her previous passion that felt like it was pricking my skin just by standing near her, and transformed into a calm personality as if gaining enlightenment. She even said with a strangely refreshed look on her face that she could finally research what she always wanted to do in her mansion on the outskirt of Babel. In a certain meaning, Inea¡¯s current lifestyle was the future that Chloe envisioned. At least, she didn¡¯t have to constantly make a decision that feel like it would be bad for her gut. She looked at the piece of paper in her hand, ¡¸Kai Heineman, and other people who gained zero marks in the practical tests were assigned to D-rank academy¨D¨D Ouboro university eh¡­¡¹ She slapped the piece of paper on her table after reading its content. Realistically speaking, Kai Heineman could enrol into ¡ºTower¡» with his ability but, Babel also couldn¡¯t overlook the fact that the result of his practical test was zero. Since even his aptitude test was amongst the lowest, Babel had no choice but to place him into Ouboro academy, or as it was commonly called Onboro(tattered) academy. Babel truly had no choice but to be impartial in accordance with the result of the tests since they really couldn¡¯t afford to lose more trust from Kai Heineman. All they could do was show him that they really are a proper educational institute, not pawns of political powers. Although both Sigma and Bri were dissatisfied with this result, I ended up forcing them to accept it. I mean, knowing that transcendence¡¯s personality, this was the best choice we had in our hands. Yeah, that¡¯s what I believe. Moreover, I hate the tendency of the academy that assigns rank. First, if the result of the entrance exam decided one¡¯s future, then this Babel had already lost its meaning as an educational institution. Thus, I should use this chance as some sort of camphor medicine to erase this trend bit by bit. I had to be very careful too in order not to recieve heart attack just because I went too far like Inea-sama. Nevertheless, the interference of ¡ºMagic Academy Meeting¡», who had no idea about the viciousness of Kai Heineman was the source of many of Chloe¡¯s headaches. Thus, Chloe had a thought. ¡¸Inea-sama, you should take responsibility till the end after you messed up everything.¡¹ As she stared at the scenery of the streets far below, the corners of Chloe¡¯s lips rose up as she muttered so. Volume 4 - CH 53 Act 4-53: Liberated Man ¨D¨DA certain cold prison island. Cold Prison Island¨D¨D A place located at the north end of the Northern Block of Amelia kingdom. It was the worst prison for criminals whose crimes warranted them more than lifetime imprisonment. The giant, heavy metal gate was never opened except for new prisoners. The same opened slowly, a tall man with an unshaved beard and long red hair appeared. ¡¸U~hm!¡¹ The tall, red-haired man with an unshaven beard then stretched his back. ¡¸Aah, nothing beat the fresh air of outside after a long time.¡¹ He said so. And then, he looked at the two men who stood in front of the gate with their hands on their chest. ¡¸You Seems to be in a good mood, Your Highness.¡¹ One of them was a muscular man with sinister eyes and short hair, who spoke as he put on a red robe to the red-haired man with an unshaved beard. ¡¸Your Highness, this.¡¹ A black-haired, bespectacled woman in maid clothes handed over a black knife, her face radiating respect. ¡¸Thanks.¡¹ The red-haired man thanked the black-haired maid as he took the knife, and started to shave his long beard. Once he shaved, his visage transformed into that of handsome youth. ¡ºCanute..¡» And then, a masked person clad in black appeared behind the red-haired youth, Canute. ¡¸Charybdis.¡¹ Canute took a glance at the masked man. ¡ºTook you long enough to come out eh.¡» ¡¸Well yeah. For once, this is greatest prison of Amelia kingdom after all.¡¹ ¡ºIs that really the reason, coming from the mouth of someone whose power surpass even me? You should be able to destroy this miniature garden made by mere human with flick of your finger.¡» ¡¸Not going to deny that you¡¯re right about that point.¡¹ Canute then received a long sword from the sinister eyed muscular man , touched its hilt and then turned around toward the Cold Prison Island. And then, he unsheathed the blade from its scabbard. Canute swung his sword lightly, and then turned around with his back facing against the fort. The next moment, the giant fort split into two, and disintegrated into countless particles. ¡ºThis damn monster! The strength of your existence become far more powerful than when you summoned me eh¡­¡» The masked man, Charybdis didn¡¯t even try to hide his disgust, ¡¸Well, time to meet my older brother I guess.¡¹ Canute returned his sword back into its sheath and then walked toward the sole harbour in the Cold Prison Island. ¡ºOi, are you sure that you are allowed to destroy this facility?¡» ¡¸That place is filled with nothing but pigs who fill their own belly using their position and trash who committed felonies. They¡¯re unnecessary existence in the world that I¡¯m about to create.¡¹ ¡ºIs that the reason why you willingly entered this prison?¡» Seeing Charybdis asked while shrugging his shoulder, ¡¸The barrier that Johannes placed on me is really powerful and even more troublesome than this prison.¡¹ Canute shrugged his shoulders as he raised his hands. ¡ºHAH! Nonsense. Though I¡¯ve to admit that we overlook that. But if it¡¯s you, even if you can¡¯t break his barrier, escaping from this place should be piece of cake.¡» ¡¸You overestimate me.¡¹ ¡ºAs if, that¡¯s just a logical conclusion. Maybe, the real reason is the power that is currently dwelling within you, right? Gifts that grow by eating on malice. Well, that prison didn¡¯t lack that though. Had you already surpassed me since the first time you summoned me? And growing even stronger after all these years?¡» ¡¸Indeed, as for the reason. You¡¯ve long since been aware of it right, Charybdis?¡¹ Seeing Canute asked with a carefree smile on his face, ¡ºGood grief, you¡¯re far more sinister than me, a devil. To be honest, I feel sorry for the king of this kingdom who has a monster-like little brother like you.¡» Charybdis, walking alongside Canute, shook his head as he said so. Two of Canute¡¯s retainers were also following from behind. Thus, the crown contest entered a new stage. Volume 4 - CH 54 Act 4-54: That Question Is Off The Mark(Side: Edward) ¨D¨DThrone room of Amelia kingdom. The gorgeous throne room normally bustling with cabinet ministers of each ministry was currently deserted with only two inside. ¡¸Johannes, why did you free Canute from his imprisonment? And allow him to participate in crown contest of top of that!?¡¹ The prime minister just smiled gently upon hearing Edward asked with such rude tone, ¡¸I¡¯m just followign the rule of the crown contest, since the request from those people from Blood Oath Alliance didn¡¯t contradict the rules.¡¹ And replied with composed voice. ¡¸Spare me the beating around the bush! What I wanted to know is why you, who was persistently against the release of Canute all this time actually became first one to agree to his release!?¡¹ Up until now, Prime Minister Johannes never complied with any request to release Canute, Edward¡¯s younger brother from Cold Prison Island. And yet, now he actually permitted Canute¡¯s participation in the crown contest after Gilbert¡¯s fall, and even released the barrier used on Canute. As a result, Cold Prison Island was decimated, all jailers and prisoners killed. ¡¸Your Majesty, from the very beginning, it¡¯s been impossible for someone like me to imprison him. The only reason why he never left that prison until now is simply because there¡¯s no conflict of interest between our side and him.¡¹ ¡¸Does that mean the destruction of Cold Prison Island isn¡¯t conflict of interest too?¡¹ Edward almost couldn¡¯t suppress the boiling rage in his chest. He had somehow anticipated this result. He also knew that Johannes was aware of the consequence of releasing Canute under that situation. In short, from the very beginning, Johannes had planned to sacrifice the jailers and prisoners in the Cold Prison Island. ¡¸You¡¯ve been reading into it too much, Your Majesty.¡¹ And just as expected, seeing Johannes replied with the same smile as usual, ¡¸Even though they¡¯re criminals, all of them are citizens of the Amelia kingdom! You even sacrificed the innocent jailers, give me a proper explanation for this!?¡¹ Johannes¡¯ smile deepend upon hearing Edward¡¯s complaints and, ¡¸It seems Your Majesty still has a little misunderstanding in this matter.¡¹ He calmly pointed out the mistakes in Edward¡¯s complaint. ¡¸Misunderstanding!?¡¹ ¡¸Your Majesty, there¡¯s no innocent people on that island. That place is the den for beasts who are only faithful to their own desire, greedy beasts with insatiable desire, beasts who will never turn over to a new leaf or regret their mistake.¡¹ ¡¸What do you mean!?¡¹ ¡¸You¡¯ve to investigate this matter on your own for more detailed information in this matter.¡¹ Johannes replied with smile. In that way, the Prime Minister, a monster who single handedly suppressed the wicked nobles in Amelia kingdom didn¡¯t give an answer to what Edward wanted to know the most right now. Okay, I¡¯ve to calm down first. Trying to argue with this prime minister is fool¡¯s errand. No doubt about it, my own experience had proven that. Thus, Edward heaved a deep sigh to allow the blood gathering in his head to flow down, ¡¸Then, can you answer another question of mine?¡¹ Asked Edward after he calmed down. ¡¸As long as I know the answer.¡¹ ¡¸What is your reason for allowing Canute to participate in crown contest?¡¹ ¡¸I should¡¯ve told you before that it simply because the rules allowed it.¡¹ ¡¸Splendid official stance indeed. You of all people should be aware about what will happen to this kingdom if he ever becomes a king, right? Why did you take such risky gamble?¡¹ Thus, for the first time since the start of our conversation, a complex emotion could be seen on Johannes¡¯ face. It was an emotion rarely seen from someone as stout-hearted as Johannes, namely¨D¨D Dejection and disappointment. ¡¸Your Majesty, that question is off the mark.¡¹ And jsut as expected, Johannes admonished Edward again for who know how many times since his childhood. ¡¸Off mark?¡¹ ¡¸Yes. At this point, the goal of this crown contest has long since changed. The moment you¡¯re talking about risky gambling, I¡¯m aware that you¡¯ve failed to see the true essence of this game.¡¹ ¡¸What change are you talking about?¡¹ Edward asked as he struck the left armrest of his throne with irritating voice but, ¡¸¡­¡¹ Johannes just stared at Edward in silence with a smile on his face. ¡¸Don¡¯t feel like telling me eh¡­¡¹ At least, Johannes wouldn¡¯t give the answer to Edward before the latter reached the conclusion closest to the truth. But, for the victory condition and the meaning of the crown contest itself to change¡­ was it? What did he mean? The original victory condition was by calculating the achievement and the condition of the area under the management of each candidate. So if we exclude Canute from the huge change in the crown contest, we only had one last thing. Namely, the existence of Kai Heineman. That fella was definitely a beast beyond common sense. One of the two absolute rulers of Babel, vice headmaster Krab had literally vanished from this world just because he provoked the wrath of Kai Heineman, and even the headmaster, Inea who only used Kai to get rid of Krab started to become tumour for Babel was forced to retire from her position and life a retirement live. In that regard, even Gilbert, whose vicious act toward Rose knew no bounds as of late was forced to retire from the crown contest by Kai Heineman. Gilbert had been taught since his childhood to become a good king for his own people. Unfortunately, the one who taught him was one of the top brass of the blood oath alliance. Thus, he wasn¡¯t taught the most important things to become a good king. As a result, he committed numerous atrocities toward his subordinates and his own people, and he went as far as selling his own sister, Rose to the empire. By the point he hatched the plan to sell Rose and Felis to a pig of shi*t called Ketzer, Edward knew that he had to prevent Gilbert from going too far. But, he met a problem namely Gilbert being one of the rightful contestants for the crown contest. That including his backing, the blood oath alliance, and dealing with them wasn¡¯t a simple matter. When Edward and co were racking their brain trying to make Gilbert and co to show an opening, the latter ended up baring his fangs toward Kai Heineman over a stupid quarrel in Babel and was forced to retire from the crown contest, solving one of Edward and co¡¯s problem immediately. At first, Edward had also regarded Kai Heineman as nothing more than one of Rose¡¯s royal guard temporary advisors but he revised his evaluation upon hearing the last condition he imposed in order for Gilbert to regain all of his memories. He was convinced that Kai Heineman was the vessel of a king. And unlike a fake king like Edward, Kai Heineman was a true king. He was the personification of a perfect king for the monster-like prime minister beside him. Thus, the Prime Minister regarded Kai Heineman as the eye of the typhoon. Thus, he concluded that the matter of the release of his monster-like little brother was related to Kai Heineman. At this point, Edward had no choice but convinced of that. Canute was akin to tumour for Amelia kingdom. That was even more reason for the Prime Minister to remove the said tumour once and for all, and that chance was right before him. But, Edward couldn¡¯t help but to think that Johannes might be too hasty this time. He was very much aware of how much of a monster Canute was. An overwhelming charisma that seemingly didn¡¯t belong to humans. And then, a gift that grew by consuming the malice of others. At this point, a normal person like Edward had no idea just how powerful his little brother had become. Because he knew that if not for Canute¡¯s extremely depraved nature, the one who would sit in the throne right now was Canute. ¡¸I know that you have a high evaluation for Kai Heineman. Nevertheless, I really can¡¯t picture him defeating the current Canute.¡¹ It was a natural conclusion he came with as someone who witnessed Canute¡¯s past deed. Canute¡¯s power was beyond human comprehension, he was a walking natural disaster. And a human could never fight the natural disasters. Kai Heineman was an important talent for the future of Amelia kingdom. More than the hero party who were blinded by their job to annihilate the demon race. That¡¯s why I absolutely wouldn¡¯t let him be crushed by Canute. ¡¸You can¡¯t imagine him win against His Highness Canute, is it?¡¹ Johannes said so toward Edward with an amused look on his face but, ¡¸That sound good. This will be my last homework for you, Your Majesty. Make sure you submit the report about the true meaning of this crown contest after you see the conclusion of this game of thrones.¡¹ After saying so, Johannes bowed once, turned around and left Edward behind. ¡¸Last homework eh¡­¡¹ Up till now Johannes never said anything for no reason to Edward. The way Johannes expressed that in a roundabout way means that there really was a deep meaning behind the crown contest. Meaning that the crown contest wasn¡¯t a mere competition of governing skill and power. ¡¸Sure. Just as you wish, let see through the end of this contest.¡¹ Edward soliloquy echoed inside the throne room with no one inside. Volume 4 - CH 55 Act 4-55: Nightmare of Domino Effect ¨D¨DHigh-End residential area in the northern part of Babel. ¡¸Haah, we lost our sponsor.¡¹ Hijiri, a red-haired slender man with an undercut, leaned on his chair while placing his hands on the back of his head. Hearing Hijiri¡¯s remark, everyone¡¯s line of sight gathered toward a handsome black-haired youth who wore a complicated look on his face, Satoru. ¡¸What¡¯s your problem!? I know already! If you want to blame someone, blame that idiot prince who moves only to his own rhythm!¡¹ Satoru shouted furiously since he felt that he did nothing wrong in this situation, which was true, seeing that he was safe and sound. ¡¸Do you know the details?¡¹ The beauty with long, silky black hair, Mashiro asked to the knight who donned white armour behind her as made a gesture of pondering about something. ¡¸The kingdom investigation corps arrest Prince Gilbert as the suspect of the murder attempt of apprentice knight Tetle and guardian knight Somni, who participated in Babel¡¯s entrance exam.¡¹ The temperature of the room feels like it dropped by a few degrees the moment the words ¡°Kingdom Investigation Corps¡± came out. ¡¸Speaking of the leader of that investigation corps, it¡¯s that monster-like prime minister, right?¡¹ Even Hijiri who still acted carefreely a while ago spoke with serious look on his face. ¡¸Yes. Since prince Gilbert committed the greatest taboo for royalty, namely, an assassination attempt on his own subordinates without cause, his participation in the crown contest will be suspended indefinitely. That was what the report had said.¡¹ ¡¸Yup. Gil ended up infuriating that man. That¡¯s the natural result for ignoring our warning though.¡¹ Hearing Mashiro¡¯s remark, ¡¸You¡¯re right, Mashiro. Gil is already¨D¨D¡¹ Hijiri gave an appropriate reply and talked about Gilbert¡¯s safety. ¡¸Nope, it¡¯s the Prime Minister after all. If Gil really is dead, he will say ¡°Lost¡± instead of ¡°Suspended¡±. Since he says ¡°Suspended indefinitely¡±, it means that Gilbert is still alive.¡¹ The moment Mashiro said so, the tense air in the room eased out. ¡¸But then, what shall we do now? How do you think we will get our stipends without Gil¡¯s assistance?¡¹ Satoru asked Mashiro while stomping angrily. ¡¸Don¡¯t worry about it. An alternative proposal just came from the high nobles who belong to the Gilbert faction, in regard to Gilbert¡¯s suspension this time. I think we received one part of it.¡¹ "" ¡¸Alternative proposal?¡¹ Seeing Satoru frown, ¡¸Yes. It seems Amelia kingdom has another candidate with inheritance rights to participate in the crown contest.¡¹ ¡¸Another candidate with inheritance right? The current king only has three children, right?¡¹ ¡¸Yes, the other person is the younger brother of the current king, they have a huge age gap between them. According to the ruler of the crown contest, as long as they¡¯re still young, even the current king¡¯s brother can participate in the crown contest.¡¹ ¡¸Ha~h, well, since Gil has literally dropped out from the competition, I guess there¡¯s no male candidate for the throne at this point. Is that why a certain someone has to take the burden?¡¹ Mashiro nodded lightly. ¡¸Naturally, this rule has been adopted before the start of the crown contest. It¡¯ll be another case if this rule was added after the start of the contest. Firstly, I think the situation in Gil¡¯s participation in the crown contest being suspended shouldn¡¯t apply to this particular rule, since he isn¡¯t dead. And yet¨D¨D¡¹ ¡¸The reason why they used this particular rule must be because those high nobles are in hot water, right?¡¹ ¡¸Do you think that Prime Minister will buck in with their nonsense?¡¹ ¡¸He won¡¯t. I can¡¯t imagine a situation in which he loses in an argument. Anyhow, what are you trying to say?¡¹ Seeing Hijiri frown, he asked, ¡¸Well, nothing. But, I feel that the case isn¡¯t that simple.¡¹ ¡¸It isn¡¯t that simple? Mashiro, you, are way too vague here, you know!¡¹ Seeing that the annoying sage Satoru was pressing for more explanations, Mashiro just shrugged his shoulders and, ¡¸It seems that a particular little brother of the king had been imprisoned for a long time somewhere far away for several crimes he committed in the past. And he was released from that prison after the Prime Minister buckled into the pleas of those high nobles.¡¹ She disclosed that information with an indifferent voice. ¡¸Several crimes? Can you give a more concrete description?¡¹ ¡¸One of them are murdering the previous king.¡¹ ¡¸Patricide eh¡­ Just what kind of a person is he?¡¹ When Hijiri stared at the soldiers around them, ¡¸About that¡­¡¹ All of them were looking at each other as if hesitating what to say. Their expressions were complicated, a mix of negative and positive emotions. ¡¸That¡¯s how they react whenever I ask this question. It seems that he is quite a flippant person, he, along with the prime minister is the leading actor behind the explosive growth of Amelia kingdom in the past.¡¹ Seeing Mashiro shrugging her shoulders as she shook her head, ¡¸So what is the reason for such a dangerous guy to participate in the crown contest at this kind of timing? No, let me change my question. Is there any reason for him to participate?¡¹ Hijiri didn¡¯t beat around the bush. ¡¸I also have no idea of the reason. If Prime Minister has his own agenda in this plan, he is already ahead of us by at least two steps.¡¹ ¡¸That¡¯s too. In the first place, Gil¡¯s dropping out of the crown contest seems to be a part of the prime minister¡¯s plan too.¡¹ ¡¸Well, about that, Gil might¡¯ve already been considered as a piece of the game by the time he tried to violate the prime minister¡¯s ultimatum. But, this is a bit too much, for the prime minister whose moves are always well hidden. Which reminds me¡­¡¹ Seeing Mashiro cross her arms, she pondered deeply, ¡¸Ha~h, let¡¯s stop! We¡¯re off-topic! We, who were fundamentally stronger than average before coming to this world, have no one to consult about this matter! Honestly, what that prime minister is trying to do has nothing to do with us! We should prioritize our plan after that! What do you think, Mashiro?!¡¹ Satoru stood up as he gave such a meaningful proposal. Hearing that, Mashiro heaved a sigh and, ¡¸Yeah. We¡¯re derailed from our topic. With the participation of the rumoured archduke Canute in the crown contest, almost all high nobles decided to support him.¡¹ She started to disclose the information that everyone wanted to hear the most. ¡¸So? Are the two of you interested to become the royal guards of that archduke? By the way, is it impossible for me since I¡¯ve already become Gil¡¯s royal guard?¡¹ Mashiro shook her head upon hearing Satoru¡¯s question. ¡¸There¡¯s no reason for us to dance on top of that Prime Minister(Monster)¡¯s palm. For the time being, we will just do what we have done, on the surface, we will act as if we¡¯re cooperating with that archduke, in exchange, we will receive undivided cooperation to annihilate the demon race. They should¡¯ve agreed with that offer.¡¹ The air in the room heated up at once the moment Mashiro said so. ¡¸Yes, it¡¯s still too early to feel delighted! The crown contest has nothing to do with our goal after all. What are you going to do about Gil¡¯s Westland? Are we going to toss it aside now? Well, that will be too selfish, right?¡¹ Hearing Satoru¡¯s question, Mashiro, Hijiri, and the knights around them stared at Satoru with surprise. ¡¸W-What¡¯s with that look!?¡¹ ¡¸No, I just never expected that you¡¯re actually such a responsible person.¡¹ Seeing Mashiro expresses her true intentions, ¡¸She¡¯s right. Why did Satorucchi do something like that now instead of me! Aren¡¯t you supposed to say ¡°This cr*ap is bothersome¡± at some moment?¡¹ Hijiri added in a teasing tone. ¡¸You lot¨D¨D¡¹ Seeing Satoru¡¯s shoulders tremble in anger, Mashiro raised her hands as if telling the former that she gave up. ¡¸Okay, enough with the jokes. Satoru is right. Westland territory has already become our territory. It¡¯ll become our base of operation after we exterminate the demon race. We¡¯ll do our best to look for a way to return to earth. That¡¯s why I¡¯ve already settled this matter with the people from the archduke¡¯s side.¡¹ ¡¸Are you telling me that Westland is ours as long as we cooperate with Canute in the crown contest? Are you going to believe that archduke-san¡¯s words? What will you go to do if he betrays us?¡¹ Hearing Hijiri¡¯s worry-filled question, ¡¸It won¡¯t happen. The reason being our backing is the biggest, strongest, and wealthiest organization in this world.¡¹ Mashiro¡¯s lips rose up as she declared so. ¡¸He~, backed by the biggest, strongest, and wealthiest organization eh. What gall do they have to do that? I mean, they¡¯re the ones who want to get rid of us after we exterminate the demon race, right?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, well, it seems they¡¯re also in a serious predicament which caused them to have no leeway to deal with us. Anyhow, the archduke¡¯s side also isn¡¯t stupid enough to make an enemy of the central church. As long as we don¡¯t become a hindrance during the crown contest, we will get the right to govern Westland.¡¹ ¡¸Well, we still have to pay tax to this kingdom. So, it makes no difference with being governed by a noble. They have no choice but to accept that condition.¡¹ Everyone raised their voices of relief upon hearing Hijiri¡¯s thoughts. "" The nightmare of the domino effect was something that they, as outsiders, could feel at this point in time. But then, due to Mashiro¡¯s decision, the nightmare which came from Cardinal Pandora would soon haunt the hero team. Yes. At this point in time, one might say that the hero team had foolishly participated in a war against the most terrifying monster in this world with nothing but a simple wooden stick. Volume 4 - CH 56.1 £¨DAMMIT! WE WENT TOO FAR!£© One of the Empire¡¯s six generals, Ramunera, cursed inside as he ran with his fellow general, Kirky. After he eliminated the wasp user, clearly an assassin from underworld, Kai Heineman headed towards the plaza with two others on his shoulders. The two tried to go after him but fell behind. On the way, they suddenly realized that the entire place was suddenly wrapped in black mist, and just when they managed to come out of it, they met the undead. The one chasing after them right now was flock of zombie-like monsters. ¡¸Hey, Ramunera, they¡¯re clearly toying with us!¡¹ ¡¸I KNOW THAT!¡¹ It just as Kirky had said, the undead who went after them was maintaining reasonable distance, they were chasing after Ramunera and co while circling around them. ¡¸Either way, we¡¯re slowly being cornered by them! Kirky, let¡¯s fight back!¡¹ He turned around and cast one of the four holy relics¨D¨D The four light towards the undead. It formed a cubic shaped barrier. Ramunera was trying to buy some time with that barrier. And then¨D¨D ¡¸¡­¡¹ When he turned to Kirky, she nodded at him and draw her long sword. ¡¸Let¡¯s do this.¡¹ Kirky weapon was also one of holy relic, one with best compatibility with the four light. At glance, it looks like a long sword but, it had the effect of adding holy attribute in each of its slash. Since the barrier gave debuff to the enemies within its range, the two of them could reduce the number of the pursuer as they retreated. Nevertheless, even though manifesting the four light took a toll in its user¡¯s mind, thus reducing movement speed, the two of them could gain some distance. Though this skill was a double-edged sword, he knew that Kai Heineman could easily kill the undead pursuing them. Kirky¡¯s long sword was wrapped in a silvery aura. ¡¸HA!¡¹ The silvery slash went toward one of the headless undead. And yet, the headless undead slapped down the slash like an annoying fly. ¡¸Eh?¡¹ ¡¸Eh?¡¹ When Ramunera and co raised a dumbfounded voice, the figure of headless undead before them blurred. ¡¸R-RAMUNERA!!¡¹ Kirky¡¯s mouth flapped like gold fish out of the water as she pointed behind Ramunera. Ramunera turned around at once and then, he saw that the headless undead was right inside the silvery barrier that was supposed to be safe haven for them. ¡¸I-impossible¡ª¡¹ The moment he shouted in exasperation, Ramunera felt a strong blow on his solar plexus, and his consciousness descended to darkness Volume 4 - CH 56.2 Ramunera regained his consciousness as he came across a rotten smell, and when he opened his eyes, he realized that he was on top of a giant plate. When he moved head toward the sobbing voice, he saw Kirky sobbing like a child. Though he couldn¡¯t ask Kirky what happened since both of them were gagged, he saw that both of them were placed on top of a giant plate in their birthday attire. Kirk herself realized that they¡¯re in huge trouble. As if their situation wasn¡¯t worse enough, their entire body was smeared with some sort of seasoning. £¨It seems they¡¯re going to eat us.£© A normal undead had no concept of eating a human seasoned with sauce. Nope, like hell, a normal undead couldn¡¯t penetrate the barrier of four light conjured by holy relic when not even six generals were capable of doing so. Pho-san might be the only one who could do that. In short, that headless undead was about as strong as Pho-san. And yet, it was as if there was nothing special about it. Meaning that undead with Pho-san¡¯s level of power was normal in this place. ¡¸Kuhahaha! Finally giving up eh!¡¹ Even Kirky, who was hailed as a war princess, was sobbing like a kid. That¡¯s just how hopeless their current situation is. They were surrounded by undead whose strength was on a completely different level from them. It was as if the humans were mere ants for them. Or else, they might be akin to divine beings for Ramunera and co. Demon King? Dragon King? They were just trash before these guys. They were monster whose power rivalling that of Pho-san. The only one who could defeat them were those whose power had broke through the ceiling of this world¡¯s logic, the transcendence. The thing that interrupted Ramunera¡¯s train of thought was a cook-like undead who entered the kitchen. That cook then placed both Ramunera and Kirky on a giant plate, and covered them with cloth. "" When the cloth was unveiled a while later, Ramunera saw a genuine monster. It was a short man with a balloon-like body. ¡¸!?¡¹ He wanted to scream but the gag in his mouth prevented it se. £¨What the hell is this guy¡­£© Are you kidding me! This fella is on a completely different level! His presence alone made me want to to vomit. Like hell Pho-san can win against these fellas. The seemingly bottomless magical power that feels like it burn my skin was far more sinister than the one owned by Kai Heineman. £¨Just how in the world did we encounter such terrifying existence one after another!£© Ramunera really wanted to cry now. Naturally, the biggest reason was fear but, he was also very frustated. Up until now, Ramunera had never doubted his own strength. And yet, now he had to face bitter reality. First he encountered a human whose strength was anything but human, Kai Heineman, and just a while later, he encountered another monster whose power surpassed even that Kai Heineman. In short, he was forced to realize that the strength that he took pride until now was worthless in front of those true monsters. Thus, he couldn¡¯t help but feel really vexed about it. ¡ºAre they domesticated?¡» ¡ºOur scout happened to catch them in the wild. After washing them clean and using my secret sauce to cover them, I hope Your Majesty will enjoy their fresh, wild flavor.¡» ¡ºAwesome £Ä£Å£Á£Ô£È! Live, wild livestock(human)! My tongue smeared in that despair is a really tough one, bu~~~~t, no one hates the sweet rotten taste£Ä£Å£Á£Ô£È!¡» Overhearing such disgusting remark from the more so disgusting looking balloon-like man, Ramunera felt as if millions of ants were running amok in his spine. Maybe because he was so scared to the point that his blood felt frozen due to fear, Ramunera screamed inside. But, his mute scream was futile¨D¨D ¡ºAlas, the best is to start from the head¨D¨D¡» The mouth of the balloon-like man opened wide, to the point of abnormality as he prepared to eat Kirky. Before being picked up by Pho, both Kirky and Ramunera were children living in the slum. By the time they were conscious of their surrounding, they had already been raised like siblings. And now, the restrained Ramunera couldn¡¯t do anything but see his sister-like figure eaten alive right before him, he couldn¡¯t even scream to curse the balloon-like man. That situation was¨D¨D £¨DON¡¯T MESS WITH MEEEEEEEEEE!!£© That was¨D¨D Absolutely unforgiveable! Even if the other party was god-like existence¨D¨D And then, when the boiling rage in his stomach exploded and he raised bestial roar despite the gag in his mouth¨D¨D ¡ºBeelzebub debu~? Beelzebub debu~~?¡» Another voice resounded directly in his head. ¡ºWHO¡¯S THERE £Ä£Å£Á£Ô£È!?¡» The mouth of the balloon-like man returned to normal as he looked up in anger. As if to answer that question, ¡ºFound him, Supreme Ruler-chama~¡» A bipedal fly appeared out of nowhere. Ramunera knew that fly was summoned by Kai Heineman. But, was aware that the fly wasn¡¯t strong enough. Reason being he couldn¡¯t feel sinister magical power from the fly like the one emitted by the balloon-like man. And the same goes even if Kai Heineman appeared in this place. But, Ramunera knew he was wrong a moment later when he saw the dreaded expression of the balloon-like man. That expression was similar to when Ramunera and co looked at the balloon-like man. ¡ºYour Majesty¡¯s name is¨D¨D¡» And just when the balloon-like man seems like he wanted to say something, the castle made from red flesh suddenly crumbled down to pieces, leaving nothing but a vacant lot. ¡ºIMPOSSIBLE! THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE DEATH!¡» Numerous grotesque beings surrounded the confused balloon-like man. And then, all of those grotesque beings bowed down to one direction. Standing in the direction to which they bowed was Kai Heineman, holding a foreign sword in his right hand. £¨What¡¯s the meaning of this?£© Ramunera was truly confused right now. The reason being he felt nothing from Kai Heineman, the same for the bipedal fly. And yet, the balloon-like man was pleading for his life instead. It appeared to him that the balloon-like man couldn¡¯t defeat Kai Heineman no matter what. And as if to prove Ramunera¡¯s suspicion, Kai Heineman mercilessly destroyed the balloon-like man with his overwhelming power. A while later, Ramunera and co followed Kai Heineman back to the plaza prepared for the refugee. This man, just what in the hell is he? Well, of course, I know that unlike Pho-san, he is a genuine transcendent being. Otherwise, there was no other explanation for how he could destroy an existence akin to the embodiment of despair as if trampling an ant. What I wanted to know isn¡¯t superficial things like that, I wanted to understand his true nature, the root that made him today. ¡¸Excuse me¡­¡¹ When he tried to raise his voice-albeit barely audible- Kai Heineman stopped his gait, and turned around, ¡¸Uhm, what¡¯s matter?¡¹ And asked Ramunera and Kirky with a rich expression, befitting that of a genuine human. ¡¸Why did you save us?¡¹ ¡¸Did you want to die?¡¹ Seeing Kai Heineman frowned as he asked back to Ramunera, ¡¸No, I don¡¯t mean that! Honestly, I¡¯m really grateful for the fact that you saved us.¡¹ Ramunera denying it, shaking his hands while expressing his gratitude to Kai Heineman. ¡¸Uhm? What¡¯s the meaning of your question then? I mean, what do you really want to ask me?¡¹ ¡¸I want to know why, you protected us under such circumtances?¡¹ ¡¸Well, I guess because it¡¯ll leave bad after taste in my mouth.¡¹ ¡¸That¡¯s all?¡¹ ¡¸Are you really surprised with me saving you guys?¡¹ ¡¸N-No, it just that¡­¡¹ Despite his light tone, Ramunera knew that Kai Heineman was the lord of numerous powerful transcendences. He was a league ahead of the balloon like man, the literal strongest transcendence in history. And that very person himself said that leaving Ramunera and co to die would leave a bad taste in his mouth. That remark was completely different from the remark of a transcendence-basically god-like being- in Ramunera¡¯s imagination. ¡¸Well. If I¡¯m forced to say, the reason why I save you guys are because I¡¯m a human.¡¹ ¡¸W-Who are you referring to?¡¹ Ramunera couldn¡¯t help but to ask back upon hearing such ambiguous remark. ¡¸Me.¡¹ ¡¸Eh£¿¡¹ ¡¸I said, I AM A HUMAN.¡¹ ¡¸Are you joking with us?¡¹ Even Kirky was nodding along, agreeing with Ramunera this time. ¡¸Not you guys too.¡¹ Kai Heineman face palmed, heaving a sigh as if expecting that situation and then, ¡¸From the tip of my hair till the bottom of my feet, I am a genuine human. Whether in the past or present, I¡¯m still a human.¡¹ And said such unbelievable sentence to both Ramunera and Kirky. But, Ramunera knew from seeing Kai Heineman¡¯s expression and gesture that the man wasn¡¯t lying to them. Or rather, there really was no reason for him to tell a lie to them. Thus, making Ramunera even more confused than before. ¡¸No way, you really are¡­ HUMAN?¡¹ Ramunera couldn¡¯t help but ask for the final confirmation. ¡¸Of course, I¡¯ve been telling you that right? No matter how you look at it, I¡¯m a human.¡¹ If you¡¯re a human, what are us then? Just where do you find a human who can trample down that balloon-like man which felt like an embodiment of despair? ¡¸You really are, a human, right?¡¹ If that¡¯s the case¨D¨D ¡¸No matter how many times you ask me, my answer remains the same.¡¹ Maybe because Ramunera kept repeating the same question, Kai Heineman who always gave the same answer looked slightly irritated. But, the last confirmation answered Ramunera¡¯s question. If Kai Heineman was truly a human, it means that he¨D¨D ¡¸Have you exceeded it?¡¹ Asked so in an extremely passionate voice. His body was trembling non-stop, he didn¡¯t even realize that he was starting to cry. And he understood the reason for his tears. There was no way a martial artists who lived their lives pursuing the pinnacle of their respective path wouldn¡¯t move to tears by this fact. Same as Pho-san? Are you kidding me? No matter how you look at it, this personage stands on a completely different dimension. This must be the reason why those transcendences referred to him as their Supreme Ruler. He wasn¡¯t just strong. Despite his human body, this personage had broken through the limit as humans and attained the pinnacle of power in every possible way. ¡¸Exceed? Exceed what?¡¹ ¡¸No, it¡¯s nothing, I¡¯ve got the answer I wanted to hear.¡¹ ¡¸I-I see.¡¹ Kai was looking at Kirky and Ramunera with a twitched smile on his face but then, he heaved a sigh as if giving up on something, ¡¸You guys too huh¡­¡¹ And said a remark that telling the two that this wasn¡¯t the first time he saw such case. Kai escorted Ramunera and Kirky until they arrived in the plaza and vanished by the next moment. ¡¸What will you do after this, Ramunera?¡¹ ¡¸You¡¯ve know the answer right?¡¹ For the current Ramunera, his status as six general was nothing more than useless baggage. He had lost all attachment to such empty status. It was replaced by a strong desire to serve under Kai Heineman, serving by his side as his sword and shield. ¡¸Yeah. Since you feel the same, let¡¯s do it together.¡¹ ¡¸And that desire are?¡¹ ¡¸The desire to serve under Kai-sama.¡¹ Naturally, Ramunera and co didn¡¯t express their intention right away since they knew that Kai wouldn¡¯t accept them right away, at least not when they were still working under Pho. Thus, they planned to prolong their stay in the academy in the name of observation and wait for the right moment for the chance to serve under him. Moreover, though they barely had any good memories in the empire, it didn¡¯t change the fact that the place was their motherland. They still had to tell the empire that it was impossible to persuade Kai Heineman to join their side. ¡¸Well, let¡¯s start the formal procedure.¡¹ ¡¸Yeah.¡¹ Both of them let out a chuckle as they looked at each other, and left the plaza. At that time, the wind that brushed past Ramunera¡¯s face felt really refreshing, as if it took a load off his shoulders. Volume 4 - CH 56.3 Act 4-56.3: Crossroad of Fate(Side: Somni Barrel) Somni opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. ¡¸This place is¡­¡¹ He scanned his surroundings with his still muddy head, and finally recalled the nightmarish reality¨D¨D ¡¸LYLA!¡¹ Somni jumped out of his bed to confirm the safety of the girl that he tried to protect with his last bit of pride as a knight. That moment, the peculiar alcohol smell on the bed sheet finally reached his nasal cavity. Making him to realize that this place was the sickbay. ¡¸OI, WHY ARE YOU SUDDENLY SHOUTING LYLA-SAN¡¯S NAME THE MOMENT YOU WOKE UP!?¡¹ A handsome youth with light brown hair seized Somni by his collar, staring into his eyes as he heard him. Though it had nothing to do with Somni, he knew the name of the youth who seized his collar. Roman Heineman, one of the supermen who received the gift of spear king. He was the owner of overwhelming talent which couldn¡¯t be compared to his small one. ¡¸YEAH! I¡¯M THE ONLY ONE ALLOWED TO CALL DEAR BIG SIS BY HER NAME!¡¹ Roman¡¯s voice was followed by another voice. When Somni turned to the direction of the voice, he saw a blonde-haired girl with bob cut glaring at him with anger. And beside her was¨D¨D ¡¸I see, you¡¯re safe eh¡­¡¹ A beautiful girl with long wavy blonde hair¨D¨D Lyla Hellner. Thank goodness. Seeing her safe like this made me feel that it¡¯s worth to sacrifice my left arm to save her. Let¡¯s just say that her safety is the reward of my effort. ¡¸Eh? My left arm?¡¹ He found that his left arm, that was supposed to be severed, was just fine, as good as new. As he wondered if he was still in a dream, he realized that the current situation felt too real for a that to be true. It was undoubtedly a reality. Most likely, his arm was healed by the Babel. Upon a closer look, he did saw a shallow, almost invisible trace of cut. Anyhow, let¡¯s inquire the current situation first. ¡¸How did I ended up in this place?¡¹ Lyla shook her head and, ¡¸I¡¯ve no idea, I¡¯ve been unconscious the whole time and by the time I woke up, I was already in the sickbay. Right, Lumine?¡¹ ¡¸Yup. It¡¯s as you say, Sis!¡¹ The girl with bob-cut nodded grandly as she replied with bright smile on her face. ¡¸That wasp user bastard, I¡¯ll make sure he pays for what he did to us the next time we meet!¡¹ Roman punched the palm of his left hand with an enraged face when he said so. ¡¸Hey, Big sis¡­ What about him?¡¹ When Lumine asked with upturned gaze, the girl¡¯s face flushed red as she entwined her hands together, ¡¸Kai is safe and sound. He came for a visit a while before you guys woke up.¡¹ Lyla replied with a smile brimming with innocence and joy. Her smile became even more profound upon seeing Lumine heave a sigh of relief. ¡¸H-Humph! I-It¡¯s not like I¡¯m happy seeing him safe and sound!¡¹ Maybe because she noticed the profound smile on Lyla¡¯s face, Lumine rejected it, puffing her cheeks as she placed her arm on her hips. ¡¸Okay-okay, I know already.¡¹ Seeing Lumine acting like that, Lyla patter her head, nodding with gentle smile on her face, as if she was coaxing a sulking child. ¡¸I-I¡¯m serious!¡¹ Lumine shouted at Lyla with flushed red cheeks. Thus, Somni realized that the bob cut girl was Kai Heineman¡¯s acquaintance too. He then remembered that Kai Heineman¡¯s birthplace was fortress city Lamour. Thus, it might be natural for him to be the acquaintance of the spear king too. ¡¸Lyla, what happened to Egg¡¯s corpse?¡¹ Even if only his head remained, he wanted to deliver Egg¡¯s corpse back to the latter¡¯s parent. He would then ask for the dead boy¡¯s parents for forgiveness. It was his mission, and duty as the one who involved Egg in his trouble, albeit by accident. That was his true feelings. Hearing that, Lyla frowned, tilting her head lightly to the side and, ¡¸Corpse? Egg is still alive you know.¡¹ Somni was about to refute Lyla. Because he saw the moment when Egg got beheaded. He had no doubt about it since he saw Egg¡¯s last moment with his own eyes. ¡¸No, I¡¯m sure that he already¨D¨D¡¹ The door of the sick bay opened up with a bang the moment he was trying to say something, ¡¸I¡¯VE BROUGHT THE FOOD!¡¹ A black-haired youth with burly build entered the room with bag of cloth in his hand. The moment that person entered Somni¡¯s sight¨D¨D ¡¸E-E-EGG!?¡¹ He couldn¡¯t help but shout in confusion while pointing at Egg. His reaction was only natural because the Egg he saw stood right there without any physical defect. ¡¸Uhm? Who do you reckon I am then?¡¹ ¡¸HAH! You should¡¯ve died back then right?¡¹ The spear king¨D¨D Roman was bringing up the topic to Egg as if mocking the latter. ¡¸So cruel. I¡¯m still alive you know.¡¹ Somni walked with staggered manner till he arrived by Egg¡¯s side who was still pouting and, ¡¸¡­¡¹ He touched Egg¡¯s body as if trying to confirm something. ¡¸W-What are you doing, Somni-san!!? Stop, you¡¯re creeping me out!!¡¹ Seeing Egg¡¯s cramped smile, Somni felt relieved as if he had just been released from the abyss of despair and fell on his rear with a smile on his face. Volume 4 - CH 56.4 Act 4-56.4: Crossroad of Fate(Side: Somni Barrel) After that, Somni listened to Lyla and Egg telling him about their current situation. The last thing that Egg remembered was when he got attacked by the girls, while in Lyla¡¯s case, it was when she lost against the skinhead man. The next time they open their eyes, they¡¯re already lying in sickbay. After that, a few organizations came in and asked a few questions to Lyla and co. Amongst them were Babel and Amelia kingdom. Nevertheless, the other party seemed to have a rough understanding of the situation and was actually just asking for confirmation. ¡¸In the end, I¡¯m just king of a mountain.¡¹ When Somni said so with self-depreciated tone, ¡¸Yea~h, I knew yer feeling.¡¹ Egg also said the same things wearing a similar expression. ¡¸You knew?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, the rumor about that matter is spreading wildly after all. Well, it¡¯s not like you¡¯re weak, Somni-san. But, being able to become semi-finalist in saced martial arts tournament or having your abilities approved to become His Highness Gilbert¡¯s guardian knight is just a bit¡­¡¹ Egg replied while scratching his cheek. ¡¸I see. So everyone already knew about that huh¡­¡¹ I¡¯m such an idiot. The reason why I managed to reach the big four was simply because my father had prepared the stage for me. And I¡¯m being such an idiot for being the only one who failed to notice that when I was just a greenhorn with no combat experience. Yeah, all this time, I was nothing more than a clown. ¡¸But, the same things can be said for me. The reason why I passed the entrance exam of kingdom knight academy is because my father used his influence to rig the match, resulting in me facing a commoner. In my case, my father told me about that fact soon after though.¡¹ Egg squeezed those words with an unpleasant face. ¡¸I see¡­¡¹ Come to think of it, my first impression about Egg when I met him was a boy passionate about sword. But then, it quickly became ¡°A boy who loves fooling around and doesn¡¯t care about sword at all¡±. Maybe Egg had experienced many setbacks during that transition which made him the latter. ¡¸So, what are you going to do now, Somni-san?¡¹ It seems Egg had been told about the mess he accidentally stepped into. Seeing that I¡¯ve been dismissed as the guardian knight of that shitty prince(Gilbert), there was no reason for me to stay in this Babel anymore. But, Somni¡¯s pride didn¡¯t allow him to ran back to his birthplace. Reason being, he didn¡¯t want to become clown who life under the protection of his father again. Thus¨D¨D ¡¸I¡¯ll stay in Babel. Even if I fail this year, I¡¯ll work in this city and try my luck next year.¡¹ Though he didn¡¯t know if staying could make him stronger, he knew that he wouldn¡¯t get another chance if he ran back to his parents. ¡¸¡­¡¹ Egg was looking silently at Somni for a while but, ¡¸Somni, it seems you¡¯re getting over it too eh.¡¹ Egg ended up saying something with a solemn look and tone, something that Somni would never expect to come from Egg. Just when Somni was puzzled by Egg¡¯s change of personality, the door of the sickbay opened, and an old man entered the room. The old man took off the hat on his head, and bowing lightly as he placed it on his chest. ¡¸Somni Barrel-kun, Our Master wishes to see you. Come with me.¡¹ The old man¡¯s tone was calm and yet, for some reason, Somni couldn¡¯t refuse it, ¡¸Y-Yes.¡¹ Ended up agreeing immediately. Egg who sit by his side tried to say something with incomprehensible look on his face but, ¡¸It¡¯s okay. Our Master isn¡¯t a lowlife like a certain idiotic prince of Amelia kingdom. You¡¯re granted the honor to meet him. Somni¡¯s safety is guaranteed.¡¹ The old man raised the palm of his right hand to the front as he said so with passionate voice. Seriously? he even dares to say that the prince of Amelia kingdom is an idiot. As expected, it isn¡¯t something that a citizen of Amelia kingdom would say. From his tone and gesture, it seems that he really regarded Gilbert as lowlife and unsalvaged idiot. Then, I can at least trust him enough to follow him to meet his master. Not that I have a reason to refuse this old man¡¯s invitation. ¡¸Understood. But, is it really just me?¡¹ He stopped Egg who tried to say something with his right hand as he asked that question while looking into the old man¡¯s eyes. ¡¸Yes.¡¹ The old man squinted his eyes as he replied to him, and then jerked his chin as if telling Somni to follow him before he left. Volume 4 - CH 56.5 Act 4-56.5: Crossroad of Fate(Side: Somni Barrel) The place he was guided to was an old mansion located in a certain residential area for general students. Just when Somni was wondering to which royalty residence he was about to bring, they arrived in front of the room that look like a living room.[TL: Grotesque¨C>Otherworldy] The old man turned around to face him upon arriving in front of the door and, ¡¸Now listen to me. The one who waits inside this room is an extremely powerful person in this world except for a few. This is my last reminder, never forget your manner when you stepped inside.¡¹ And gave a reminder with an extremely sinister smile. His eyes shone in bright red light, and the corner of his lips rose up until his ears. Somni gulped his saliva, expecting the identity of the person waiting behind the door, ¡¸Y-YES!¡¹ Nodded vigorously. That was akin to the survival instinct. At this point, Somni knew that he was completely in the mercy of the old man. Upon seeing his attitude, the old man nodded in satisfaction and then knocked on the door. ¡ºEnter.¡» The door opened slowly along with a man¡¯s loud voice. ¡¸HIIIII!?¡¹ Somni ended up screaming upon seeing the room. No one would blame him for screaming at this point. The reason being the majority of the people inside the room was people that he wouldn¡¯t see in his entire life under normal condition. There was a man with a lion head, a monster with a long nose, a man with a dragon head, a red-haired youth with pair of vermillion wings on his back, a silver-haired beauty with nine tails, a tall man with a third eye on his forehead. £¨CRAAAP!£© Why do I feel that those guys are really bad news? His breathing became ragged and his heart thumped really hard, almost as if it wanted to break out of the ribcage. His vision dimmed and he fell to his knees, trying his best to maintain his consciousness. ¡ºHou, it¡¯s rare for a mere human to understand our power in a single glance. His senses is not bad.¡» Hearing the remark of the youth with vermillion wings, ¡ºIs that his intuition regarding the level difference? This lad seems to know that in a single glance.¡» The man with an intimidating look and a pair of horns growing from his forehead muttered so while crossing his arms. ¡ºI heard that humans would awaken to some sort of special ability when they fell into danger. Is this one such case?¡» Hearin the man with a lion head said so with an extremely interesting look on his face, ¡ºAt least he is much better in this regard than that undead who don¡¯t know of their place.¡» The man with an intimidating look added so. ¡ºWell, I guess we need some change in the air.¡» The monster with a long nose clapped his hands. The dread that he felt suddenly vanished. ¡ºContrary to your appearance, you turned out to be quite skilful eh?¡» Hearing the silver-haired woman mutter in admiration, ¡ºHah! A little trick like this has been this guy¡¯s speciality since a long time ago.¡» When the man with a dragon head said so in a spiteful manner, ¡ºAnd the lizard who can only rely on their brute strength to demolish everything has no right to tell me that.¡» The monster with a long nose replied back with another spite. ¡ºAnd what gives you, gloomy folks, the right to call us lizard?¡» The man with a dragon head asked so, sparks of fire spewed from the corner of his lips as he glared at the monster with a long nose with bloodshot eyes, the monster with a long nose was staring back at the man with a dragon head. ¡ºBeelzebub debu~? Beelzebub debu~~?¡» Suddenly, a huge, bipedal fly appeared in the centre of the room along with that strange song. The bipedal fly then faces toward the door in the interior of the room and kneels. The dangerous atmosphere in the room dispersed immediately, all otherworldy beings who bickered till just a moment ago stopped at once and kneeled in the same direction. After a male black skeleton and the old man who guide Somni opened the doors respectfully, a few other people entered the room. Everyone¡¯s line of sight gathered on the black-haired youth who walking in the centre¨D¨D ¡¸¡ª!?¡¹ Somni was baffled. The reason the black-haired youth who stood in the centre of the hooded people was none other than Kai Heineman, the man who was despised by Somni and labelled as the worst apostate till just a while ago. Volume 4 - CH 56.6 Act 4-56.6: Crossroad of Fate(Side: Somni Barrel) Kai Heineman¡¯s gift was ¡ºThe Most Incompetent in This World¡». In short, it wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that he was the least talented human. And yet, the one the otherworldly beings kneeled to was none other than that Kai Heineman. He swept his heavy gaze at the otherworldy beings kneeling before him and then turned around, speaking to the monocled woman behind him, ¡¸Do we really need to gather all of them for this occasion?¡¹ With a dumbfounded voice. ¡¸It can¡¯t be helped, the others are involved in this matter in some way or the other.¡¹ ¡¸I see. I understand. Thank you for your hard work.¡¹ The Otherworldy beings bowed down again upon hearing Kai Heineman¡¯s praise. Amidst such a bizarre spectacle, He turned around to observe people whose figure covered by hoods behind him, ¡¸It seems the freckles boy has yet to arrive. Make yourself at home while we wait for his arrival.¡¹ Seeing the corner of Kai Heineman¡¯s lips rose up upon saying, ¡¸Y-Yes.¡¹ When a woman with white hood took off her hood with a stiff smile on her face, the other hooded people followed the fashion. They were the figures that Somni familiar with, ¡¸Inea-sama! Knight Leader Arnold!¡¹ Somni unintentionally called out their name. His reaction was natural since these two figures were well known by any knight who took part in Babel¡¯s entrance exam. And the woman with ornamented white hood was none other than the grand headmaster of Babel, Inea Renren Lorelei. The blue-haired man with an unshaven beard and greatsword on his back was the strongest Amelia kingdom knight, who also acted as their leader, Arnold. ¡¸Well then, let¡¯s have some tea while we¡¯re waiting.¡¹ Kai Heineman urged everyone to sit on the long wooden table in the center of the room and then took a seat himself. Though Somni ate some of the pastries prepared for the occasion, he couldn¡¯t taste it properly since his mind was too tense. The sound of the cup placed on the plate was the only sound in that room. In that situation which already resembled that of a gambling house, the front door opened again¨D¨D ¡¸Sorry for the delay. I¡¯ve brought him.¡¹ A two-metre tall, muscular man with wild a face and pink haired girl entered the room, they brought a docile-looking boy with freckles on the base of his nose. £¨Her Highness Rosemary!?£© There was no way Somni was going to mistake her beauty and pink-coloured hair for someone else. He knew immediately that the girl was princess Rosemary. When he had yet to recover from that shock¨D¨D ¡¸We brought him, nodesu!¡¹ ¡¸We brought him!¡¹ ¡ºWe brought him!¡» When the silver-haired beastfolk girl and blonde-haired girl with monochrome attire rushed into the room along with the three, they rushed straight toward Kai Heineman, diving into his abdomen. A small, black puppy sitting on top of the blonde-haired girl jumped onto Kai Heineman¡¯s chest and started to lick his face. ¡¸Good job everyone. Look, we prepared sweets and tea, take a seat and indulge in these. We prepared hamburgers for you too, Fen.¡¹ After Kai Heineman patted the head of two girls and one puppy, he told them to sit in the chair prepared beside him. ¡¸YAAY, SWEET, NODESU!¡¹ ¡¸Sweets! Sweets!¡¹ ¡ºHamburger!¡» The two girls and one puppy sat planted in their seats and were about to dig in but, ¡¸Don¡¯t forget your manners.¡¹ Kai Heineman remind them, ¡¸Ye~s, nodesu!¡¹ ¡¸Ye~s.¡¹ ¡ºYe~s, ye~s, ye~s!¡» The two girls started eating with their knife and fork, the black puppy digging into the meat dish with his tail keep going round and round. ¡¸Well then, let¡¯s start the discussion.¡¹ Kai Heineman confirmed everyone¡¯s presence. The discussion that already went far and beyond the international level started for the first time for Somni. Volume 4 - CH 56.7 Act 4-56.7: Crossroad of Fate(Side: Somni Barrel) ¡¸Ho~, so does that means the leader of the vice headmaster faction, Krab Ahnstein was the mastermind behind this incident?¡¹ Kai Heineman asked so to Inea while tapping the table with his index finger. ¡¸Yes. At the very least, none of my subordinates was involved in this matter.¡¹ ¡¸So the headmaster faction held no responsibility in this matter since you guys are unaware of this place. Is that what you wanted to say?¡¹ Kai Heineman stopped tapping the table and asked Inea again. The sound of people from Babel¡¯s side who were present in the room swallowing their saliva resounded in the room. ¡¸No, I felt that the other faction is up to something, and decided to use you to hinder their plan.¡¹ Kai Heineman was staring in silence toward Inea for a while after that but, he then sent a glance toward the monster with a long nose who stood on the edge of his vision, and heaved a sigh, ¡¸Oh whatever, it seems my subordinates also secretly moving behind the scene and guarantee the safety of the test-takers. Most of all, no harm comes to me. But, I¡¯ll only overlook your action just this once. This will be your first and last time. I hated it when someone tried to use me in this way.¡¹ And concluded the case. ¡¸Understood.¡¹ The people from Babel¡¯s side heaved a sigh as if they just awakened from a nightmare upon hearing the judgement for Inea. That came from a youth with a gift that literally turned him into the most incompetent person in this world. And yet, Somni understood that the people from Babel¡¯s side, including Inea, truly feel relieved upon hearing that they¡¯re being pardoned. ¡¸If that¡¯s the case, we already punished the idiot called Krab. I¡¯ll leave it to you guys from Babel to deal with the aftermath.¡¹ ¡¸Yes. We¡¯ve made an arrangement for that.¡¹ Headmaster Inea secretly clenched her fists under the table as if to express her delight, the woman who stood at the summit of one of the biggest organizations in this world, Babel was in fact truly scared of Kai Heineman from the bottom of her heart. ¡¸Next is the matter of Amelia kingdom. Rose, sorry about this but¨D¨D¡¹ Kai Heineman turned toward Rosemary, and actually stuttered with his words. ¡¸Don¡¯t worry about it. Killing on own subordinates are the biggest taboo for royalty. There¡¯s no room for sympathy for those who break that taboo. Even if the person is my own blood related brother.¡¹ Rosemary said so with a determined look on her face despite clenching her fists so hard. ¡¡Kai Heineman nodded, then looked toward Somni and the youth beside him. The freckles youth was an apprentice knight, Tetle. Though Tetle came from a family of noble of low status in Amelia kingdom, his family had served the royalty for generations. Therefore, he was chosen as a playmate for Gilbert, the royal family had also made the arrangement for Tetle to enter Babel and continue serving Gilbert during that time. Nevertheless, when it comes to knowing that he was accepted in the worst and lowest rank academy in Babel, Ouboro academy, the other guardian knights including Tamri started treating Tetle like an incompetent. ¡¸I think you¡¯ve been aware of this fact but let me make it clear for you two, the mastermind behind this incident involved you two are the 1st prince of Amelia kingdom, Gilbert Loto Amelia. Seeing that many people died during this incident, he has to receive his punishment. Al, the kingdom won¡¯t object to this decision, right?¡¹ ¡¸Nope. You received permission from His Majesty.¡¹ Arnold the knight leader nodded with a mortified look on his face. Kai Heineman looking at Somni and Tetle and, ¡¸Are you two hate Gilbert?¡¹ He asked that question without beating around the bush. Hate? He tried to kill me! Of course, I hate him for that! Not to mention that he wanted to kill Lyla and Egg who are completely unrelated to this matter. And the reason was that I¡¯m too weak. ¡¸I¡­ Hate him.¡¹ The voice that came out of my throat was filled with hatred. ¡¸I also can¡¯t trust him anymore.¡¹ Tetle also spoke while looking at the table, his body was trembling from rage. Seeing that, Somni knew that Gilbert was trying to dispose of Tetle too. Even though Tetle had always been together with Gilbert since their childhood, Somni was still shocked to know that not even Gilbert¡¯s childhood friend was spared from Gilbert¡¯s cruelty. Gilbert¡¯s idiocy was truly beyond saving. Hearing that, both Rosemary and Arnold frowned. But, Somni really couldn¡¯t bring himself to forgive the man who could easily betray his own comrade. ¡¸Then here is a question. Do you want Gilbert to die?¡¹ ¡¸Eh?¡¹ Both let out dumbfounded voices at the same time. They then saw Kai Heineman looking at them with an expression as if he didn¡¯t care about this matter. ¡¸Now listen to my explanation. I won¡¯t show mercy to those who pick a fight with me. Even if he is just a greenhorn, I won¡¯t forgive those who tried to harm those who are dear to me. And GIlbert really did try to harm the people dear to me. Therefore, his end has already been decided the moment he oversteps his boundary. Or so it was supposed to be¡­¡¹ ¡¸Supposed to be?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, the two of you ended up involved in the quarrel between us. This matter was entirely on me. That¡¯s why I¡¯ll give you guys the privilege to stop me from killing Gilbert. Now let me ask you again, are you going to allow me to kill Gilbert?¡¹ Somni knew that Kai Heineman wasn¡¯t joking or testing them when he asked that question, he was serious. In fact, this matter was conveyed to him as soon as he saw the expression on Rosemary¡¯s and Arnold¡¯s faces. ¡¸Permission to kill that guy huh¡­¡¹ To be honest, after the incident during the entrance exam, Somni come to hate Gilbert so much to the point that he wanted the latter to die. As a knight, his chivalry also wouldn¡¯t allow such horrible human beings to get the chance to rule Amelia kingdom. Those were his true feeling. Not to mention that he didn¡¯t even feel a shred of guilt even if he allow Kai Heineman to kill Gilbert. That is just how much Somni came to hate Gilbert. But¨D¨D £¨I guess I can¡¯t do that huh¡­£© Just like how Somni couldn¡¯t bring himself to hate his father who arranged match-fixing for him in the martial arts tournament, Gilbert also had a family who was worrying about him. Rosemary was obviously showing an expression as if she was waiting for her own judgement right now. And she was obviously on bad terms with Gilbert. Somni pretty much guessed that the king of Amelia kingdom himself must feel the same way as Rosemary right now. It was almost impossible for Somni and Tetle to forgive Gilbert after what he did to them. More over¨D¨D No, I shouldn¡¯t think of that now. ¡¸¡¸I don¡¯t want Gilbert(His Highness) to die.¡¹¡¹ Somni¡¯s voice overlapped with Tetle. Kai Heineman stared silently toward Somni and Tetle but, ¡¸Understood. I won¡¯t kill him. But, it doesn¡¯t mean that I¡¯m going to let him off unpunished either. I¡¯ll give him a test. Is that decision satisfy your wish?¡¹ ¡¸O-Of course!¡¹ Rosemary thanked Somni and Tetle repeatedly since she heard them forgive her brother. Somni felt his chest tighten seeing Rosemary acting like that. At the same time, Somni understood something else. ¡¸But then, speaking of not punishing that stupid prince, who will take the blame then? There¡¯s no way he won¡¯t go unpunished after he caused such a huge incident right?¡¹ When the wild and muscular man then asked that question. ¡¸I¡¯ve prepared a scapegoat for that. We can use that idiot knight called Tamri. Push all the blame on him. His fate has been decided anyway, he either received capital punishment or become Beelze¡¯s toy till he died. Both are the same.¡¹ A chill ran down Somni¡¯s spine the moment he saw Kai Heineman make such declaration with a smile on his face. ¡¸Same as always eh, Shifu.¡¹ The face of Babel¡¯s staffs-including Inea- paled the moment the wild-looking and muscular man said so. Arnold was the only one who heaved a sigh with a wry smile on his face. ¡¸My apologies, I ended up involving you two in our quarrel. Do you have a wish that you want to fulfil? I¡¯ll try my best to help you to fulfil your wish as long as it¡¯s possible.¡¹ The current Somni really had no other wish. He just wanted to become strong. He knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to protect anything dear to him if he was weak. ¡¸I want to become strong.¡¹ Thus, he expressed his true feeling. He wanted to receive the teaching of Kai Heineman. Because the current him had finally understood why his friend changed after he saw Kai Heineman¡¯s match back then. Kai Heineman was really strong. Moreover, his strength had surpassed anyone in this world. That matter was pretty much clear after he saw the otherworldly beings who kneeled toward Kai Heineman a while ago. ¡¸A wish to become strong¡­ is it?¡¹ Kai Heineman squinted his eyes as he looked into Somni¡¯s eyes for a while and, ¡¸M-Me too.¡¹ Tetle was also bowing his head to Kai Heineman. The otherworldly beings have raised a ruckus. They had never expected that Somni and co would demand such a request. ¡ºSpeaking of becoming stronger, are they asking us?¡» ¡ºNo, they might be asking Our Supreme Ruler.¡» ¡ºNO! ABSOLUTELY NO! HOW DARE THEY ASK SUPREME RULER-SAMA TO TEACH THEM IN PERSON, I¡¯M SO JEALO¨D¨D I MEAN, I WON¡¯T LET THEM TO DISTURB SUPREME RULER-SAMA WHOSE SCHEDULE IS ALREADY FILLED! LET THEM MAKE A PACT WITH US!¡» Hearing the monster with a long nose scream like that, ¡ºOi Girimekhala, what¡¯s the right you have to make such a decision on your own!?¡» When the man with an intimidating look on his face shouted in irritation, the grotesque beings were starting to offer themselves to become Somni and Tetle¡¯s teachers. ¡¸No, the one responsible for this matter is me, so I should be the one to take responsibility. I¡¯ve no problem with taking that role too. Is that okay with you two? I mean, I¡¯m literally the political enemy of both of your fathers you know?¡¹ ¡¸I decided to take a different path from my father. I won¡¯t walk on the same path as him again.¡¹ He said so with a melancholic look on his face. ¡¸Is that the same for you too?¡¹ Kai Heineman scratched his head upon seeing Tetle nod to him but, ¡¸Okay then. I¡¯ll train you guys.¡¹ He gave the answer that Somni and Tetle wished to hear the most. ¡¸¡¸T-THANK YOU VERY MUCH!¡¹¡¹¡¹ Thus, both of them bowed as they expressed their gratitude. ¡¸But since I¡¯m a swordsman, I can only teach you guys swordcraft. When it comes to something other than that. Come to think of it¡­¡¹ Kai Heineman touched his chin as he spoke, and pondered for a while before he opened his mouth again, ¡¸Deimos, you¡¯re responsible to teach them magic.¡¹ And gave such order to the black skeleton. ¡ºMe¡­ Are you sure?¡» The Black Skeleton was asking timidly as he cast a glance toward the other otherworldly being. ¡¸Are you dissatisfied?¡¹ ¡ºThat¡¯s absurd! It¡¯s just that I¡¯m not sure if someone as insignificant as me is fitting for such impo¨D¨D¡» ¡¸That¡¯s why I entrusted this job to you as a way to repay your failure to guard Lyla a few days ago. I did tell you that you¡¯ve to compensate for your failure back then right?¡¹ ¡ºIt¡¯s just as you say bu-¡» Kai Heineman heaved a sigh and then, ¡¸If you feel sorry for your failure, then teach these two properly! A former human like you is the most suitable teacher to teach human children after all.¡¹ He forced the duty on Deimos with no way out. ¡¸YES! YOUR WISH IS MY COMMAND!¡¹ Hearing that order, Deimos kneeled on the floor and bowed respectfully to Kai Heineman. The two mels(metres) tall muscular man with a wild look on his face observing the situation with an amused look on his face stood from his seat and then walked toward Somni and co with an extremely delighted look on his face, ¡¸Best regard, fellow pupils!¡¹ And struck the two youth¡¯s backs. This was the moment when Somni and Tetle rose to the stage that would decide the fate of the world. Volume 5 - CH 1 Act 5-1: Demon King¡¯s Distress(2) Throne room of darkness castle ¨D¨D Castle of Demon King of Darkness; Ashmedia¨D¨D one of four great demon kings. Each upper echelon attending the meeting had a bitter look on their faces. ¡¸Another lost against those heroes, eh¡­¡¹ The murmur of one of the upper echelon in that room represents dozens of others¡¯ opinions. ¡¸The one sealed in Babel, was supposed to be one of our evil god who lost in struggle against Holy Warrior God Ares in the long forgotten era, right?¡¹ It was something that everyone in that place wanted to know too. ¡¸OF COURSE! LIKE HELL A MERE HUMAN CAN WIN AGAINST GOD! AND THE ONE WHO SAID THAT WAS NONE OTHER THAN YOU, OLD MAN!¡¹ Hearing such harsh criticism, the old man with blue skin was crossing his arms, frowned as if he was pondering about something but, ¡¸I¡¯VE TOLD YOU BEFORE RIGHT!? IF THAT DEMON RACE-HATER WOMAN YOU CALL AS HERO IS REALLY STRONG TO THE POINT OF BEING ABLE TO SLAY A GOD, WE, THE DEMON RACE, WOULD HAVE LONG BEEN ANNIHILATED BY HER!AND YET, LOOK AT US NOW, ALIVE AND KICKING! The legend of evil god is just a mere legend after all. I¡¯ve told you about that too! And yet¨D¨D¡¹ He refuted with an equally loud voice but he stopped right before finishing. ¡¸¡±And yet¡±? What are you trying to say!? My subordinates who acted according to plan are dead!¡¹ A young officer with blue skin used that moment to strike back, filling the throne room with another rain of jeers. ¡¸Silence!¡¹ Hearing the voice of the girl seated upon the throne, Ashmedia, everyone had no choice but to shut their mouth and grit their teeth. ¡¸Old man, are they dying in vain?¡¹ This time, the old man showed an extremely bitter look on his face upon hearing the girl¡¯s question. ¡¸Since all members of the hero party survived, the answer is yes.¡¹ He said so. ¡¸I see¡­ They¡¯re dying in vain huh.¡¹ Ashmedia muttered those words again and again as she gazed at the black stone ceiling with an expression of deep grief in her eyes. ¡¸WE¡¯RE NOT DONE YET! To the end, the basis for our tactic was to reduce the combat force of the hero party as much as possible. The core of our tactic is the revival of our great god in North Grand. I received a report from Neim stating that everything went according to the plan. When our plan succeeds, it¡¯ll be the beginning of our demon race¡¯s golden era!¡¹ The blue skinned old man persisted, clenching his fist. But, no one in that place cheered up after hearing him. Rather, everyone¡¯s expression was flat as if they¡¯re chewing bitter roots. And finally¨D¨D ¡¸Honestly speaking, I can¡¯t bring myself to trust Demon King Aldebaran! Even if the golden era of demon race has come, I can only imagine our people suffering from more tyranny than now!¡¹ When the young officer with blue skin said so, ¡¸EXACTLY! HAVE YOU GONE SENILE AND FORGOT ABOUT WHAT HE DID TO OUR PEOPLE DURING THE WAR, OLD MAN!?¡¹ The Voices of opposition rise one after another. The blue skinned old man just hung his head down as he heard everyone¡¯s, ¡¸THEN ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY THAT EVERY MEMBER OF OUR RACE GETTING SLAUGHTERED LIKE PIGS IS A BETTER CHOICE!!?¡¹ He finally cracked and vented all the rage he kept inside. ¡¸But¨D¨D¡¹ The young officer tried to say something but, ¡¸DON¡¯T LOOK DOWN ON ME! YOU THINK I DON¡¯T HAVE THE SAME WORRIES AS YOU GUYS!? I¡¯VE BEEN THINKING, AND TRYING TO FIND THE BEST SOLUTION! AND YET¡­ IT FAILED, ALL OF THE PLANS THAT I CAME UP WITH FAILED!¡¹ The blue-skinned old man cried as he vented his emotions. The throne room fell into silence after the old man¡¯s outburst, ¡¸I know, old man. The one who decided to use this plan is me. Naturally, all the responsibility will befall on me.¡¹ Ashmedia declared so with an extremely bitter look on her face too. In the throne room filled with sobbing, Ashmedia stood from her throne, ¡¸WORRY NOT! NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, IN THE END, I WILL DO EVERYTHING TO PROTECT OUR PEOPLE!¡¹ She raised her right fist as she declared, determined. The wish of the hero of the human race was the annihilation of the demon race. Their atrocity knew no bounds as they slaughtered even women and children. That was pretty much clear from the past record of the current hero, Mashiro. On the other hand, from the demon race side, Aldebaran wished to form alliance with Ashmedia and co of darkness kingdom was a genuine fiend. He was the worst demon king who would even kill his people as if they¡¯re a mere insect. This alliance was clearly his preparation to invade the darkness kingdom after the defeat of the hero. That¡¯s why Ashmedia and co desperately tried thinking of a counterplan. In the end, it was akin to fighting poison with poison. Nevertheless, much better than total annihilation. That¡¯s why¨D¨D £¨I will protect them even if I¡¯ve to sacrifice this life of mine!£© Despite the determination in Ashmedia¡¯s little soul, half of her subordinates replied to her declaration with a desperate yell as if to cheer for their lord. Volume 5 - CH 2 Act 5-2: The Misunderstanding of The Youths East End¨D¨D Neo City-Ket Guy Currently scenario: we just returned to Ket Guy from Neutral Academy city, Babel. Originally, the school and academic life was supposed to start around one month after the combination entrance exam but, thanks to Gilbert and vice headmaster folly, and the aftermath of shock following Inea¡¯s retirement, the entirety of departments of Babel were paralyzed. As a result, Babel didn¡¯t have the leeway to take care of the entrance ceremony and other academic activity and decided to suspend all academic activity for half a year. Thus we, who had nothing to do, decided to go back to Ket Guy. Originally, we were the only ones supposed to return, but Somni and Tetle, who decided to break free from their past, asked me to start their training as soon as possible. Zack, who was in high spirits seeing his junior disciple¡¯s request, also asked me to train them immediately. I didn¡¯t have any reason to refute, so I took them with us back to Ket Guy. By the way, Lyla and Lumine decided to stay in Babel. Lyla even told me, with a heavy tone, to visit her as much as possible, thus I would have to come back and forth to Babel fairly often during this holiday period. It wasn¡¯t the first time for Lyla to push such forceful demand on me either, in fact she often did that to me. Well, it wasn¡¯t such big deal since it took only a moment for me to go between Babel and Ket Guy with Asta¡¯s teleportation ability. Though the two youth were dumbfounded for a while upon seeing the town being magically remodeled by Alice and co from ¡¾Lost Forest¡¿, they started looking curiously at every part of the town. Surely, upon a closer look, this kind of spectacle was never seen before in Amelia kingdom. Buildings of various shapes, stone tiles that are laid out regularly for the main road. Park with a water fountain, even a large public bath. This town didn¡¯t fall behind Babel, the pioneer of technology in this world. And due to its overwhelmingly small population, the structures could be placed neatly. ¡¸This is the city governed by Shifu!¡¹ Somni shouted a waaay off the mark declaration. Zack observed them with a proud look on his face, he might be the one who whispered that nonsense to Somni and Tetle, I mean, they ended up calling me Shifu too. Since they didn¡¯t seems to be willing to stop even if I told them to stop calling me ¡°Shifu¡±, I had no choice but to compromise and told them to call me ¡°Kai¡± when we¡¯re outside Ket Guy. Honestly speaking, I didn¡¯t really care about how they wanted to call me. But it was bound to cause not-so-trivial problems outside, especially when we¡¯re close to my old acquaintances, childhood friends, or relatives. ¡¸Nay, what kind of misunderstanding is that? The ruler of this city is ROSE, not me.¡¹ I¡¯m serious. Just what kind of logic that made them to arrive to conclusion that I was the ruler of this town? The one who made them think this way must be Zack. When I glared to him, ¡¸I¡¯m not lying to them, I just stated a matter of fact about Shifu to them.¡¹ Zack said so with indifferent voice and then drank the specially brewed liquor he got from Nemea. That liquor was a special reinforcement agent that was jointly developed by Nemea and the drunkards. To be honest, I got the feeling that it wasn¡¯t your average liquor since they were really fired up when they developed the thick liquid. Well, I guess there was no problem with its safety since they recognized Zack as my disciple. Zack himself seems to be enjoying the liquor. ¡¸Then how did they reach such conclusion if you¡¯re telling the truth¡­¡¹ Hearing Asta muttered so while squinting her eyes as she looking at Somni and Tetle, ¡¸I¡¯m also curious about that.¡¹ Rose shrugged her shoulders as she nodded upon hearing Asta¡¯s remark. ¡¸Anyhow, the master of this city is not me, it¡¯s that chinchikurin(shorty) princess over there.¡¹ ¡¸What do you mean by ¡°Chinchikurin princess¡±?¡¹ I ignored the princess who asked with face of someone that was on the verge of exploding from anger, something that a princess would never show in the public. ¡¸The ruler of this East End is Rose. Not me.¡¹ ¡¸But, I saw Shifu¡¯s statue in front of a church-like building that over there.¡¹ ¡¸WHAT!?¡¹ The moment I heard an extremely ominous remark from Tetle, I unintentionally looked toward the only church in this city. ¡¸W-What in the hell is that?¡¹ I saw several citizens of the city praying in front of my stone statue, led by Girimekhala. ¡¸It is just as Our Supreme Ruler-sama has said. The one who rules this city is Rose-sama. Our Supreme Ruler-sama is too great to be bound by trivial status such as king! HE IS OUR GOD! YES! HE¡¯S OUR ABSOLUTE, INVIOLABLE SUPREME RULER!¡¹ Seeing Lucas who heard our conversation from the side gave his opinion, ¡¸FOOL, TAKE THAT BACK, LUCAS! MASTER IS OUR SUPREME KING!¡¹ Suddenly, a blonde-haired man with a buzz cut took a step forward from a group of people wearing red-coloured baggy attire with tattoos of crow and sun¨D¨D Oboro. ¡¸The same goes for you, Oboro, your remark is blasphemy to Supreme Ruler-sama.¡¹ Seeing Lucas refuse to budge, he told him to change his remark instead, ¡¸WE REFUSE! THE ONLY ONE QUALIFIED TO BE THE OWNER OF THIS CITY IS OUR SUPREME RULER! WE REFUSE TO ACCEPT ANYONE OTHER THAN HIM!¡¹ Oboro glared, clearly taking an offence. The other members didn¡¯t give any particular reaction seeing the two people glaring at each others. Anna went with Faf and Myu to wash their hands, Zack yawned with a bored look on his face. ¡¸See that?¡¹ Rose shrugged her shoulders, smiling impishly as she said so. ¡¸You¡­¡¹ So this chinchikurin(shorty) princess had actually used this chance to get her revenge on me huh. What a petty girl! Anyhow, that stone statue was clearly the source of this misunderstanding. Let¡¯s get rid of it later. ¡¸Anyhow, I¡¯m Rose¡¯s royal guard. To be exact, her advisor.¡¹ I had no idea whether they were going to accept this explanation or not but, I¡¯m afraid that explaining even further would be brought about another huge misunderstanding. So let¡¯s change the topic before this talk went to the worst direction. ¡¸So, what¡¯s Felis doing right now?¡¹ ¡¸Milady had to manage the city expansion in the future. Therefore, she has many things to learn.¡¹ Guessing from Lucas¡¯ singing-like tone, I guess she wasn¡¯t in pleasant situation. Well, the member of subjugation picture book that I asked to train Felis was really on fire, and Lucas had already regarded Felis as his own daughter. I guess there was nothing to worry about her. ¡¸I want to discuss our plan for the next half year. Tell the representative of each division in this city to gather in the city lord¡¯s mansion.¡¹ The previous meeting was interrupted halfway due to Babel¡¯s entrance exam. We had to decide at least one future policy. ¡¸HA!¡¹ Lucas bowed respectfully after he heard my order, and then vanished from where he stood. ¡¸Well then, let¡¯s go.¡¹ We led Somni and Tetle who watched the previous exchange toward city lord¡¯s mansion. Volume 5 - CH 3 Act 5-3: Felis¡¯ Complaint When I entered the mansion of city lord, a man with black suit-clad in blackish red flame on his heel welcomed us, ¡ºSalute to Our Supreme Ruler-sama!¡» That voice resounded in the room. Wearing the same attire as Ifrit, the brown-haired youth who stood behind Felis¡¯ Titan was, ¡ºOur Supreme Ruler, Forever!¡» Straightened his back and gave a salute with his right hand. The other city representative safe for Felis- had also stood from their chair, placed their right fist on their left chest as if to express their allegiance toward me. Amidst such headache induced situation, £¨Hey look, no matter how I look at it, those gesture is clearly directed toward Shifu, right?£© £¨Y-Yes. Just as I expected, Princess Rosemary is just the official ruler of this town, Shifu is the de facto ruler of this town.£© Somni and Tetle whispered such slander behind my back. Rather, what did they mean by me being de facto ruler? It made me look like the boss of an evil organization who was moving behind the scenes in fairy tales. I guess I had to give the real ruler some roles to play. ¡¸Look, now you know what they mean right. O Supreme Ruler-sama?¡¹ Rose showed a mischievous smile on her face as she placed her hands on her hips, and whispered to me. ¡¸You¡­¡¹ You seems to enjoy this situation eh, Rose. Her final goal was to rule this kingdom. In the first place she seems to have no intention to rule as a king. The fact that the citizen of this city could do as they pleases as long as they didn¡¯t break any laws, and suffered no discrimination whatsoever due to the difference between races or status means that Rose had at least succeeded to achieve her goal, albeit in smaller scale. Well, though I usually hate being used by others, I wouldn¡¯t mind as long as it did no harm to me or others. Moreover, this city was in fact part of my slow life plan that I dreamed off. So working on it was only natural. And yet¨D¨D ¡¸Felis, you look more haggard than the last time I met you.¡¹ I simply expressed my concern to Felis, a girl who looked like someone in their teens-despite being a middle aged woman inside- with her long, blonde hair tied to the side, glared at me with bloodshot eyes. Though one month hadn¡¯t even passed since the last time we met, her sunken cheeks were enough proof of her exhausted state. ¡¸And who do you think is the reason to made me look like this?¡¹ Hearing Felis ask with voice full of resentment, ¡¸Eh? Did I do something to you?¡¹ ¡¸HOW DARE YOU TO ¡°Eh¡± ME!?¡¹ She stood from her chair as she regained her vigor, ¡¸EVERY SINGLE DAY, YOUR SUBORDINATE LOCKED ME UP IN THAT MYSTERIOUS REALM CREATED BY HIM AND TORTURED ME!¡¹ She was shouting with raised hands, as if she wanted to flip the table. Seeing her crying figure which resembled that of a tragic hero, I could pretty much imagine what she had experienced during my absence. ¡¸What did she mean by ¡°continue to torture me¡±?¡¹ I looked over my shoulder and asked Lucas, who apparently was one of the ringleaders behind that so-called ¡°Torture¡±. Though he regarded Felis as his own daughter, what was considered as painful was relative for each person. ¡¸It¡¯s just her exaggeration. We just locked her inside Norn-sama¡¯s realm for thirty years and made her learn the necessary governing skills as the city lord.¡¹ Rose was the ruler of this East End. Though Rose could govern this town as its ruler since there was no other city in her appointed territory, she wouldn¡¯t be able to do so once the number of town in this area increased in the future. Thus, the job fell to Felis, and she had to learn governing skills to the point that no one would question her competency. I indirectly caused her suffering too. ¡¸Thirty years huh. That¡¯s not a big deal.¡¹ I mean, she was just forced to learn for thirty years. I would be troubled if Felis turned out to be such a pu*ssy cat. Thirty years couldn¡¯t even be considered as light in my dictionary. ¡¸Chicken wuss.¡¹ Yeah, she was a chicken wuss. I felt that Asta-the actual owner of the ¡°Chicken Majin¡± title was the last person who qualified to call Felis with such a name. ¡¸Yeah, thirty years is not a big deal.¡¹ ¡¸Indeed.¡¹ Zack and Oboro agreed with me. Look, even these guys had more common sense than her. And yet¨D¨D ¡¸T-Thirty years¡­¡¹ The youth, Tetle, was at a loss for words upon hearing that, ¡¸No way, Shifu, thirty years is a big deal!¡¹ On the other hand, the other youth, Somni retorted. ¡¸Give it up. Those guys¡¯ common sense has already got distorted by Kai¡¯s lack of common senses.¡¹ Rose shrugged and heaved a sigh, she spoke as if she had already given up. Oi Rose, why do I feel that you¡¯re indirectly just saying that I¡¯m a madman? That remark hurt my heart you know! ¡¸Master, I¡¯m bored-nodesu.¡¹ Faf pulled my sleeve as she spoke with an upturned gaze. ¡¸You¡¯re right. There¡¯s still some time until lunch. Go and play until then.¡¹ I gave Faf, Myu and Fen pat on their head as I gave them the permission to go out to play. ¡¸Ye~s, nodesu!¡¹ ¡¸Ye~s.¡¹ ¡¸Yeah!¡¹ The two girls and one puppy nodded cheerfully and then ran out of the mansion with cheers. Yup, it seems Faf could separate herself from me for a longer time now. The longest record was a few hours, after that, her mood worsened. Now, she could see me once a day. Anyhow, at least, her current situation was much better than before. Honestly, as her father-like figure, I couldn¡¯t help but feel proud seeing the growth of my daughter. ¡¸Well then, let¡¯s cut the chit-chat and get straight to the point.¡¹ When I broke the ice, ¡¸I don¡¯t feel better at all!¡¹ Each of us took our seat while Felis lying prone to the desk, sobbing nonstop. Volume 5 - CH 4 Act 5-4: Arrangement For The Next Script ¡¸Let¡¯s talk about this town development project that I got from you.¡¹ It seems she didn¡¯t waste those thirty years. Well, I¡¯m going to be troubled if she can¡¯t think of a plan even after thirty years of training. ¡¸¡­¡¹ Felis didn¡¯t even retort to my remark and just silently took out a few bundles of parchment from a tattered bag with a sullen face, and threw it on the table as if to vent her annoyance. I took one of the parchment which scribbed with rather messy letters and gave them to the person next to me. The content of the perchments were the way to collect tax in accordance to the scale of the territory. Plans to effectively use the tax money for public facilities, new projects, or RnD. Few governmental plans, etcetera etcetera. ¡¸Amazing¡­ Big sis Felis, this plan is amazing!¡¹ ¡¸¡­¡¹ Felis didn¡¯t react at all even when her niece, Rose was praising her plans with a flushed face, she just nonchalantly grabbed the last parchment, and spread it on the table for all to see. Written in that perchment was¨D¨D ¡ºThe most necessary thing for large scale development of ¡¾Demonic Forest¡¿ including East End¡¯s Wasteland. Moreover, a vast amount of funds and ensuring the total number of citizens has to come before that. The one factor that gives birth to capital are citizens. in short¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¡» Almost unreadable letters, which followed by worms like letters which read as¨D¨D ¡ºWE¡¯RE SUFFERING FROM LABOR SHORTAGE!!!¡» In huge, bold letters. She finally reached the same conclusion as me huh. In short, no matter how splendid a plan and system seems to be, it was in the end nothing more than ideal form, the plan and system wouldn¡¯t come to existence without a minimum number of citizens. The strength of an organization was the number of their members. With enough numbers, money could circulate properly. That was an undeniable reality. ¡¸It finally come to that huh¡­¡¹ Rose propped her head on the table with her arms, chewing her lips as she pondered about our most difficult problem. ¡¸I¡¯ve a plan.¡¹ ¡¸Rejected! We can¡¯t recruit demon race in our current situation.¡¹ ¡¸Then¨D¨D¡¹ ¡¸No monster either! Are you trying to make an enemy of the world?¡¹ U~hm, rejected even before I told her the plan. But, this might be a good chance for Rose. ¡¸Since you don¡¯t want to adopt my plan. Rose, you¡¯ll be responsible to secure the citizens.¡¹ I¡¯ll be troubled if I had to babysit her forever too. Whether she succeeded or failed, this job would become a good experience for Rose. ¡¸That¡¯s my intention from the very beginning.¡¹ Rose declared so. ¡¸Then, I¡¯ll give you half a year, to be exact, until the entrance ceremony of Babel academy. If you can¡¯t finish the job, I¡¯ll intervene and finish the job, my style. Can you do that?¡¹ ¡¸As you wish! I¡¯ll definitely get enough citizens.¡¹ When I asked her, Rose frowned, pondered for a moment before she nodded in agreement. With this, the stage had been prepared. Naturally, I had already made my move long before she realized this problem, throwing baits that would reel in the number of citizens that we need. ¡¸Asta, is THAT already picked up by those villagers?¡¹ ¡¸Affirmative.¡¹ Asta nodded, replying with a wide grin on her face. The plan went unexpectedly far too well, almost without hindrance. If THAT manages to clear one of the conditions to break the seal, the plan will proceed really well. We have nothing to lose even if THAT failed to break the seal, the worst THAT can get is death. And that¡¯s fine by me. ¡¸The THAT that you¡¯re talking about, is it another one of your sinister plot?¡¹ Seeing Rose asked while squinting her eyes, ¡¸Well, you guess.¡¹ I replied with anything but confirmation. It had nothing to do with the current Rose. For now, I wanted her to focus on working to realize her dream on her own. By the way, I noticed right before the incident in Babel that I should¡¯ve some restraint when acting in the future. In case something unexpected happened, I had already prepared the back up plan which would turn the situation around. Some of my plans have already started. ¡¸By the way, Somni, Tetle, you won¡¯t be able to receive my teaching without enough foundation. That¡¯s why you¡¯ve to undergo preparation stage under my subordinates¡¯ guidance.¡¹ Everyone in the room-except for Rose- showed a startled look on their face the moment I said so. ¡¸Uhm? Is something the matter?¡¹ ¡¸Shifu, are you serious?¡¹ Zack asked with a twitched smile on his face. ¡¸Of course. I¡¯m not willing to give any compromise in this regard.¡¹ Anyhow, these two youths were the main cast of the next plan after all. That¡¯s why I would be troubled if they¡¯re still as feeble as now. The first goal was to train them to the point of becoming as strong as C-rank hunters. In addition, I¡¯ll personally train them and teach them the necessary skills for combat. ¡¸Impossible¡­ Do you know what that pervert going to do to them if you gave such order¡­¡¹ Seeing Asta shake her head, looking at me as if I¡¯m some sort of exotic creature, ¡¸Subordinate of Supreme Ruler-sama, is it Girimekhala-sama?¡¹ ¡¸Speaking of subordinates! There¡¯s also Nemea-sama or Ladon-sama too!¡¹ ¡¸Lies!? You normally die with that kind of training you know!¡¹ The upper echelon of the wind cat raised a shocked voice one after another in shock. All of them then started at Somni and Tetle as if they¡¯re looking at the most pitiful creature in the world. ¡¸But, I¡¯ve some conditions when you train them.¡¹ ¡¸C-Condition?¡¹ Hearing Somni¡¯s question, ¡¸That¡¯s unrelated to you two. Don¡¯t worry, it won¡¯t become your drawback either.¡¹ I told them so with a reassuring voice. Those conditions included the prohibition to give divine protection to Somni and Tetle. I had no intention to deny the power from outside. But, I would be troubled if something happened, they lost their divine protection, and couldn¡¯t do anything with their own power. That¡¯s why only minimal divine protection such as Norn¡¯s realm shall be used. After that, whether they died or survive was entirely up to them. I had no intention to teach them unless they reached the level in which they could withstand my training. Well, my sword art wasn¡¯t something so simple that I could teach others.That¡¯s why all I would teach them was skill necessary in combat just like the one I did to Zack. That¡­ Should be enough to allow them to stand as the main cast in the next stage. ¡¸I understand. Let me to do it!¡¹ ¡¸M-Me too!¡¹ The two youths nodded vigorously with extreme passion their eyes. ¡¸Nice answer. I¡¯ll introduce my subordinates later. Now you¡¯ve to run till our place first!¡¹ After that, I looked at Rose. ¡¸Rose, you¡¯ve to think for your own solution too.¡¹ Rather, this problem was a really big deal for the current Rose. That¡¯s why she shouldn¡¯t be able to think of a solution pretty quickly. I would¡¯ve been satisfied even if she arrived at the incomplete answer. Maybe the key to the solution that she was looking for was a place far away from the Glitnir Empire or Amelia kingdom. ¡¸Yes, I¡¯ll definitely find enough residents for this town.¡¹ Rose replied with a serious look on her face, she finally looked like a ruler in the making. Volume 5 - CH 5 Act 5-5: Meal in The Restaurant Babel¨D¨DPumpkin Restaurant Somni and Tetle¡¯s training would start tomorrow. I could already imagine their jam-packed training schedule in Norn¡¯s realm. Since they might be still tired due to Babel¡¯s entrance exam, I decided to bring them to have a meal along with us in the restaurant located in the crossroad between east and west district. Well, this was actually Lyla¡¯s idea, not that I could refuse her request after getting her involved in my problem. ¡ºDelicious, nodesu!¡» ¡ºDelicious!¡» ¡ºYuumy!¡» The two girls and the puppy were stuffing their mouths with the dishes on the table while raising such cheers. Reason why I brought them was because Faf kept clinging to me. Thus, one might conclude that I had no choice but to bring this team of three along with me. Moreover, for Lyla, the participation of the two little girls was a happy miscalculation. Therefore¨D¨D ¡¸Faf-chan, Myu-chan, try this one too, it is delicious too.¡¹ It didn¡¯t take a long time for Lyla, who loves children to babysit them. Under normal circumstances, Lumine would pout-despite being an adult- but, the said girl was currently fluffing the black puppy who enjoyed the dishes sitting on her lap, and completely forgot about Lyla. ¡¸Uhm, this is really delicious. Try this one too, Kai-san.¡¹ The youth called Egg offered a plate of dish to me. Though I had no idea what Somni just told him about me, the way Egg spoke politely to me feels like someone speaking to an elderly. Just in case, I forbid Somni and Tetle from disclosing my identity. Let¡¯s try to ask Egg since I couldn¡¯t let my disciples¡¯ mistakes slip if they made one. ¡¸Uhm, thanks. I¡¯ve been wondering for a while but, why did you treat me with such respect? I mean, I¡¯m the most incompetent person in this world. So I should be the kind of person that people of your status despise the most right?¡¹ Everyone¡¯s attention suddenly shifted toward us the moment I asked that question. Egg sent a sidelong glance to Lyla and, ¡¸There¡¯s no deep meaning behind it. I just, wanted to thank Kai-san, it¡¯s thanks to you that I regained my passion.¡¹ He replied while scratching his cheek. ¡¸Uhm, I see¡­¡¹ I was sure that I told Lyla and co that the reason why I could become Rose¡¯s attendant was thanks to my mother¡¯s connections. Lumine and Lyla, who had no idea about the real circumstances behind my recruitment, had also accepted my explanation. But, the one who came with this excuse was none other than Rose herself, I had nothing to do with such sorry excuses. Well, maybe it was the kind of excuse that an incompetent like me needed. ¡¸I, I shall become a swordsman in my own way.¡¹ I saw numerous blisters on the Egg¡¯s palm. He might have been swinging his sword right before he came to this place. Anyhow, there was nothing better than looking at the young man finding the goal of his life. ¡¸I see. Then do your best! As long as you do so, your effort will definitely be rewarded!¡¹ Right after I encouraged him, a blue-haired woman clad in a robe came out from the kitchen and came toward our desk, ¡¸Kai Heineman, I made this dish in accordance with your recipe! Try this!¡¹ She spoke cheerfully with a flushed red face. ¡¸Uhm, you made it huh?¡¹ She placed the plate rudely on the table. There was a rather peculiar fragrance that came from the dish. I¡¯ve made various dishes in the long years I¡¯ve been trapped in that dungeon. ¡¸A~h, it¡¯s ¡ºGyouza¡» nanodesu!¡¹ Faf skillfully used pair of thin and long wooden sticks placed on the plate to pick the dish with sparkling eyes, and brought it into her mouth, ¡¸DELICIOUS-NANODESU!¡¹ She placed her hands on her cheeks as she spoke with a blissful look. The one who came after Faf was Myu. ¡¸It¡¯s really delicious!!¡¹ Myu also showed the same blissful look on her face. Feeling intrigued, Lyla and co had also tried some ¡ºGyouza¡». ¡¸You did a great job despite only using ¡ºShouyu¡» for the first time. It¡¯s quite good.¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, it became a big hit amongst the guest the moment I tried to serve this dish to the¨D¨D¡¹ ¡¸Oi Ava, what are you doing during such busy hours?¡¹ When the owner came out from the kitchen while shouting at the blue-haired female chef, his attitude turned 180 the moment he saw me, he even came to our desk and bowed to me. ¡¸Thank you very much for various things, Master.¡¹ And then, he expressed his gratitude with a completely different tone from before. Though the first image I had about him was ¡°A manager who succumbed to that idiotic prince¡±, according to Ava, her manager was a splendid and determined person, it seems he was cursing angrily at the nobles who did the same thing after they left the restaurant. Sure enough, when the opponent was noble, it was much safer to apologize to them. He went prostrating to them for the sake of his restaurant and employees. This reminds me of the fact that all the chefs in this restaurant were really skilled. To be honest, it was only natural for this restaurant to become so popular with those skilled chefs. And though their wages weren¡¯t that high, they chose to remain in this restaurant. If the manager of this restaurant was someone with a problematic personality, they would¡¯ve left this restaurant a long time ago. ¡¸Don¡¯t worry about it, I¡¯m just doing what Her Highness Rose ordered to me. That¡¯s why you should thank her instead of me.¡¹ Upon seeing me shrugging, the manager let out a meaningful smile as he looked at our group and, ¡¸Well then, I shall take it as it is.¡¹ After bowing again, he went back to the kitchen and dragged Ava by her ear along with him. ¡¸Kai, is Her Highness Rosemary an adept chef too?¡¹ ¡¸Eh, yes, she¡¯s an adept chef.¡¹ Though I hesitated for a moment since Faf who couldn¡¯t read the mood was right there, I denied such a notion immediately upon seeing Faf completely enraptured by ¡ºGyouza¡» and lied to Lyla. Lyla trusted me immediately. Rather, she might think that I wouldn¡¯t lie to her. That¡¯s why if I dump the trouble on Rose, she would accept it as a fact. Nevertheless, she would notice something was a miss if my reason was too suspicious. I still remember she was wailing nonstop when I told her that I lied to her. My lie this time was a little bit too dangerous. Honestly, I couldn¡¯t imagine how furious she would be once this lie was revealed. Anyhow, having her sit down in this place without knowing about my circumstances was gracious enough to the point that I¡¯m willing to lie to her. ¡¸I see. So her Highness isn¡¯t just a gentle person, she¡¯s an adept chef as well.¡¹ Somni and Tetle exchanged glances the moment they saw Lyla expressed her impression with a complicated look on her face, £¨Hey, this must be one of Shifu¡¯s recipes right?£© £¨Yeah, I can¡¯t think of anyone but Shifu who can make such haphazard dish.£© And spoke such irresponsible remarks in a whisper. "" Guys, stop calling me Shifu in this place, please! We would be in huge trouble if on the off chance, Lyla heard your conversation! Anyhow, Rose¡¯s status in Lyla¡¯s eyes is shot through the roof nowadays, another one or two lies to her good reputation wouldn¡¯t hurt her image anyway. Lumine seems to have her fill fluffing Fen, and Fen didn¡¯t seem to hate Lumine. Let¡¯s appoint Fen to act as their bodyguard after this. Speaking of combat prowess, Fen was in the single-digit rank amongst the members of the subjugation picture book. And if something unexpected happens, he can contact me immediately thanks to our connection via the picture book. He should be strong enough to hold the fort till I arrive. Though I had to meet Fen every day, it wasn¡¯t a big deal since Lyla also told me to meet her every day too. Thus, it was akin to hitting two birds with one stone. £¨Fen.£© ¡ºUhm? What¡¯s matte~r?¡» Fen stood up, jumping from Lumine¡¯s lap to mine. ¡¸A~h, Kai, that¡¯s cheating!¡¹ Fen sent a sidelong glance toward Lumine, and then looked up at me while speaking to me via telepathy. £¨Please act as their protector for a while. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll come every day to deliver your supply.£© ¡ºEh, sure!¡» After he raised his padded paw cheerfully, he rubbed his cheek to mine and went back to Lumine¡¯s lap, munching again. For some reason, Lumine seems to be liked by those who came from the outer realm. Maybe her simple and innocent personality-completely lacking in any kind of calculation- was what attracted them. In short, she was my antithesis. ¡¸By the way, what is that Roman doing right now?¡¹ I asked the whereabouts of the person who was supposed to be in this place too. I mean, that guy would definitely come since the organizer of the meeting was none other than Lyla. ¡¸He¡¯s attending cooperation training with the hero team, I think he w¨D¨D¡¹ The door of the restaurant opened with a bang right before Lyla finished her sentence, which was then followed by a handsome, brown-haired youth rushing into the restaurant. ¡¸Kai, why are you starting the meal without waiting for me!?¡¹ He came to my side and spoke loudly while sending a rain of saliva in my direction. ¡¸Thank you for the hard work. Here, try this one, it¡¯s delicious.¡¹ I stabbed a ¡ºGyouza¡» with the skewer in my hand and threw it into his mouth to stop him from drenching me with his spit. ¡¸Uhm!?¡­¡¹ He was chewing in silence for a while with a shocked face and sat in the available chair immediately. It seemed he was famished. This fella became rather obedient once he was hungry. Even though I was right there, Roman ate with gusto as if he was completely captivated by the food, ¡¸It seems everyone still wants more, let¡¯s order a second helping of this.¡¹ I raised my right hand and placed another order of gyoza to the employee of the restaurant. Volume 5 - CH 6 Act 5-6: Raising The Curtain of the Tale of Glory and Ruin East End¨D¨D Neo City-Ket Guy The party went on till evening, Somni and Tetle, who returned to Neo City-Ket Guy with Asta¡¯s strange power were brought out of Ket-Guy again by long nosed monster called Girimekhala early in the morning. ¡¸Eh£¿¡¹ ¡¸Eh?¡¹ The moment they stepped outside of the city, the space before them warped and they entered wasteland. Many otherworldy being had been waiting for them in there. They surrounded Somni and Tetle, looking at them with solemn faces. ¡¸Uhm, excuse me¡­¡¹ When Somni tried to ask Girimekhala about the situation, the latter suddenly spread his arms, raised his face as he said, ¡ºWE RECEIVED DIVINE ORDER DIRECTLY FROM OUR SUPREME RULE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~R! WE ARE ORDERED TO TRAIN THEM TILL THEY BECOME STRONG ENOUGH TO ENDURE THE TRAINING FROM OUR SUPREME RULER! AND IT MUSTN¡¯T LITTLE TRICK SUCH AS OUR DIVINE PROTECTION, IT¡¯S TRUE STRENGTH OF THEIR OWN!¡» With voice loud enough to shake the atmosphere. The otherworldy beings stirred at once upon hearing Girimekhala¡¯s words. Every single one of them look like they¡¯re shocked beyond reason. ¡ºGirimekhala, does Supreme Ruler-sama truly gave such instruction?¡» Hearing the man with intimidating look on his face and pair of horns growing from his forehead asked with bewildered look on his face, Girimekhala turned toward him and, ¡ºOf course! Supreme Ruler-sama himself said that we have to train them so thoroughly without any compromise until they became strong enough to endure Supreme Ruler-sama¡¯s personal training!¡» Once again, Girimekhala shouted with voice that could literally ruptured eardrums. ¡ºThorough training, huh. This is the first time he gave such instruction.¡» The man with dragon head, clad in foreign golden attire said so while crossing his arms. ¡ºSo? What do you think the reason is for that terrifying Personage to give such absurd instruction to us?¡» Responding to the question of the red-haired youth with pair of wings on his back, Girimekhala¡¯s face formed an extremely wicked smile and, ¡ºI received a report from our scout saying that the race called demon race who live in the north of this place is undergoing some sort of ritual.¡» The moment Girimekhala spun such words as if he sung them, "" ¡ºEnough with that roundabout! Can you get to the point already!?¡» The man with dragon head asked, with irritated voice. ¡ºIn short, it¡¯s the ritual to summon one of the six evil army¡¯s general.¡» Another commotion incomparable to before broke out. ¡ºSIX GENERALS OF EVIL ARMY!? NO WAY, DOES THAT MEAN THIS LAND IS THE CHESSBOARD OF HEAVENLY DEMON GAME!?¡» Girimekhala nodded to the man with dragon head, his three eyes were bloodshot. ¡ºYes, no doubt about it! They tried to turn this land into the chessboard for that extremely wicked game! Yes, it¡¯s none other than this land, the land governed by Our Supreme Ruler! Soon, this land will turn into sea of flame due to the collission between heavenly army and evil army! ARE YOU GOING TO LET THEM TO DO THAT!?¡» The rage of the otherworldy beings exploded at once the moment Girimekhala finished his words. ¡ºUNFORGIVEABLE! ANYONE WHO DARES TO BARE THEIR FANGS TOWARD SUPREME RULER-SAMA SHALL BE SMASHED TO PIECES BY ME! WHERE ARE THEY!? WHERE ARE THOSE BAST*AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARDS!?¡» When the man with dragon head shouted like that, ¡ºThey really underestimate us huh¡­ Sure enough, we¡¯re far too weak compared to Supreme Ruler-sama. But still¨D¨D So what if they¡¯re evil army or heavenly army? The current us can literally trash them with ease!¡» The horned man with an intimidating face was really angry, blue veins throbbing nonstop on his forehead. Amidst the rage of those otherworldly being, Girimekhala gestured with his hands, telling them to call them. ¡ºTHAT¡¯S RIGHT! WE WON¡¯T FORGIVE ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING THAT DISPLEASE OUR SUPREME RULER! THAT¡¯S THE COMMON GROUND BETWEEN ALL OF US! OUR COLLISION WITH THEM IS IMMINENT! BUT, OUR SUPREME RULER HAS ALREADY TAKEN OUR MEASLY INDIGNATION INTO HIS PLAN. THE PLAN TO DRIVE THEM TO THE ABYSS OF DESPAIR HAS ALREADY BEEN DEPLOYED EVEN AS WE SPEAK RIGHT NOW. AND THEN¨D¨D¡» Girimekhala then lookign at Somni and Tetle. The other otherworldy being¡¯s line of sight was also focused on the two. Somni and Tetle couldn¡¯t help but to feel like a frog being stared by snake. ¡ºWe have to train these two human to smash those evil army¡¯s pride to pieces. Is that the plan of Supreme Ruler-sama?¡» The moment the horned man with an intimidating look on his face asked so, ¡ºEXACTLY!! SUPREME RULER SAMA WANTS TO SEE THEM BEING TOYED AROUND BY BUGS(HUMAN)!¡» It was met with exploded excitement and delight. That was the only thing that Somni could express with his limited vocabulary. The otherworldy beings were jumping happily, dancing around, shouting to the sky. And then amidst such abnormal situation, ¡ºThen, let¡¯s appoint them as the subordinate for Oboro and co, Lucas, or Supreme Ruler-sama¡¯s best disciple, Zack!¡» ¡ºWe¡¯ve to give special training to Deimos who would teach them sorcery too. Let him to see the abyss of sorcery, no, let¡¯s make him to step into the abyss!¡» ¡ºI can teach them a good reinforcement training!¡» ¡ºYes, the passing bar is to let them gain their own divinity, as for how to surpass that, it¡¯s up to their own resilience!¡» ¡ºIn the first place, their current state is way too feeble. Let¡¯s not force them to break their body.¡» The otherworldy beings were starting to throw one ominous remark after another while let out steam from their excited face. ¡¸W-WAIT A MINUTE!¡¹ Somni¡¯s loud voice who shouted to stop them was, ¡ºYou two hear me out, you only have half year in real life! During that time, we will make the full use of Norn¡¯s power to make a monster of you!¡» swallowed by Girimekhala¡¯s bestial roar. That moment, the worst monsters from worst dungeon were completely misunderstood their Supreme Ruler¡¯s intention. As a result, the human, demon, monster, and evil army¨D¨D Those poor lambs were forced to come into the same train as the most terrifying monster in this world. And the destination of that train was hell, or heaven. The tale of glory and ruin had finally entered its first phase. Volume 5 - CH 7 Act 5-7: Mind Zero¡¯s Melancholy When I woke up, I was inside a densely grown forest. Due to the giant trees that covered the sky, I felt instinctual fear from the roar of the beats in the woods. I wanted to stop but, I ended up walking again due to fear. That fear was what kept me from stopping. Where am I? How did I ended up in this place? No, to begin with, who am I? I couldn¡¯t remember all of it, my memories were blank slate. But I know that I would definitely die if I just crouch down inside of a thicket. That¡¯s why I forced my feet to move forward. I had no idea how long I walked, it might be one day, two days, or just a few hours. My sense of time was completely messed up, I was just walking forward as my mind turned hazy due to exhaustion. £¨Dammit, this is bad.£© I knew that I was about to reach my limit. When that happens, only a certain death is waiting for me. £¨No!£© I refuse to die in an unknown place, stranded for a reason that I had no idea about. Even if I died, I wanted to at least know the reason why I died. Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t accept it at all costs. ¡¸Kuh?¡¹ My feet stumbled on a tree¡¯s root, and fell forward. I turned around and looked up at the moon peeking out from the gap between the giant trees, and thought that the moon was really beautiful tonight. When I raised my right hand to grab the unreachable moon, my ears caught the sound of quarrel. ¡¸Someone is there¡­¡¹ It was definitely the sound of quarrel. The moment I realized that, I instinctively rose up on my feet and walked towards the voice like a moth attracted to light. I¡¯ve been walking nonstop in this seemingly endless sea of forest but, I knew that my heart was about to reach its limit. In front of my dimmed vision was the figure of a huge wolf and a girl with a tail. The beast approached the girl, saliva dripping nonstop from their mouth. My field of vision dyed red upon seeing the spectacle overlapped with something similar flashed in my head. ¡¸GUH!¡¹ I ran toward the huge wolf, caught its head with my left arm, and pointed the palm of my right hand into the mouth of the wolf. And then, my mouth moved on its own, reciting words that seems so familiar to me. The ground beneath my feet set ablaze, forming a geometric pattern. That spectacle was something that seemingly very dear to me, and then, my mouth moved on its own as if I had done this countless times. ¡ºFLAME BULLET!¡» The moment I spoke the words of power, several lumps of fire appeared, fired at high speed from my fingers, struck the huge wolf and burned its entire body. Ah, I remember now. The origin of this nauseated feeling. This magic was the magic I hated the most, and ironically, it was also the magic that I was most skilled at. When I turned my face toward the girl, my vision suddenly dyed red. I was extremely familiar with this sensation since I¡¯ve experienced it numerous times in the past. £¨Yes, this is Mind Zero.£© Just like that, I passed out. My consciousness descended into the darkness, and the moment I was convinced of my condition. Volume 5 - CH 8 Act 5-8: A Chance of Encounter That Slightly Altered The Fate The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes due to the chirping of birds was the unfamiliar ceiling. I looked around after barely managing to raise my body and saw a red-haired girl sleeping in the chair beside me. The girl¡¯s long red hair gathered in her sides, hair flowing down all the way till it reached her waist, and beast ears on her head twitching lightly. £¨Beastfolk? No, that¡¯s a definite demon race¡­£© The beastfolk tribe was a race based on humans. While that girl¡¯s face had some long whiskers, red Tuffy hairs covered the back of her slender arms. She might come from a demon race¡¯s tribe called sheep cat. Uhm? Wait a minute¨D¨D How did I know all about this? The moment I thought so, incredible stabbing pain in my head. ¡¸GUH!¡¹ It felt as if a hammer struck my head. That was the best expression for this pain. After I crouched down for a while, ¡¸Are you alright?¡¹ The girl asleep till a while ago woke up, quietly approached me from behind and patted my back. ¡¸¡­¡¹ A while later, when I looked at her beautiful face, the girl¡¯s face flushed red at once. ¡¸Ah, sorry!¡¹ When I retreated, my back crashed on the wall, when I leaned forward, my face buried in her che*st instead. ¡¸¡­¡¹ I raised mute scream while feeling the soft sensation rubbing on my face, and then, I passed out again when a strong shock struck my right cheek. ¡¸My deepest apologies.¡¹ When I woke up again, the red-haired girl bowed her head. ¡¸No, that¡¯s more like a punch rather than a slap¡­¡¹ When I spoke what I really felt, ¡¸Sorry.¡¹ The red-haired girl¡¯s figure became smaller and smaller. It seems I was someone who rather inconsiderate to other¡¯s feeling. But, I seems to know how to manage the situation too. ¡¸Why are you apologizing? You¡¯re my benefactor, right? Thank you for bringing me to this place.¡¹ For some reason, I felt really refreshed when I expressed my gratitude for her. At this moment, it felt like I opened the lid of the box that I kept in the bottom of my heart for years. That box was filled to the brim with despair and malice and yet, it was also my most treasured box. Ironically, I only realized that fact half year after this day. The day when I lost everything, and the day when I gained everything. Volume 5 - CH 9 Act 5-9: Discussion Regarding The Treatment of The Outsider Bluegrass covered the floor of the wooden house. Sitting on the grass were several people with appearances resembling a mixture of cat and human. ¡¸We should kill him immediately!¡¹ The cat-headed youth with short golden hair stood from his position, shouting excitedly. ¡¸But, Sharm-sama rejected that idea. The demon race is going to invade this place in the near future. Sharm-sama¡¯s biggest concern right now is maintaining and invoking the barrier ritual. We really can¡¯t afford that personage¡¯s anger.¡¹ But a cat headed old man admonished the youth. ¡¸Dammit! Why can no one but Sharm maintain this village¡¯s barrier!¡¹ The blonde haired youth struck the bluegrass on the floor, causing it to scatter in the air of the room, ¡¸For us, the current invasion of the demon race is no different from the massacre of human race. Even if it¡¯s the request from that personage, we¡¯re still disgusted by the fact that we¡¯ve to breath the same air as those despicable human, our mortal foe.¡¹ When the red haired young woman with cat head shouted with an indignant voice, ¡¸That¡¯s right. I can¡¯t help but to worry if my child is going to be taken hostage by that human. On top of not knowing his reason for coming to this place, we at least can¡¯t leave him on his own device.¡¹ A cat-headed youth with black hair touched his chin, muttered so with disgusted look on his face. ¡¸Even the person himself said that he has no idea about that himself.¡¹ ¡¸That must be a lie to prevent us from killing him! We¡¯ve to drive him out immediately!¡¹ The blonde haired cat shouted again but, ¡¸Are you stupid!? Humans have already infiltrated this land! If we let go of that human, he might tell his peers about this village, and we¡¯re going to be destroyed first by those human instead of invaded by the demon race!¡¹ His idea got shot down immediately with the red haired cat. ¡¸What should we do then!?¡¹ ¡¸I don¡¯t know! At least use that empty head of yours to think about that!¡¹ ¡¸WHAT!¡¹ ¡¸What, wanna duke it out? Fine by me!¡¹ Seeing both of them standing up, glaring at each others, ¡¸Enough.¡¹ A cat-headed, red-haired man with a scar on his left cheek stood there and stopped them. Both of them snapped off their fury and sat down like obedient children. ¡¸Let¡¯s end this topic and confine that human to underground prison.¡¹ Hearing the grave voice of the man with scar on his left cheek, ¡¸But, what about Sharm-sama¡¯s opinion in this regard?¡¹ ¡¸Leave that decision to my daughter. You guys won¡¯t have any problem with this, right?¡¹ When he looked around, no one objected to his decisions. That¡¯s just how much they trusted this man. ¡¸Everyone should prepare for the worst.¡¹ Thus, the meeting ended with the last reminder from the man with scar on his left cheek. After everyone has left, the man with scar on his left cheek raised his face. ¡¸Human visitor huh¡­ Maybe the rumor about that Deboa subjugation is true¨D¨D¡¹ He muttered so while shaking his head to the sides, ¡¸Don¡¯t associate with humans, don¡¯t take in humans. That¡¯s the one and absolute law followed for a long time.¡¹ He muttered so with grave look on his face as he tried to shake of a naive thought in his head, ¡¸But, it¡¯s been decades since the last human came to this place¡­ Is this some sort of omen¡­¡¹ The man¡¯s muttering vanished amongst the rattling sound of the building due to the strong wind from the outside. Volume 5 - CH 10 Act 5-10: Revolting Yet Gentle Remarks Just as expected, the red haired girl was really a sheep cat tribe. Moreover, she was the daughter of the patriarch, and the shrine maiden who carried out a special ritual. And I, a human, was thrown into jail. The reason why they didn¡¯t straight out execute me was simply because I saved that girl. No, that might not be the real reason. Even if I saved that girl, it wasn¡¯t a reason for them to stop from killing me. That¡¯s just how much they hate humans, for a valid reason on top of that. The reason why I was still alive was simple, because they had no reason to kill me. Nevertheless, the situation could change anytime and they might execute me right in the next moment. There was the sound of the stone door opening followed by the sound of footsteps descended toward the underground prison. And the footsteps were heading toward my direction. ¡¸Gil, your long awaited mea~l.¡¹ Just like usual, a red-haired girl stood in front of the jail as she brought me my meal with cheerful smile on her face. By the way, Gil was how I decided to call myself. Reason being ¡°Gil¡± was carved in the back of the pendant I carried in my pocket. When I told the girl about that, she decided to call me Gil. ¡¸Thanks a lot, Shar.¡¹ In this one week, this red-haired girl, Shar, was the one who always delivered my meal and then, she told me about a lot. Since I literally had nothing to do, hearing her story was one of my only sources of entertainment. ¡¸You seems to speak more fluently compared to when we first met, Gil.¡¹ "" ¡¸You¡¯re right¡­¡¹ The reason might be because I could speak about what I really felt. Though I had a hard time to say ¡°thank you¡±before, now I could say it far more easily after saying it literally everyday. At this point, saying it was as easy as breathing for me. ¡¸Yeah, it felt like something was holding my tongue at first.¡¹ ¡¸Is it really that hard?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, and scary.¡¹ But, scary huh. That¡¯s right. I just a normal human who lost his memories, and wandered into the village of monster in the middle of nowhere. It wasn¡¯t as simple as lost my way. I knew that there must be a special circumtances which brought me in this place. ¡¸Yeah. That feels just right. I might be a cold-blooded scroundel.¡¹ Otherwise, I might not strayed in this village in the middle of nowhere without my memories. To be honest, I wasn¡¯t sure if the ¡°Current¡± me was the ¡°Real¡± me either. ¡¸Gil is, a scroundel? Pfft! Kyahahaha!¡¹ Though Shar was dumbfounded for a while, she laughed as soon as she snapped out. ¡¸What¡¯s so funny about that?¡¹ ¡¸I mean, if Gil is really a bad person, you won¡¯t even consider to safe me back then.¡¹ ¡¸No, it just by pure chance.¡¹ Even I had no idea why I saved Shar back then. It just that the moment I saw that monster about to attack Shar, my field of view suddenly turned red, and my body started moving on its own. But, I could tell one thing. The reason why I saved Shar back then wasn¡¯t because sense of justice. It felt more like my own selfish reason. Maybe, I¨D¨D ¡¸Nevetheless, it doesn¡¯t change the fact that Gil is my benefactor.¡¹ Shar smiled as she told me so with unwavering voice. It was as if she tried to cheer me up, ¡¸Can you tell me what is that?¡¹ The pendant hanging on Shar¡¯s neck had always come in my mind. I had the same kind of pendant, albeit more worn out than her. ¡¸I received this from a certain person.¡¹ Shar proudly showed her pendant to me. ¡¸A certain person?¡¹ ¡¸Yes, it¡¯s from a female human who saved me when I lost in the forest in my childhood.¡¹ I see. So that¡¯s the reason why Shar wasn¡¯t wary of me, a human. It was simply because she was saved by a human in the past. That explain her attitude toward me I guess. But, even when I lost my memories, I could tell her that not all humans were as selfless as her benefactor in the past. Many of them was nothing more than lump of their greed. And since I could came out with such idea, I became more convinced of my status as piece of trash before I lost my memories. Also from the fact that I consider how to use her to escape from this place. But¨D¨D £¨The problem is where I¡¯ve to go from here?£© I let out a wry smile. Even if for example I arrived in human habitation, I might ended up executed since I might be a wanted man. No, even the fact that I strayed in this kind of place, so far from human settlement, might be the result of me wanting to avoid people attention. In this current situation, I might¡¯ve bigger chance to survive rather than trying to act restlessly. At least, I would be safe as long as she care about me. In fact, I really am indebted to Sharl since she saved me when I reached my limit. Even without that, I might use my position as her benefactor to save my life. Yup, maybe the me before I lost my memories were a genuine piece of trash who only think about his own safety. When I let out self-depreciated smile, ¡¸Let me to hear more about your childhood.¡¹ I asked as gentle as possible. Suppressed my disgust over my own self, and lent my ears to Shar who seemingly enjoyed telling me about the lore of this region. Volume 5 - CH 11 Act 5-11: The Signal For The First Test Sponsored By The Strongest Monster ¡¸Oi, are you absolutely sure that there¡¯s a beastfolk settlement around this area?¡¹ A group of robbers was moving along the north east of the northern block, the female leader of Sad Terror¨D¨D Sad glanced menacingly from her shoulder as she asked her subordinate, ¡¸Y-Yesh, it just right around there.¡¹ She approached the black haired youth who replied with stuttered voice and, ¡¸Then why didn¡¯t you leave any marks!?¡¹ Seized the youth¡¯s collar and asked with enraged voice as she brought his face closer. The scout of Sad Terror had always left behind the most optimum route toward their group¡¯s next hunting ground. Everything went very well till midway. Until black mist suddenly appeared in the forest, straying them for a while in the forest. When the black mist vanished, he forgot about the mark, even the retreat path was gone. ¡¸About that, I¡­¡¹ The black haired youth shook his head in bewilderment. "" ¡¸DAMMIIIIIIIT!¡¹ The enraged Sad slammed the back of her subordinate to the nearby tree. She heard the rumor from the peddlers who went into Northern Forest located in the north east of the Northern Block and after careful investigation, she found that the supposedly no man¡¯s land was actually hiding a village of beastfolk deep inside the forest. The women and children of beastfolk can be sold for a high price. They were so exquisite that the money they would get from selling dozens of them was enough for them to live their lives leisurely . Though things are getting more difficult lately due to the inspection of the kingdom¡¯s officials, the risk was worth the money. But, there was one problem. There¡¯s a possibility of there being powerful beastfolk amongst the villagers. For that reason, they made several preparations to prevent accidents. ¡¸A~~~h, getting lost in the forest due to mere mist, are you alright?¡¹ A blue-haired lean man with partial parted hair asked while letting out a huge yawn. The man who wore a coat with crest of a feather on white was Sugar. An assassin employed for this job. His name was rather unknown even in the underworld but, as a recommended personal from information broker, his abilities were real. ¡¸Don¡¯t panic.¡¹ Sad¡¯s subordinates moved in hurry as soon as she signaled to them with her eyes while bluffing their opponent. And then, after a long time, her subordinates returned when the sun had set. ¡¸Too slow!¡¹ Upon receiving such criticism, the lackeys seems bewildered and, ¡¸The village is there but¡­¡¹ The hestitated to finish their remark. ¡¸BUT WHAT! SPEAK PROPERLY WILL YA!¡¹ The lackeys straightened their back and, ¡¸Yes! It¡¯s actually not a beastfolk village but cat-like monsters!¡¹ The report was beyond their expectation. ¡¸Cat-like, monster!? What in the world are you doing!? As if there¡¯s such monster in this Nothern Forest!¡¹ The monster living in this Northern Forest was powerful but most of them were individuals who didn¡¯t live in groups. Thus, it was hard to imagine those kinds of monsters forming a group. ¡¸It¡¯s true! It really is cat-like monster!¡¹ Seeing the lackey¡¯s unusual desperation, Sad¡¯s anger subsided. ¡¸Is that really cat-like monster?¡¹ She used more strength to press the answer from her subordinate. ¡¸Yes! I saw it with my own eyes!¡¹ ¡¸Y-Yes¡­ There¡¯s super rare monster ahead¡­¡¹ The cat-like monster, otherwise known as ¡¾Sheep Cat¡¿. They¡¯re super rare monster. They¡¯re monsters whose figure is infinitely closer to that of a beastfolk, a pervert noble with a weird fetish for monsters was willing to pay far higher than when they pay for the beastfolk. Originally, a highly intelligent monster which was smart enough to form a community could only be found in Northern Grand located in the north of East End. And Northern Grand located on top of a steep cliff, right on the north of it was the territory of one of the four demon kings, Aldebaran, thus no human was stupid enough to go there. To express the degree of the difficulties, maybe only the strongest hunter in the world could go there to capture ¡¾Sheep Cat¡¿, that¡¯s just how difficult it was. ¡¸NICE! NIIIIIIIIIIICE!! IT REALLY ISN¡¯T A BORING JOOOOOOOOOOOB! HOW DOES IT TASTE IF I KILL THEM I WONDER!!¡¹ Sugar shouted so while hugging his body with entranced look on his face. ¡¸Hey, your part is¨D¨D¡¹ Sugar frowned upon hearing Sad talking about their contract in hurry, glaring at her and¡­ ¡¸I know. You can take the young women and children. Leave the strong ones to me.¡¹ ¡¸Yes. That¡¯s correct!¡¹ The conversation ended really fast since their interests didn¡¯t go against each other. Hiring a skillful homicidal maniac was truly worth their value. Sad couldn¡¯t help but marveled by the choice of the information broker. They¡¯re really skillful in spite of their age. ¡¸So? What are you going to do now? Shall I start fi~rst?¡¹ ¡¸There¡¯ll be too much victim from our side if we make a move first. Let¡¯s follow the original plan first.¡¹ She wasn¡¯t joking. The price for damaged goods was far cry compared to when they¡¯re in perfect condition. Sugar was insurance to make sure that nothing goes wrong with their plan. ¡¸I¡¯ll follow as you say but, I really hope you start faster.¡¹ Sugar replied so with undisguised joy on his face. £¨Geh! Pervert(Homicidal maniac)!£© Sad heaved a sigh and then glared at her subordinates, ¡¸We will go as planned. Everyone remember each of your role!¡¹ Her subordinates started moving the moment she finished speaking. £¨Lucky! To think that I get this kind of chance!£© She muttered so while imagining her future, wealthy self swimming in her own wealth. Volume 5 - CH 12 Act 5-12: Behind The Scene of The 1st Act After the bandit group called Sad Terror had left, a figure of a female butler and a monster with a long nose appeared as if they had been there all along. ¡¸No one noticed eh. How ridiculous.¡¹ When the female butler expressed her thoughts on Sad and co with a scorn on her face, ¡ºDon¡¯t say that. Your teleportation is still an unknown phenomenon to those human(bug) after all. Not to mention my cursed realm on top of that. And not just limited to them, the branch species of those human(bug) called idiot won¡¯t notice the phenomenon too.¡» The monster with long nose followed with that remark. ¡¸So, what kind of scheme Our Master have this time with that monkey who lost his memories?¡¹ ¡ºHumph! As if this lowly insect can guess what that Supreme Ruler thinking about!¡» Hearing the female butler¡¯s question, the long-nosed monster raised an annoyed scream for the first time. ¡¸Yeah yeah, I know how you feel. Since that¡¯s the case, what kind of instruction Master gave to you on this occasion, Girimekhala?¡¹ The female butler shrugged her shoulders as if she gave up pursuing this matter further and directed her question toward the monster-nosed Girimekhala instead. ¡ºSoon, the first test for that disrespectful brat will begin. That was his divine revelation.¡» ¡¸By the first test, do you mean those? The test isn¡¯t a little competition, right?¡¹ ¡ºHAH! That might be the case from our perspective. But, that human(bug) called Sugar is a little special. That disrespectful brat won¡¯t be able to beat Sugar as he is right now. He¡¯ll die for sure.¡» ¡¸When that happen, that village is going to be destroyed, and those poor human will become your toys.¡¹ ¡ºIndeed.¡» Seeing Girimekhala nodding gleefully, the female butler heaved a sigh and, ¡¸Well, I don¡¯t really care anyways. But, I can¡¯t deny that seeing those insect struggle is entertaining. I guess I¡¯ve to at least see this farce till the end.¡¹ Her figure vanished along with those words. The corners of Girimekhala¡¯s lips rose up and, ¡ºCome out!¡» He shouted toward the empty space. ¡ºHere!¡» ¡ºHah!¡» A brown haired youth and demonic man of fire wearing black attire appeared as they placed their right hand on their left chest. ¡ºHear me out, don¡¯t let any of those bug within my realm to escape! But you may kill anyone who is perceptive enough. No one shall disturb this grand play of Our absolute Supreme Ruler! We need to teach those ignorant fools who don¡¯t understand their place with their soul. ¡» The duo gulped upon seeing Girimekhala¡¯s face form into a wicked smile, ¡º¡ºYES!!¡»¡» Their figure vanished after they bowed to Girimekhala. Girimekhala nodded in satisfaction upon seeing that, and then raised his arms to heaven, ¡ºOUR SUPREME RULER! LET THOSE INSIGNIFICANT BUGS START THE GRAND TALE WOVEN BY YOU!¡» And shouted with a passionate voice. Volume 5 - CH 13 Act 5-13: I Want To Take Back Shar Few weeks had passed. I am still living in this underground prison but I didn¡¯t feel bored or lonely since she would always, without fail, bring me my meal and tell me the folklore around this area. Just as I had expected, this was Sheep Cat village. And that girl, Shar, had a duty to put the barrier around the village to protect the village as the shrine maiden. According to Shar, the core of the barrier was the pendant that she wore around her neck, and no one but her could put the barrier. That pendant must be a treasure exvacated from dungeon or labyrinth. The woman who gave that pendant to Shar seems to be a curious hunter who happened to be wandering around this place. It was a treasure of ancient ruin class. And if we limit it to female hunters who could give that kind of treasure. That would be¨D¨D ¡¸Ah!?¡¹ Suddenly, a piercing pain ran in my head. I crouched down, holding my head for a while after that but, I shook my head and stood up again. £¨This phenomenon again¡­ How did I come to know such details?£© I don¡¯t think such detailed information about hunters could be known by just anyone. Especially that pendant, how did I came to a conclusion that it was a treasure of ancient ruis class? Not to mention that I can use magic and am pretty knowledgeable in something that no ordinary person should know. Could it be that I was actually a former hunter who lost his memories due to a blunder during my mission and ended up wandering around this region without my memories? If I am a hunter, I guess it¡¯s natural for me to know about Sheep Cat being a monster. Or not, no hunter would come to this place by themselves. If that¡¯s the case¨D¨D ¡¸Well, that¡¯s all I can think for now¡­¡¹ It¡¯s not like my current situation would change for better even if I remember who I am before. I mean, they could literally execute me anytime they wanted to. I shook my head for a change of pace. ¡¸Nevertheless, she was really late huh¡­¡¹ Normally, Shar would come to deliver my dinner but, even when the time for dinner has come, I¡¯ve yet to see her figure. This was the first time she was this late in the last few weeks. Suddenly, I heard the footsteps of someone descending the stairs. And those footsteps were heading in my direction. ¡¸Do I feel¡­ relieved?¡¹ An enigmatic feeling that I couldn¡¯t explain suddenly sprung up in my chest. I might understand if I felt flustered when I saw her. But, to think that my chest would feel this warm just knowing that I could see her face again. But, it might be just my imagination. Knowing my situation, I might actually feels the exact opposite of that. ¡¸How ridiculous¡­¡¹ I shook my head again, shoving the difficult problem that appeared in my head aside. ¡¸What¡¯s for dinner tonight I wonder?¡¹ I decided to think about the menu for the dinner that would be brought by Shar anytime now to distract myself from that question. The dinner brought by Shar was far from perfect, even with compliments, it was sloppy and only lightly seasoned but, for some reason, it felt like the most delicious meal I¡¯ve ever had. For some reason, I got addicted to the dishes made by Shar. (Eh?) The number of the incoming footsteps wasn¡¯t just one. And no matter how I think about it, it wasn¡¯t the sound of Shar¡¯s footsteps. Dammit, this is it, I guess. After the door got unlocked, it opened with a bang, a cat faced man with red hair and scar on his left cheek and a cat faced youth with blonde hair stormed into the room. And then, the cat faced youth looked aroundm grabbed me by my collar and, ¡¸WHERE IS SHARM!?¡¹ He bared his canines as he roared at me. Eh? they¡¯re not coming to execute me huh. Moreover, his remarks was filled with impatience. ¡¸What¡¯s happened to Shar?¡¹ ¡¸DON¡¯T PLAY DUMB!¡¹ The enraged youth became even more enraged upon hearing my question. It seems he wasn¡¯t joking. Anyhow, they got nothing from lying to me anyway. In short, Shar really had gone. I naturally understand that. Since that was the case, I¡¯ve to confirm something. ¡¸What about the barrier?¡¹ ¡¸Hah?¡¹ ¡¸I said, what happened to the barrier!? Shar should be working to put up the barrier!¡¹ I asked back to the blonde youth who seized my collar. That kind of barrier type magic tool should always be placed around the vicinity of its user. The reason why the barrier is still fine until now was because it¡¯s always around Shar. On the contrary, if the barrier was to disappear¨D¨D ¡¸The barrier has¡­ vanished.¡¹ The blonde haired youth told me so, hesitating for a while. ¡¸Dammit!¡¹ I guess that confirms the fact that Shar wasn¡¯t in this village. Or at least, far enough for the barrier to disappear. Secondly, Shar wasn¡¯t leaving on her own will. Since that was the case, external factor had caused her to do that. And that external factor was¨D¨D ¨D¨DTHROB! Suddenly, my line of sight warped and my head felt like it was about to explode. The figure of a young girl fell on thicket flashed in my brain. There was puddle of fresh blood around the girl. ¨D¨DTHROB! THROB! THROB! THROB! My headache become more and more unbearable by seconds. ¡¸GUH¡­¡¹ Unable to endure the pain, I crouched on the spot, moaning in pain. And then, in my dimmed consciousness, I bit my lips. I frowned upon tasting the bitter, iron-like taste spreading in my mouth. ¡¸My daughter, no, do you know what happen to Shar?¡¹ A cat-faced man with red hair and wound on his left cheek pushed the blonde cat-faced youth aside and asked that question. I see, this man was Shar¡¯s father huh. Since that was the case¨D¨D ¡¸Shar¡­ Isn¡¯t in the village.¡¹ ¡¸Look, it must be his comrade¡¯s deed!¡¹ The blonde haired youth shouted so but, he shut his mouth again as soon as the red haired cat-faced man with scar on his left cheek glared at the former. ¡¸Why do you think so?¡¹ Shar¡¯s father looked into my eyes as he asked that question. ¡¸Because you say that the barrier has vanished. Contract type magic tool like that barrier only working when the contractor invoked the barrier. Even more so when the barrier is related to a place. I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve realized this fact or not but, that barrier will always exist as long as it¡¯s still in this land. And yet, you say just now that the barrier has vanished right?¡¹ ¡¸It weakened significantly before but, this is the first time the barrier has vanished like this.¡¹ ¡¸Then, after obtaining that magic tool, has Shar ever left it away before?¡¹ Shar¡¯s father paused for a while upon hearing my question and, ¡¸It should be limitless.¡¹ Hearing that, I arrived to a conclusion. When I asked about the matter of Shar being attacked by demon beast in front of the village, he said that the barrier can be still maintained at that distance. Since the user dignated the place to instal the barrier, the barrier would vanish after its user leave the barrier to a certain distance. That was how the mechanism behind that barrier magic tool. In short¨D¨D ¡¸Since that¡¯s the case, there¡¯s only one answer. Shar has been kidnapped and no longer in this village.¡¹ I told them the harsh reality. ¡¸DON¡¯T SCREW WITH ME!¡¹ The blonde youth pushed me till my back hit against the wall. I couldn¡¯t breath for a moment since the air was forced out of my lungs, when I coughed, the blonde youth grabbed my neck wit his right hand. ¡¸That¡¯s enough, Chato!¡¹ But, the blonde youth ignored the reminder from Shar¡¯s father, ¡¸YOUR COMRADE HAD KIDNAPPED HER!¡¹ And shouted at me with an enraged voice. ¡¸I¡­ Can¡¯t deny that.¡¹ Well, I¡¯ve no memory whatsoever about the me from before I wandered in this region after all. Sheep Cat was an extremely rare tribe whose appearance infinitely close to that of a human. I somehow know that a hunter team once mistook thief-like group of them as monster and sold them. Maybe, I was part of tht hunter team. Rather, that would explain the reason why I knew all this knowledge. ¡¸YOU¡¯VE FINALLY SHOWN YOUR TRUE COLORS HUH! YOU FILTHY HUMAN!¡¹ He glared at me with bloodshot eyes, raised his free left hand, and unfolded his claws. ¡¸I SAID STOP!¡¹ Shar¡¯s father shouted angrily as he seized the left arm of the blonde youth called Chato that ready to tore my throat. ¡¸BUT, CHIGI-SAN!¡¹ ¡¸Don¡¯t make me to repeat myself again, Chato.¡¹ Seeing Shar¡¯s father, Chigi told him to shut up, though Chato could only grit his teeth in fury, he threw me as hard as he could to the ground. Thus, Shar¡¯s father¨D¨D Chigi then squatted beside me who just fell on the ground, ¡¸Gil, are you our enemy?¡¹ He asked a question that the current me wouldn¡¯t be able to answer no matter what. ¡¸I don¡¯t know. I lost my memories you see.¡¹ ¡¸You basta¡ª¡¹ Chato was about to curse angrily at me again but, ¡¸Chato, be quiet. I¡¯m talking with him right now. ¡¹ When Chigi spoke with a low voice that sent a chill running down my spine, Chato¡¯s shoulder twitched and then turned away with a vexed look on his face. Chigi gazed at me, ¡¸Sorry for the wrong question. What the current you want to do for Shar?¡¹ To be honest, I had never expected for him to ask such question. ¡¸What the current me¡­ want to do for Shar¡­ is it?¡¹ No one in the village knows who kidnapped Shar. Thus, I knew that at the very least, the kidnapper was specialist in this kind of business. They might be some sort of thief. Since that was the case, it was literally impossible for the people in this village to regain Shar from those kidnapper. In short, Shar would end up being sold as a slave, and died after becoming plaything of some sort of a pervert. The problem is, can I really allow that to happen? £¨Hahaha! What the hell I¡¯m thinking about?£© I laughed. Right now, inside my head¨D¨D I had already drawn several plans to rescue Shar and kill her kidnapper. And I easily came up with such plan without a shred of hestitation. £¨How hilarious. Even though the real me might be the one who wanted to kidnap Shar.£© Yes. That would be the most hilarious joke. But, from the fact that I could come with such plans, I realized that I¡¯m far more attracted to Shar than I expected. Naturally, though I was okay with rescuing Shar without receiving anything in return, realistically speaking, no one would do that. No one in this village knew that my only attachment was Shar alone and no one else. In short. As long as there was no merit in rescuing her, properly speaking, I shouldn¡¯t rescue her. I was a trash indeed. If that was the case, Why should I wanted to save Shar when there was no merit in doing so? ¨D¨DTHROB! My head was assaulted by another headache. Though it wasn¡¯t as painful as before, the scenery of a red haired girl lying on the pool of her own blood flashed in my head for a moment before it vanished again. I don¡¯t know why but, it felt like rescuing Shar and kill the thief who dare to kidnap her was my current top most priority. At the very least, this was the first time an egoistical person like me who always thinking about my own safety felt like to go all out for another person. That¡¯s why¨D¨D ¡¸I want to rescue Shar. Tell me everything you know.¡¹ I stated my honest desire from the bottom of my heart. Volume 5 - CH 14 Act 5-14: Unbelievable Truth(Side: Sad) ¡¸So? The one you managed to catch is just a male brat?¡¹ Sad, the female boss of Sad Terror group asked angrily at her subordinate while looking down at the trembling cat-faced youth before her. ¡¸Hey, do you know what are you doing? You caused them to raise their vigilence just because you kidnapped this brat that happened to stray from his village¡­¡¹ She was really pissed off by the excuse of her stupid subordinate but, ¡¸Do you know that you guys¡¯ stupid mistake has basically exposed our existence to them?¡¹ She desperately surpressed her wrath as she told them so. ¡¸Y-You¡¯re mistaken, there¡¯s no way we ma¨D¨D¡¹ ¡¸THEN WHAT DO YOU THINK HAS CAUSED THEM TO RAISE THEIR VIGILENCE!¡¹ She grabbed the hair of her subordinates as she shouted toward them. Kidnapping before confirming the situation was nothing more than a huge blunder. Even though everything would be alright if they¡¯re more careful with their act. ¡¸That¡¯s completely outside of our expectation¡­¡¹ Hearing another sorry excuse, she was about to punch her subordinate in rage, Sugar caught her wrist. ¡¸Well, it¡¯s better if we¡¯re found out by them. Isn¡¯t that the very reason why you hired me? Shouldn¡¯t we see test the waters first?¡¹ ¡ª Even though our plan had been messed up, this guy only wanted to kill. And if it was this guy, he would even joyfully kill children. When that happens, our plan will fail for sure. ¡¸NO MEANS NO! YOUR TURN HAS YET TO COME!¡¹ ¡¸What are you going to do then? Do you guys really want to catch those few hundreds villagers by using this little monster as your shield? Aren¡¯t you a bit too unreasonable?¡¹ ¡¸¡­¡¹ Sad was vexed since Sugar¡¯s remark was right on the money. Originally, their plan was to secretly kidnap the young women and children and use them as shields. It was the most effective method to deal with intelligent monsters like Sheep Cat whose intelligence rivals humans. ¡¸So, what are you going to do?¡¹ ¡¸Okay, let¡¯s do as you say but, we¡¯ll act first. You¡¯ll be our trump card for unexpected situation.¡¹ Even if her subordinates died, it wasn¡¯t a big deal since they¡¯re disposable pawns. Her subordinates aside, Sugar was in even bigger trouble since he might hurt the product, causing their price to take a nosedive. Moreover, if Sugar wasn¡¯t working too much, she could take advantage of that during the negotiation for his remuneration. The most ideal case was for him to not do his job at all. ¡¸You really are faithful to your desires eh.¡¹ Sugar shrugged his shoulder as if dumbfounded and, ¡¸Then, let me to see you guys¡¯ performance.¡¹ HIs body then blended with the darkness as he retreated into the forest. ¡¸You guys, let¡¯s go! Be careful, our opponent is a monster! Kill all male adults and kidnap their women and children!¡¹ ¡¸Hey, what we¡¯ve to do for the women and children who keep resisting?¡¹ ¡¸Just cut off their limbs. They won¡¯t sell for a good price if they¡¯re too lively.¡¹ ¡¸And this brat?¡¹ ¡¸Just in case, we¡¯ll keep this brat as our trump card.¡¹ In case they failed and had to escape, they could use the kid to prevent the villagers from chasing after them. £¨Well, that most likely won¡¯t happen though.£© Because they¡¯re just monsters who understand human language. Especially the Sheep Cat, they¡¯re just weak monsters, not as dangerous as ogres. Since their side had a magician who was a ruined hunter, their victory was almost guaranteed. She licked her lips, nodded at her subordinates, and then pointed her sword toward the villate, ¡¸GOGOGO!¡¹ She shouted the starting signal with a greed-filled voice. Hearing that, the thieves group¨D¨D Sad Terror- charged toward the village. This was the start of the first act of the script of the extremely wicked monster filled with ruin and despair. Volume 5 - CH 15 Act 5-15: Unpleasant Deja Vu and Determination to Protect Around five hours before the thief group¨D¨D Sad Terror rushed toward the village. Sheep Cat Underground jail, ¡¸I see¡­ So Shar is the only one who disappeared, eh?¡¹ ¡¸Yes.¡¹ I felt something was amiss, as if there was a bone stuck in my throat. Normally, they¡¯ll kidnap a few people to use them as shield. And yet, why only Shar? Is it because Shar was the only who can invoke the barrier? No, had they known such detailed information about this village, they would have used a more reliable method. They definitely wouldn¡¯t use such reckless means. Moreover, why did they stay quiet when they¡¯re supposed to make a move right now, during the peak of confusion? Attacking now would maximize their profit after all. ¡¸No good, their actions are way too unpredictable! ¡¹ I really had no idea about their goal. But some villagers did say that they saw someone that might be a human scout. The scout who was supposed to kidnap Shar alone was found out pretty easily. Are they really choose such idiot to be an scout? Just what in the world was the other party? ¡¸Have you arrived to such conclusion too?¡¹ Chigi asked so while rubbing his chin. ¡¸Yeah, there are three huge flaws in their operation. First, they only kidnapped Shar. Second, their scout made a blunder by being discovered. And the third is the fact that they doesn¡¯t attack this village immediately during the chaotic situation.¡¹ ¡¸It¡¯s simple then! This guy is the insider who revealed the inside situation to his comrades who waiting outside. Right?¡¹ Chato relayed his useless remark, hardly worth my time. ¡¸Hey, did you forget that I¡¯ve been locked in this jail for days? You as the keyholder should be the one most familiar with that fact, right?¡¹ ¡¸Is something the matter with that!?¡¹ Seeing Chato shouted angrily, ¡¸Listen, this place is an underground jail. There¡¯s no window connected to the outside. How do you think I can send the information to the outside in this kind of situation?¡¹ ¡¸With strange technique of humans, of course!¡¹ ¡¸Supposed that we¡¯ve such convenient technique, I will tell them to attack now, when all of you are unprepared. And this village will be occupied by those thieves in no time.¡¹ ¡¸¡­¡¹ Chato glared at me while gritting his teeth. He doesn¡¯t seem to accept my explanation. But, it¡¯s not like he could refute my argument either. This should be enough to shut him for now. "" ¡¸Its just a matter of time before those guys raid this village. The best solution for this is arresting those people as fast as possible and ask them about Shar¡¯s whereabouts.¡¹ It would be different matter if they used Shar as a hostage though. They have that option, but it would be less effective unless they showed Shar. I straightened my posture and stared at Chigi intently, ¡¸Please, allow me to meet the representative of this village.¡¹ I expressed my wish for the second times. Either way, I couldn¡¯t arrest all of those thieves by myself. The villagers¡¯ cooperation was essential. ¡¸REJECTED! WHAT MAKE YOU THINK WE WILL TRUST YOU!¡¹ And just as I expected, Chato raised his objection with loud voice but, ¡¸Are you even listening? Are you seriously aware of your current situation?¡¹ I asked him such to shut his mouth. ¡¸I-I did.¡¹ Chato replied with a crumbled voice. ¡¸Nope, doesn¡¯t appear like that to me. Because if you really understand the severity of the situation, you won¡¯t vent your wrath for being unable to protect Shar from me.¡¹ I heaved a deep sigh, shrugged my shoulders as I spoke. ¡¸SHUT YOUR MOUTH, YOU FILTHY HUMAN!¡¹ A shock suddenly assaulted my face as I crashed on the wall behind me. I felt dull pain and heat running through my mouth. I spat out the blood in my mouth, and glared at Chato. And then, stomped on the ground, punching Chato right in his face. ¡¸Y-You bastaa¨D¨D¡¹ I grabbed Chato, who tried to stand up by his collar, and brought his face to mine, ¡¸Listen carefully. Currently, the barrier has disappeared since Shar has left the village. If that¡¯s not bad enough, the other party sent their scout around this village too, ready to raid this village at any moment. This place will be history if we don¡¯t strengthen the village defenses as much as we can with little time we have. Do you understand now?¡¹ Why I wonder? Why do I get so pissed off seeing Chato¡¯s childish reaction? And then, this strong sense of dejavu. There might be someone similar to him in my past who loves to make such shameful excuses. ¡¸¡­¡¹ Chato pouted and left the room as soon as I released my grip from his collar. ¡¸Sorry Gil but, it¡¯s not so easy to trust a stranger like you.¡¹ ¡¸Guess so.¡¹ Chigi spoke the harsh words I had been expecting. ¡¸That¡¯s why, are you willing to attend the meeting with your body being restrained?¡¹ ¡¸He? Is that mean you¡¯re willing to let me to meet them?¡¹ ¡¸Yes, there are wayy too many variables in this incident. It feels like we¡¯re not strong enough to get over this incident by ourselves. That¡¯s why I think we can hear your opinion about this matter.¡¹ He had such honest personality eh. Chigi then presented his right hand to me. ¡¸That has been my intention from the very beginning.¡¹ I didn¡¯t wait for a moment to take his right hand. Yes. I will protect Shar. That¡¯s what I-someone who lost his past- want to do right now. Volume 5 - CH 16 Act 5-16: Extremely Unexpected Lifeboat The sun had already set when I left the dungeon, and a strangely beautiful, perfect-circle moon floated in the sky above my head. £¨I¡¯ve become the centre of attention eh.£© After that, I was taken into a conspicuously big building with my hands and feet bound by something like ivy in the presence of a crowd. When I entered the building, I saw that the floor of the building was made of green plants, and cat-headed men and women were seated on that plant. ¡¸I¡¯m against this!¡¹ ¡¸We mustn¡¯t trust this human!¡¹ ¡¸Me too. He¡¯s definitely the black star who brought bad luck. Since Shar isn¡¯t here to protect him anymore, we should just kill him and be done with it!¡¹ ¡¸THAT¡¯S RIGHT, KILL HIM!¡¹ Chigi looked like he was forced to chew a bitter pill as everyone in the room shouted ¡¸Kill¡¹ in turn. The time this village had was going with each passing second. This wasn¡¯t the time for this kind of barren dispute. this became more and more annoying. £¨This might be impossible after all¡­£© I secretly gave up in my heart, but then I heard a voice which came from the seemingly most unlikely person. ¡¸I think we should hear him out.¡¹ Amidst the jeers, Chato unexpectedly spoke for me. ¡¸Have you gone mad!? This guy is the human that you hated so much you know!¡¹ Red-haired, cat-faced gil with shortcuts raised such a hysteric scream as she looked at Chato with an extremely dumbfounded look on her face. ¡¸SHUT UP! IT¡¯S BECAUSE THIS GUY SAID THAT WE ONLY HAVE ONE ADVANTAGE! First, he told us to prepare our defenses immediately. And that¡¯s reasonable advice. We have nothing to lose by doing as he says, right?¡¹ ¡¸Then, what shall we do about Shar!?¡¹ ¡¸Enough, just tell me where they kept Shar!Those guys should be close by.¡¹ ¡¸Are you going to abandon Shar!!?¡¹ The girl with red hair stood from where she sit, Chato¡¯s expression warped, ¡¸THEN LET ME ASK YOU, WHAT CAN THE CURRENT US DO IN SUCH SITUATION!!? IS THERE ANY GUARANTEE THAT SHAR WILL BE RETURNED SAFE AND SOUND IF WE KILL THIS GUY!?¡¹ And asked back with a loud voice for all to hear. ¡¸At least, we can exclude the danger of this human!¡¹ ¡¸YOU THINK THE DANGER THAT HAUNTS KET NYA WILL BE GONE IF WE KILL THIS WEAK LOOKING HUMAN!? SHAR IS ALREADY IN HUGE TROUBLE NOW! AND THOSE THIEVES¡¯ SCOUT ALREADY SURROUNDED THIS VILLAGE! HAVE YOU REALIZED THAT IF WE DON¡¯T DO SOMETHING, ALL OF US GOING TO BECOME THE TOYs OF THOSE HATEFUL HUMANS!¡¹ When I looked around, everyone seemed to realize that fact after Chato pointed it out for them. I guess Shar had a special place in Chato¡¯s heart. I¡¯m sure that amongst the ones who gathered here, Chato was the one who wanted to save Shar the most. Everyone seems to be aware of that fact, that¡¯s why they didn¡¯t retort. ¡¸I agree with Chato. Let¡¯s stop the search for my daughter for now. We¡¯ve to focus on maintaining the facilities of Ket Nya for now. Moreover, there¡¯s too many strange points in this incident.¡¹ Chigi turned his gaze toward me. It seems he was signaling me to explain my points to everyone in this place. Yeah, I understand. To begin with, gaining their trust in such a short amount of time wasn¡¯t a simple matter. Without that, Shar and this village shouldn¡¯t be protected. ¡¸I¡¯ll explain the strange point of this incident.¡¹ Thus, I started my explanation about the strange happenings of this incident. Volume 5 - CH 17 Act 5-17: Contradictory Action ¡¸Now that you say that, it¡¯s make a sense¡­¡¹ After I explained my opinion about this incident, the old, cat-face woman nodded in agreement. ¡¸Sure enough, this Ket Nya has already been left in a defenseless state since Sharm-sama got kidnapped by them. Even though this is the best opportunity for them to strike while we¡¯re still unprepared, they didn¡¯t do that for some reason. What is the chance of the one who kidnap Sharm-sama and the one who send the scout come from different group?¡¹ ¡¸That¡¯s also one of the possibility but¨D¨D¡¹ An old fat villager seemed to hestitate to complete his remark. ¡¸Yes. That means we¡¯re under the attack of two strong groups of human at the same time. That¡¯s too much of a coincidence. Even if that really is the case, how can they aim only at my daughter? That¡¯s another strange point about this incident.¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, it¡¯ll be limited to the case if someone telling those people about Sharm-sama, right?¡¹ Black haired youth with cat face and bobbed hairdo asked Chigi as if he just came upon it. ¡¸Yes. For now, let¡¯s strictly warn everyone to not leave Ket Nya for now. No one shall leave without permission. We won¡¯t be responsible to anyone who leave the village during this time.¡¹ Everyone gulped their spit silently upon hearing Chigi¡¯s remark. ¡¸If the other party is really strong, they¡¯ll try to break forcefully into the village even if they didn¡¯t hold my daughter hostage. This can only mean one thing, they have another goal.¡¹ Chigi pondered for a while after I spoke but, ¡¸Gil, what¡¯s your opinion in this regard?¡¹ He asked me with solemn look on his face. ¡¸I think the one who kidnapped Shar and the one who was scouting this village came from different groups. The fact that they managed to kidnap Shar so skillfully, and the fact that their scout was found out seems to be contradictory. Supposed that really is the case, our current priority is to repulse the one who scouted this village. Looking for Shar can wait for later.¡¹ But then, their timing was way too good. I don¡¯t think Shar abduction and thief¡¯s raid were completely unrelated to each others. For some reason, I felt that something far more sinister than those thieves were the one who kidnapped Shar. That¡¯s why in a certain meaning, she was safe. If the person who kidnap Shar wanted to destroy this village, they didn¡¯t have to use such roundabout way, they could just directly trampled this village underfoot. Well, it didn¡¯t change the fact that those kidnapper¡¯s goal was still a mystery but somehow, I knew that the destruction of this village wasn¡¯t their goal. ¡¸Is that really the only way, Chigi-sama?¡¹ The old woman asked Chigi with a worried face. ¡¸Yeah, this might be the trial from our guardian deity, Cait Sith-sama. We are left with no other choice they¡¯re going to attack Ket Nya sooner or later.¡¹ Good. Chigi used the name of the guardian deity at the perfect timing. At that moment, everyone¡¯s presence didn¡¯t hesitate anymore. Now we could finally advance the conversation to the next topic. ¡¸What should we do then, Chigi-sama?¡¹ Hearing the old woman represent everyone to ask that question, ¡¸I¡¯ll explain the whole plan to everyone for now. Please remember your role in that plan.¡¹ Chigi then explained his plan to destroy the thieves. This time, my guts about the one who kidnapped Shar turned out to be right on the money. And I only realized that fact a few months after this day. Volume 5 - CH 18 Act 5-18: Dream Grass Around 40 minutes before the thief group¨D¨D Sad Terror rushed into the village¨D¨D ¡¸The work is finished.¡¹ Chato entered into the village chief residence and reported. ¡¸We somehow made it in time eh¡­¡¹ Everyone heaved a sigh upon hearing Chigi¡¯s remark. I thought that we would only be able to complete around 40% of the plan but, sheep cat turned out to be far more dextrous than I expected. As a result of division of labour in accordance to Chigi¡¯s instruction, they managed to complete the preparation for my plan in just few hours. ¡¸Have you completed the temporary shelter for the villagers?¡¹ ¡¸Yes. Everyone has been moved to the nearby cave. We can prepare defenses there now.¡¹ Chigi heaved a sigh and, ¡¸Now we only need to burn THAT which has been prepared in several locations.¡¹ He said so while looking at the grass in Chato¡¯s right-hand. ¡¸Can we really lead them to that place¡­ and incapacitate them in one fell swoop?¡¹ The old woman asked the question that no one dared to ask. ¡¸Yeah, can I hear your answer too?¡¹ Chato raised the grass in his right-hand as he asked me. ¡¸I wouldn¡¯t make this plan if I don¡¯t see that plan coming true. For humans, or almost every humanoid except for you guys, the sheep cat, that plant is equal to deadly poison. So this plan is supposed to work.¡¹ Yes. It was completely by chance that I discovered the grass in Chato¡¯s hand before they threw me into jail. Maybe the gatekeeper loves to bring it since they were too bored with their guard duty. Upon a closer look, I realized that grass was special grass called ¡¾Dream Grass¡¿. One of the many questions that I asked to Shar was about that grass, the ¡¾Dream Grass¡¿ seems to cause intoxication to sheep cat just like liquor to human. ¡¸But, how can you still be alright then?¡¹ A cat-faced girl with red hair asked that question with an extremely doubtful look on her face. ¡¸It¡¯s harnless as it is. Yes, as it is.¡¹ Yes. This grass would spread extremely vicious pollen from its shell once heated. That pollen was deadly poison for humans. ¡¸Seriously? It changed that much just by heating it up?¡¹ ¡¸Yes. If things goes according to the plan, we might be able to defeat those thieves without a scratch.¡¹ If everything goes according to the plan, that¡¯s it. It seems the previous me really loves to make this kind of makeshift plan. ¡¸The other party is the same human as you, are you really planning to kill them? How can you stay composed like that?¡¹ Chato asked with somewhat terrified look on his face. ¡¸Because they¡¯re my enemy, of course.¡¹ From the current situation, there was a high chance that Shar might return safely once those thieves were annihilated. Since that was the case, this wasn¡¯t the place to hestitate at all.For the current me, the existence of my benefactor took priority over everything else. ¡¸It just as that guy said¡­ human are truly sinful, and beyond redemption.¡¹ Chigi muttered so while squinting his eyes, looking at me. ¡¸No one said it but, I agree.¡¹ Well, especially the current me who could come up with this kind of underhanded plan. The me before losing my memories must¡¯ve an extremely rotten personality. That¡¯s why the truly sinful and beyond redemption one must be me. ¡¸Anyhow, no more questions. We ain¡¯t got any choice but to do this now.¡¹ Chato looked around at everyone presence, and nodded with determined look on his face. And then, he looked at me. ¡¸Oi, Gil, this ain¡¯t mean that I trust you. If by any chance this plan fails¨D¨D¡¹ ¡¸I know. If that happens, my life is yours.¡¹ Either way, Shar won¡¯t return if this plan fails. And I¡¯ve no intention to give up that easily. I¡¯ll make this plan a success no matter what. Moreover, now that we completed all the preparation, I doubt this plan would fail. ¡¸You, really¡­ No, it¡¯s nothing.¡¹ Chato was about to say something but then, he shut his mouth and bowed to Chigi. Chigi nodded back at him, ¡¸Well then, everyone, it¡¯s time to show them hell!¡¹ Everyone shouted the moment Chigi let out such a yell. All yells swallowed the strong anxiety that I felt, shook the hut, and vanished into the night air. Volume 5 - CH 19 Act 5-19: Right Before The Raid(Side: Sad Terror) Right before the raid to Ket Nya village. There was a fortress-lie barricade that surrounding Ket Nya. ¡¸GUHYAHYAHYA! THOSE MONSTERS ACTUALLY THINKING THAT SOMETHING LIKE THAT CAN PREVENT OUR RAID EH!¡¹ The man wearing dirty hood were rolling on the floor as he ridiculing their target. ¡¸They¡¯re such idio~ts. I will praise them for noticing us this fast but, their counter measure is so lame~. In the end, they¡¯re nothing more than monsters, after all.¡¹ The black-haired man with hair cut that only left his long black in the top of his head nodded in agreement with the previous speaker. ¡¸Cat-faced monster eh. Ain¡¯t wrong with a little sampling once we captured all of them a¡¯ight.¡¹ The black haired man was perplexed for a while upon hearing the remark of hooded man but, ¡¸Are you insane? Those guys are monsters you know?¡¹ He asked his comrade with disgusted look on his face. ¡¸But, they¡¯re still women. It¡¯s only natural for us to ¡°Try¡± them right?¡¹ ¡¸Hey, there ain¡¯t men or women among monsters. That¡¯s just crazy.¡¹ The black haired man said so as he shrugged his shoulders, as if giving up on his comrade. ¡¸That¡¯s why you¡¯re such an idiot! We are thieves. Ain¡¯t gonna do this kind of job without that kind of side benefit. That goes for this matter too.¡¹ The hooded man said back with such tone. ¡¸Have to agree with that. Most of our money went to boss after all.¡¹ The two thieves showed indignant look on their face but, ¡¸Hey, what do you think about the current boss?¡¹ The hooded man asked in low voice. ¡¸¡­ No comment. What do you mean anyway?¡¹ ¡¸Just now, your imagination went too far dude. The one who made us to pledge allegience to the daughter of that woman is our boss before he died of illness after all. What¡¯s wrong with that?¡¹ ¡¸¡­ Ain¡¯t anything wrong with that. Well, I¡¯m gonna retire after this job. Even if the remuneration is split equally, that¡¯s still a lot of money after all.¡¹ ¡¸If that¡¯s the case, she¡¯s just a hindrance.¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, nothing but a hindrance.¡¹ Both nodded with wicked smile on their face but, ¡¸What about the other guys?¡¹ ¡¸Ain¡¯t need to confirm that. Everyone has been tired of her tyranny, they must feel the same way as us. They¡¯re going to follow us as long as we raise a revolt.¡¹ ¡¸Then, there¡¯s only one problem left.¡¹ ¡¸That Sugar eh¡­¡¹ ¡¸That guy will take our side as long as we pay more than that woman. He seems to be a pro in this line of job, so he must be used to this.¡¹ ¡¸OKE~~~Y! How about we start immediately?¡¹ ¡¸It¡¯s much better to wait till we report to the boss after we capture these monsters right? Boss is wary of Sugar after all. She¡¯s going to keep some distance from Sugar right?¡¹ The two thieves with their faces filled with greed went and tore the barricade built by the monsters and charged into the village. Volume 5 - CH 20 Act 5-20: Wicked Plan Inside the barricade, on the ground that turned reddish-brown, the crude buildings with straw roofs were lined up together. The estimated numbers were no more than a few hundreds. Scale wise, it was the same as a hamlet or village in the human realm. ¡¸Not a single soul eh.¡¹ The hooded man said so while he looked at the surrounding houses and, ¡¸I expect them to fire their arrows by using houses as their shield but, there really isn¡¯t a single soul in this place.¡¹ Mohi, the black-haired man with mohican hair cut replied so. ¡¸This is most likely a trap.¡¹ ¡¸Guess so.¡¹ The composed look on Koukin, the hooded man¡¯s face, took a sudden turn upon that realization as he unsheathed his long sword, walking carefully while observing his surroundings. The other party was definitely a monster. But, it didn¡¯t mean that he would let his guard down knowing the unknown abilities of the other party. Anyone who dares to do that in this situation has already met their maker. In a certain meaning, that was something akin to the unwritten rules of survival among Mohi and co. "" That¡¯s why Mohi also unsheathed his knife, walking carefully beside Koukin. ¡¸¡­¡¹ After walking for a few meters, Koukin stopped on his track when Mohi raised his right hand. Reason being he saw the mark of something dug up on the red soil. Moreover, the traces indicated that it was out there just recently. There was only one possible explanation for this. Mohi took a stone, and threw it toward the dug up soil. Whe ground caved in the moment the stone landed on it. In that place was a hole big enough for two or three people. ¡¸Hah! Pitfall eh. Are they really thing that such crude trap going to work on us? Well, they¡¯re just monsters, after all.¡¹ ¡¸It¡¯s not that bad I think. Greenhorns would surely fell for this trap.¡¹ Koukin sneered as he said so. Raising their guard against them was a waste of time after all. I guess this was the best those monsters could come up with. Even if they could be reasoned with, they¡¯re just bunch of idiots. If this was all they could come with, we could harvest them real quick then. Mohi jumped casually on that childish trap while twirling the knife in his hand and humming lightly. Koukin returned his sword into its sheath as he walked over the trap with sneer on his face. Apparently, the most conspicious mansion in the centre of the village was something like the mansion of the boss of the monster, and when they entered together with several other group¨D¨D From Sad Terror group. ¡¸You came too eh.¡¹ The young thief with blonde hair from a different team called out to them with a troubled face. They were the team who was supposed to infiltrate the village from the south, the opposite direction from which Mohi and co came from. ¡¸No way, you guys also couldn¡¯t find anyone?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, not even one.¡¹ Properly speaking, that was really strange situation indeed. And everyone felt the same way. The scout from Sad Terror infiltrated the village from the eight direction, they were heading toward the centre of the village. If there really isn¡¯t a single person found there, it means that the village has been abandoned. ¡¸Since they ain¡¯t in this place, have they by chance, escaped? If that¡¯s the case, what¡¯s the use of that barricade then?¡¹ ¡¸I expect that few of them will remain to let the others escape.¡¹ ¡¸Dammit! Those monster has tricked us!!¡¹ The blonde youth kicked the chair, sending it flying till it crashed on the wall. ¡¸What are we going to do then, Mohi?¡¹ "" Koukin asked Mohi about their next course of action. ¡¸Well, let se¡ª Uhm?¡¹ When Mohi touched his chin, pondering about their next course of action, his nose suddenly moved. He remembered smelling something similar in the past. He tried to remember the smell while sniffing the smell in the air. ¡¸Oi, do you hear me!?¡¹ Koukin asking again in frustation. ¡¸Aah, can you shut up for a moment!? I am trying to recall this smell!¡¹ Mohi shouted back at Koukin with irritated voice. ¡¸You bastard¡­¡¹ Koukin stood up angrily upon hearing Mohi¡¯s curse at him and grabbed the latter by his collar. Ah right, let¡¯s just ask this guy. ¡¸Hey, what do you think of this smell?¡¹ ¡¸Fragrance?¡¹ Koukin¡¯s eyebrows frowned as he asked so, ¡¸Yeah, this sweet fragrance.¡¹ When he replied so while raising his index finger¨D¨D ¡¸M-M-MONSTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!¡¹ The bald headed thief who kept his silence until now, suddenly unsheathed his sword and slashed at the blonde haired thief while raising such a scream. A while later, he suddenly recalled one of his old memories while looking dumbfoundedly at his fellow thief who fell on his back and died after receiving a long and deep diagonal slash on his body. That memory was the exchange between Sad Terror and a dead poison user. Yes. This fragrance is¨D¨D ¡¸GET OUT OF THIS PLACE, NOW! THIS IS THE FRAGRANCE OF DREAM GRASS!¡¹ The moment he shouted those words while dodging the slash of the bald-headed fellow thief who kept swinging his sword in half crazed state, Mohi hurriedly ran toward the entrance of the building. He literally rolling out of the building. ¡¸W-What a terrifying plan!¡¹ Then, he noticed that the one who came up with this kind of trap wouldn¡¯t be so naive as to only prepare one of such trap. He then realized that the area around them had already filled with that sweet fragrance. When dream grass received a certain treatment, its hard shell would become brittle and could be crushed so easily with light shock, scattering invisible pollen in the surrounding air which had the effect of inducing a potent hallucination to anyone who inhales it. Now he knew that the pitfall that they destroyed, and sneered at must be filled with dream grass. And the maker of the trap intentionally used psychological tactic to induce them to destroy the crudely made pitfall, thereupon scattering dream grass¡¯ pollen in the air. Large amount of pollen got scattered in the air once the dream grass received even a light shock. That was the most scary part about dream grass. ¡¸Oi, are you sure that we don¡¯t have to stop him!?¡¹ Mohi asked Koukin who left the building which had already been filled with maniacal scream. ¡¸It¡¯s already too late for him! Stop breathing right now if you don¡¯t want to die!¡¹ Koukin concluded that the inside of the building had already filled with the pollen of the dream grass. The one who arrived had already smelled the fragrance of death. Mohi and co was really lucky since they left as soon as they entered that building. ¡¸¡­¡¹ Mohi observed Koukin and saw the latter nodded, and agreed with him to escape to a safe place. A dense amount of pollen came out from the pitfall. It was so dense to the point that they might be affected immediately if they stopped and inhaled the pollen by accident. If that happened, they would become crippled. £¨DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALL!£© Koukin kept running which cursing in his heart. Naive. No, the reason I failed is because I¡¯m too naive and ended up grouping the other party in the same rank as monsters. Surely, being able to come up with this plan means that they¡¯re not just monsters with meager intelligence. That trap was indeed a psychological trap aimed exactly at that kind of expectation. It was a trap which exactly predicted that Mohi and co would definitely demolish the trap once they saw them. In the first place, dream grass is an extremely dangerous good that makes anyone who knows its effect to dispose of it immediately. It was a crazy plan which used the entire village as the trap itself. £¨Wait, could it be that there¡¯s more to this trap!?£© They kept running while holding their breath. The pain while doing so was simply unimaginable. ¡¸UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡¹ Suddenly, Koukin¡¯s scream rose up from behind, and the presence behind him vanished. £¨Dammit!£© He clicked his tongue as his worst expectation had come true, Mohi was done for. ¡°They might¡¯ve prepared another kind of trap. Naturally, it must be a perfect, traceless trap this time.¡± Said Mohi inside, the reason why Mohi could dodge the trap was simply because his gift had something to do with treasure. £¨Are you fu*cking kidding me!£© The magicians were already few in number or the vanguard, and now Koukin, had already died. Not to mention that he still had to face the other party who could come up with such a devilish plan. His heart keep telling him to crush his pride an escape from this place like a defeated dog¨D¨D ¡¸GUH!¡¹ The moment he stepped on the ground which was the only safe landing place among the pitfall, he felt an impact on his chest. That moment, he felt an intense pain, as if his spine was hit by scorching metal. £¨What is¡­ This?£© He wiped the blood that flowed out from the tip of his lips, looked down on his chest, and saw a spear skewered through it. The next moment, a violent impact hit his head, dyeing Mohi¡¯s consciousness in pure white. Volume 5 - CH 21 Act 5-21: Fixed Watching Duty ¨D¨DThe place was around one kilometre north of Ket Nya. Currently, we¡¯re watching the beginning of the first trial I imposed on THAT in the display created by Asta which allowed us to see the situation over there. ¡¸Hoo, not bad.¡¹ I couldn¡¯t help but give THAT praise but, ¡¸This is the first time I see someone as shameless as you, Master. The one who ordered us to make an arrangement to place that dangerous grass in front of that monkey¡¯s prison is none other than you after all. Have you expected this development?¡¹ Asta squinted her eyes as she asked that question. ¡¸I¡¯m not giving him a clear hint that will allow him to pass this trial so easily. In fact, the total destruction of those bandits is purely due to his own ability.¡¹ Well, I¡¯m rather surprised since he could exceed my expectation and created such a plan. ¡¸Neverthell, that monkey becomes really reliable after losing his memory.¡¹ ¡¸I agree with you.¡¹ I had never expected that he was actually quite a tactician. Especially the last attack that kill the last thief who had a treasure-type gift, it was splendid. He narrowed down their choice of action with the trap that lay on the ground. And then used the spear he enchanted with his magic to deliver the finishing blow. Just like that, he easily sends the last thief to meet his maker. ¡¸With this, those bugs(thieves) who lost most of their manpower have no choice but to take out their trump card.¡¹ ¡¸If I¡¯m not mistaken, the one they call Sugar, right? Is such weakling really enough for the main antagonist of the first trial?¡¹ According to Mujina, the information broker, Sugar is a really powerful fiend(toy). Thus I tried to observe him doing his job but, honestly speaking¨D¨D He smell like small fry. ¡¸I¡¯m the same as you, Master, I also have no idea about the difference in power between bugs. Or rather, it looks the same from my perspective. That¡¯s why I think that monkeys should be able to deal with it. But, I¡¯m told by Girimekhala that something weird is mixed in.¡¹ ¡¸A~h, I hear about that too. That fella will show his true nature when he¡¯s doing his job.¡¹ ¡¸Have you seen that?¡¹ Asta asked me with a dumbfounded look on her face. ¡¸Yeah.¡¹ ¡¸Are you really sure that monkey can win against such an enemy?¡¹ ¡¸Naturally. That small fry is actually rather insufficient to be the enemy of this trial. I just want to beat THAT rotten¡¯s personality into shape.¡¹ Sugar was the guy introduced by Mujina. I expected him to be some sort of fiendish monster in human skin but, he turned out to be nothing more than small fry among small fry. It was a huge disappointment since in my evaluation, even a D-rank hunter could kick his ass. Asta closed her eyes for a while massaging her temple with her right hand but, ¡¸By the way, Master, what is your evaluation of the strength of the undead that you slaughtered in Babel?¡¹ She suddenly asked a completely unrelated question. ¡¸Undead? Do you mean the skeletons? or the zombies?¡¹ ¡¸The boss of the guy who tried to kidnap miss Lyla.¡¹ A~h, that balloon-like, weak-ass undead huh? If it was his power, then I could give a clear evaluation. ¡¸At best, he¡¯s only as strong as a goblin who could be found around the vicinity of my hometown, Amour.¡¹ Goblins rarely came out of the forest close to Amour to attack the livestock. The kind of goblin who will be exterminated by a low-rank hunter. That¡¯s why I think he¡¯s just the right person to be the enemy of this trial. ¡¸Are you¡­ Serious?¡¹ Asta asked with an even more dumbfounded look on her face, her cheek was twitching non-stop. It seems my judgement wasn¡¯t what she expected but, I told her what she wanted to know. ¡¸Okay, I know you¡¯re surprised. But, you know that goblin also has their own class right? Naturally, feeding THAT with an enemy of the goblin leader¡¯s class is an overkill you know.¡¹ The Goblin leader was the leader of the pack. Your average hunter could barely defeat it. That worthless undead would be curb stomped if it fought against the goblin leader. ¡¸Okay, that¡¯s enough. Let me take back my previous statement, the one who lacks common sense here is YOU, Master.¡¹ ¡¸How cruel.¡¹ ¡¸Anyhow, Master actually has the gall to say something so outrageous. Even that so-called slug may be over the top for THAT monkey.¡¹ Asta heaved a sigh and looked down while shaking her head lightly as she spoke. ¡¸U~hm, over the top, is it?¡¹ ¡¸It¡¯s definitely over the top. THAT monkey will die as he is.¡¹ ¡¸Well, he just needs to defeat that slug, right?¡¹ Well, it won¡¯t become a tale if he ended up dying in the hand of that slug. Even if he is somehow unable to pass the current trial, I¡¯ve already prepared something to assist him to pass this trial. ¡¸It sounds even more like a wicked plan since you said it so easily. (Girimekhala¡¯s cooperation is indispensable for this)¡¹ Heaving a sigh, Asta expressed her feeling with a tired look on her face. ¡¸Uhm? Did you say something just now?¡¹ ¡¸Just talking to myself. It has nothing to do with you, Master(Walking Misunderstanding).¡¹ ¡¸Sounds more like vexed to me but, whatever. Now we¡¯re moving to the climax. I thought the other party is somehow underpowered but it doesn¡¯t really matter, this is the first trial after all.¡¹ Surely, it¡¯s going to be a killjoy if the real opponent of the first trial was too strong. So the one I prepared should be enough for the first trial. ¡¸Roger that. Let¡¯s proceed to the next stage.¡¹ Asta¡¯s figure vanished like smoke after she bowed to me. ¡¸Now then, show me what you got.¡¹ I looked again at the image displayed before me. === TN: I¡¯ll take a break from 13-19 march 2023 for rehabilitation of my neck(due to wrong sleeping posture) Volume 5 - CH 22 Act 5-22: The Participation of Dangerous Man ¨D¨DInside the forest, around one hour since the start of the raid on Ket Nya. ¡¸Why has no one returned yet!?¡¹ Who knows how many times I have asked while tapping the ground angrily with my feet. ¡¸Maybe, everyone has already been ki¨C.¡¹ I grabbed the collar of the acting woman before she could finish her words, ¡¸Annihilated? By opponents who are literally no different from a cat!? How can they be defeated by such weak monster!?¡¹ And add even more questions to her. I¡¯ve never heard about sheep cats being specialized in combat. Not to mention that we¡¯ve a sorcerer on our side. There is no way we¡¯re going to lose against them! ¡¸There¡¯s no need for you to be so angry~. If your scouts are annihilated, it simply means that the other party is one step ahead of you. Moreover, you¡¯ve to at least wait until she finish her words. Maybe, most of your subordinates have betrayed you. Am I ri~ght?¡¹ Sugar, whose blue hair was trimmed in asymmetrical style suddenly appeared from inside the forest and asked Sad¡¯s close aide. ¡¸¡­¡¹ Sad¡¯s close aide nodded even though she had a hard time breathing, since her collar was grabbed by Sad. ¡¸DON¡¯T SCREW WITH ME! THEY¡¯RE THE UNDERLING WHICH HAVE BEEN AROUND SINCE THE PREVIOUS LEADER YOU KNOW!?¡¹ Those people were orphans that were picked up by my old man, the previous leader. They¡¯re indebted for life to my old man. ¡¸So~? It¡¯s obvious from seeing how you treated them. You never treated your subordinate like a proper human being right?¡¹ ¡¸What¡¯s wrong with that!? They¡¯re just disposable piece for me, tool for me, their leader to use as I wished! Their life is for me to decide!¡¹ Sugar shrugged his shoulders as he sent a scornful laugh at Sad. ¡¸You really are beyond saving huh. But, whatever. Whether they¡¯re betraying you or annihilated, everyone but that aide of of yours are no more than disposable piece, ri~ght?¡¹ ¡¸Just tell me what do you want to say already!?¡¹ When she asked, she saw that Sugar had already said all that he wanted to say and had no reason to continue the conversation. Nor did he give Sad another reason to continue. ¡¸I¡¯m off then. If you¡¯re betrayed, I¡¯ll kill them, if the enemy is strong, it¡¯s my prey too. That¡¯s my duty, ri~ght?¡¹ He was right. Nevertheless, it has nothing to do with the current Sad. Because she deemed anyone who lost against a monster like a sheep cat useless. Not to mention that she had another way to forestall her subordinates. Anyhow, the other reason she hired Sugar was for insurance to prevent something like this. And this was the best moment for doing the clean up. ¡¸Understood. I¡¯ll leave them to you.¡¹ ¡¸60% of the total profit from selling the sheep cat will be mine, how does that sound?¡¹ Dammit! He tried to strike a bargain at this very moment eh! But, we¡¯ll be at a disadvantage if we make an enemy of Sugar at this time. 40% of the share is already a lot. At least, the profit we get from selling the young sheep cat that is still trembling in fear until now is enough for us to have enough money to open a more respectable business. ¡¸Sure. But you¡¯ve to take care of all the opponents. We¡¯re going to stay behind.¡¹ There was a skilled sorcerer amongst my subordinates. Especially Mohi and Koukin, they¡¯re quite capable fighters. And troublesome enemies have decided to betray me. I knew that the information broker guaranteed that Sugar was quite a reliable force in this regard but he might¡¯ve had a hard time against Koukin and Mohi. If that was really the case, the safest plan was to watch the ensuing situation till the end from a highly elevated place. ¡¸Leave the ones who try to escape to me, meaning that you¡¯re fine with seeing only piece of their body, right?.¡¹ ¡¸That¡¯s your job right?¡¹ ¡¸How miserable¡­¡¹ Sugar shrugged his shoulder again, turning around and walking slowly toward the village before his figure vanished after he moved at his top speed. ¡¸We¡¯ll return immediately with this brat if Sugar doesn¡¯t come back at the promised time!¡¹ "" ¡¸Y-Yes!¡¹ After her aide replied so, both of them turned around and walked away from the village. === TN: I¡¯ll take a break from 13-19 march 2023 for rehabilitation of my neck(due to wrong sleeping posture) Volume 5 - CH 23 Act 5-23: A Small Victory ¨D¨DForest, top of a large tree northwest of Ket Nya. I threw two spears enchanted with my magic from the top of giant tree. One of the spears pierced the air, and struck into the chest of a black-haired man with mohawk hair style. The second spear which pierced the back of his head confirmed our victory against the scout. ¡¸Awesome¡­ Every single one of them really died.¡¹ Chato, who acted as my observer let out an astonished voice. ¡¸¡­¡¹ It seems the same goes for everyone, they were at a loss for words when they looked at their village littered with the corpses of those thieves. ¡¸How did you make the last spear hit the target?¡¹ Chigi touched his chin as he asked with interest. ¡¸I just threw those spears within throwing distance of the point on the map that I memorized with magic.¡¹ All I used was an intermediate rank of hit correction-type magic¨D¨D¡¾Clean Hit¡¿ combined with attributeless magic ¡¾Weapon Enhancement(Mid)¡¿ applied on that spear, and ¡¾Physical Reinforcement(Mid)¡¿ magic to throw the spear. Anyhow, I already predicted that the lucky one would try to escape the village. When that happened, all I needed to do was wait for the right timing. ¡¸Gil, maybe you¡¯re same as those people called hunters?¡¹ Chigi pointed out one possibility of myself before losing my memory. ¡¸Hunter huh¡­ Maybe.¡¹ I mean, if I was a hunter, it was only natural for me to know about the effect of ¡¾Dream Grass¡¿. And since I could come up with this kind of lethal tactic on top of being able to use a few magics, I might be a high-ranked hunter. And yet, I ended up losing my memories in this kind of place. That was my temporary conclusion. ¡¸So, what are we going to do after this?¡¹ Asked Chato. It seems he has started to trust me a little bit. ¡¸We have to make a move under the assumption that the other party has comrades waiting. We mustn¡¯t move recklessly. Let¡¯s return to the shelter for now.¡¹ Nevertheless, there were around thirty people who raided the village. It means that there were at least fifty of them. If that was the case, the trap in the village should¡¯ve cut down at least half of them. If that was the case, our safety is at least guaranteed even if they went all out. ¡¸Understood. Everyone, return to the shelter at once.¡¹ Everyone nodded upon hearing Chigi¡¯s order, descending from the tree with astonishing agility, and ran back to the shelter. I also grabbed Chigi¡¯s wrist and helped him to descend from the tree, ¡¸¡­ Sorry, Gil.¡¹ Chigi apologized upon seeing me offering my hands so that he could tie them with rope again. ¡¸Don¡¯t worry about it. Let¡¯s get going.¡¹ I shook my head and signaled with my chin to go after the others. ¡¸Indeed.¡¹ Chigi nodded, thus we ran after everyone toward the shelter. Volume 5 - CH 24 Act 5-24: The Raid Has Only Just Begin ¨D¨DNearby cave. Led by Chigi, we entered the cave that had already turned into a shelter by then. We were welcomed by sheep cat of various ages who looked up to us with nervous looks and stiff faces. Shar had yet to return to us. Meaning that this matter was far from over. When I stepped out in front of Chigi, ¡¸Everyone who raided our village has already died. We won the first round!¡¹ I took a deep breath and declared our victory. A short silence followed my speech, and then an explosion of cheers. The sheep cats embraced each other to express their happiness. ¡¸BUT, THEIR LEADER IS STILL SOMEWHERE OUT THERE! SAVE YOUR JOY AND CELEBRATION FOR LATER! DON¡¯T LET YOUR GUARD DOWN, THE REAL BATTLE IS RIGHT AFTER THIS!¡¹ I raised my voice, wearing a solemn face. ¡¸But, Chigi-sama, it went according to the plan, right? All those humans are dead, right?¡¹ An old woman asked that simple question while throwing a glance toward me. It seems this old woman still thinks that I¡¯m against killing my fellow humans. Too bad for her, I wasn¡¯t such a pure and naive person. Reason being I didn¡¯t even feel a shred of guilt even after killing those thieves by my own hands. Rather, What I¡¯m most worried about right now was¨D¨D ¡¸Yes, those raiders have already died. But, this is far from over.¡¹ The elders caught their breath when they heard Chigi¡¯s reply. I see, Chigi had the same opinion as me huh. ¡¸Why? Most of their member have already been killed, right?¡¹ The red haired, cat-faced girl with a bob cut asked Chigi with a frown on her face. ¡¸Indeed, but Shar hasn¡¯t returned to us. In short¨D¨D¡¹ Chigi paused for a moment. Maybe he didn¡¯t wish to express his concern too. He felt that It would be great if this was the end of their raid. But, there was still the mastermind behind this incident left. I had no idea about the objective of the mastermind of this incident but, seeing that Shar has yet to return, there¡¯s a high possibility that they have yet to give up. ¡¸Are you referring to the Mastermind that Gil talked about?¡¹ Chato asked me quietly. ¡¸Correct.¡¹ Chato stared at me for a while but, ¡¸Oi, prepare the defenses of this cave immediately!¡¹ He left immediately and shouted at the armed, young sheep cat. ¡¸Gil, Thanks for your help in the previous battle. And sorry for my impoliteness until now.¡¹ Chato bowed to me, which caused quite a bit of commotion. Human aside, he did it toward me, a prisoner. ¡¸Don¡¯t worry about it. Moreover, we really can¡¯t let our guard down.¡¹ Honestly, someone of Chigi¡¯s position aside, if our positions were switched, I would do the same. Rather, Chigi and co who trusted me so much after this matter had shown that they¡¯re good people. ¡¸I¡¯m going to draft another plan. Sorry but please tell me all you know about this area. And how should we move next?¡¹ ¡¸Currently, they have lost most of their combat force. Next is an all out way. Those guys most likely arrived at the same conclusion. That¡¯s why¨D¨D¡¹ ¡¸Can¡¯t we use another trap?¡¹ ¡¸Uhm, maybe.¡¹ If this wasn¡¯t the end of the battle, it means that those thieves had yet to use their trump card. If I was the leader of those thieves, I would keep my trump card for the last moment. Shar wouldn¡¯t return unless we made them give up. ¡¸All out, is it? But, it mean you still got another plan, right?¡¹ I nodded and, ¡¸Next, we¡¯re going to make the full use of our advantage.¡¹ I told them so, fully convinced of the incoming second round of battle. ¡¸Advantage?¡¹ ¡¸Yes, to be honest, this cave is ill suited for defense. Because they can easily beat us by smoking in this cave. But we¡¯re lucky since they won¡¯t do that.¡¹ ¡¸Is it related to their goal?¡¹ ¡¸Yes. Their goal is to capture you guys, the sheep cat. That¡¯s why they won¡¯t kill you guys. That¡¯s our biggest advantage over them.¡¹ Though I still had no idea about the goal of the mastermind, the goal of those thieves was much simpler. Capture the sheep cat and sell them as slaves. That¡¯s why they wouldn¡¯t dare to hurt the sheep cat, their commodity. ¡¸I understand. We¡¯ll do as you say. Now, what are you going to do next?¡¹ "" Hearing Chigi¡¯s question, ¡¸Chigi-sama, are you insane!? He might be the spy of our enemy!¡¹ The red haired girl with bob cut closing in at Chigi with pale face but, ¡¸If Gil is truly their spy, he won¡¯t go as far as annihilating the entire main force of our enemy. Moreover, he¡¯s our last hope.¡¹ Chigi approached me, and cut the rope tying my wrists with the spear in his right hand. ¡¸WAH!?¡¹ The red haired girl with a bob cut shouted, her mouth flapping non stop. ¡¸Are you sure about setting me free like this?¡¹ ¡¸You said it yourself right? We¡¯ve no way out of this situation. This is just my intuition but, I keep getting this feeling that we won¡¯t be able to get out of this predicament without your power.¡¹ Chigi turned around to looking at few men of sheep cat who came with me to scout the area and, ¡¸You guys had already seen his prowess with your own eyes, right? Tell me about your opinion?¡¹ He asked for their opinion. ¡¸We agree with you, we won¡¯t stand a chance against an enemy who can come with such foul plan.¡¹ The black haired youth of sheep cat agreed. ¡¸Yeah. Not that we¡¯ve any other choice. But, it doesn¡¯t change the fact that we can¡¯t trust him yet. Shall we send him into jail again after this matter is resolved?¡¹ A brawny middle aged man with a cat face followed the fashion while glaring at me. ¡¸Do as you wish. Not that I want to escape frm this place.¡¹ ¡¸What are you going to do, everyone!¡¹ The red haired girl with bob cut shouted with an impatient voice but an old woman seized her hand and shook her head, signaling the girl to give up. After a brief silence, the red haired girl stomped her way into the inner part of the cave. The other sheep cat who also disagreed with Chigi¡¯s opinion did the same. ¡¸Eh, are you sure?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah. Either way, if Shar doesn¡¯t come back, we¡¯re still going to be destroyed by the force of the demon race who started their invasion to the south. Our current priority is to protect the village.¡¹ The other sheep cats were at loss for words upon hearing Chigi¡¯s remark. They must¡¯ve detested the fact that they had to follow the instructions of me, a human. From the red haired girl¡¯s point of view, their reaction was justified. And yet, now they even freed me. It was enough to corner Chigi and co. ¡¸I understand. Now let¡¯s talk about the details of the plan to exterminate the rest of them. We¡¯re racing against time so I wish that everyone did their part of the job efficiently.¡¹ The next moment I opened my mouth was the start of the final defense battle. Volume 5 - CH 25 Act 5-25: Thing That Finally Understood We had shaved most of the thieves¡¯ manpower in the previous battle. Power in numbers. That was almost an undeniable fact. Properly speaking, this should be the end game. And yet, Shar had yet to return. If that was the case, it meant that the other party still had their main force ready. Namely the elite force. The movement of the last thief with treasure type gift, the one who died by my spear throw, was clearly the movement of an adept. Any more people like that was enough to spell doom for us. That¡¯s why I used traps. Naturally, I also considered the possibility of them not falling for them. The trap was made just to let them lower their guard. Then kill them in one fell swoop once they lowered their guard. Naturally, no matter how much they lowered their guard, I was still limited to three people at once. Either way, my plan would fail if four or more thieves stronger than the owner of the treasure type gift. This was akin to a gamble but, the possibility of a thief group having that kind of force was so low. It wasn¡¯t shouldn¡¯t be a risky gamble. ¡¸Are you really going to participate?¡¹ Recently, I asked the same question again to the red haired woman with the bob cut, Tama, who glared at the weapon by my side. ¡¸Yeah, I won¡¯t let you on your own device! I¡¯ll make sure to kill you when you commit suspicious acts!¡¹ ¡¸I¡¯ve already told you that I¡¯ve no leeway to do such thing right?¡¹ Though I felt grateful to Chato who sat behind me for changing his opinion about me, ¡¸Stop trying to convince her. Once Tama made up her mind, no one can change it.¡¹ Chato stood up while muttering so. ¡¸Why are you willing to act under his command, Chato!? He¡¯s a human you know!¡¹ ¡¸Indeed. But he really wants to save Shar. That¡¯s the only thing that I believe from him.¡¹ ¡¸Hah? A human, wants to save Shar? Have you been brainwashed by him!?¡¹ Chato grimaced seeing Tama starting menacingly at him, ¡¸The same can be said of you, what are¨D¨D¡¹ Before he finished his sentence, the bushes beside us made a rustling sound. All of us raised our weapons at once but the one who came out from the bushes was a rabbit, who jumped back into the bushes again once it saw us. ¡¸T-That fu*cking rabbit¡­ I thought it¡¯s an enemy.¡¹ Chato wiped his forehead with the hand that held on to the spear, ¡¸Well then, I¡¯ll inquire of the current situation from Chigi.¡¹ He was about to head to the place where Chigi was waiting. That moment¨D¨D A line ran on Chato¡¯s head. That line spread on his whole body, turning him into chunks of meat which fell on the ground in just a moment. ¡¸Eh?¡¹ Tama raised a bewildered voice upon seeing Chato turned into chunks of meat in just a moment. ¡¸R-RUUUUUN!¡¹ I told her to escape without even turning around. ¡¸I won¡¯t let you to do tha~t?¡¹ ¨D¨DSWISH! I felt a chilling sensation all over. It felt like a giant carnivore beast pressed on me from behind. It was an extremely terrifying killing intent. When I turned around slowly, I saw Tama had already became a corpse and, ¡¸Oh my, I¡¯ve kille~d her. I¡¯ve been ordered to capture the females alive. She¡¯s surprisingly fragile.¡¹ I saw a tall and slender blue haired man with asymmetrical hairdo grab Tama¡¯s head. The tips of his lips rose to his ears, as if in the peak of ecstasy. ¡¸Aah¡­¡¹ A Desperate voice leaked out from my mouth. I finally understand, the trap only works on those who live with the same providence as humans. Those traps wouldn¡¯t work against this very person who went out of those providence. ¡¸AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!¡¹ My scream was¨D¨D ¡¸Ye~s, one scream get!¡¹ My consciousness descended into darkness as the man finished his sentence. Volume 5 - CH 26 Act 5-26: Boring Reality ¡¸What is the meaning of this?¡¹ I muttered quietly while looking down at the minced idiot prince(Gilbert). It was such an unexpected situation. According to Rose, this guy should¡¯ve received a gifted education of martial arts from a young age. Though he never used magic again due to certain incidents, talent-wise, he was comparable to the leading magician of court mages. I had never expected that he would lose against that weak small fry who hid his true strength. ¡¸That¡¯s why I said using THAT is overkill to that monkey.¡¹ Asta, who stood behind me heaved a sigh as she repeated the same remark for the Nth time. ¡¸So I made a mistake to judge someone¡¯s real strength¡­¡¹ ¡¸Master, you¡¯re underestimating yourself way too much. Those inferior creatures(human) are far weaker, and brittle than you expect. So weak to the point that even that weak small fry like that can kill them so easily.¡¹ Underestimation, is it. And humans are weak. I failed to see that. For once¡­ After spending more than one hundred thousand years in that easy dungeon, never once fighting against another human, I ended up unable to properly measure human strength. But, I see¡­ If it was my misjudgement¨D¨D ¡¸Could it be that balloon-like undead is actually a powerful being?¡¹ ¡¸I¡¯ve no idea which strength value you¡¯re referring to. That undead is small fry according to our group¡¯s standard. But, according to the normal standard of this world, that undead is the most powerful transcendent in this world aside from us. Not to mention that even us are only small fries in your evaluation, Master. We¡¯re literally equal to the creature you call as goblin around the forest.¡¹ I see now. I felt something was off. Why did a giant organization such as Babel and Hunter Guild readily obey my orders? ¨D¨DBecause they understood that they could never win against me. Now, everything is finally clear for me. Does that mean the pervert who only wore underwear and small fry dragon with three heads were powerful foes? If that was really the case. I¡¯ve already¨D¨D ¡¸Asta, do you think I can fight with my everything after this?¡¹ Asta averted her gaze, and shook her head lightly. ¡¸¡­I see.¡¹ I looked down at my feet. ¡¸HAHAHA! SO I¡¯M SOMEONE WITH FEW SCREWS LOOSE IN HIS HEAD ALL ALONG, RIGHT!?¡¹(ED: Finally!) What I wished should be a slow life, right? Since that was the case, what is this empty feeling in my heart? ¡¸Asta, now I understand why you retorted all those times.¡¹ ¡¸I see.¡¹ Asta nodded lightly as she replied to me, her figure then vanished. ¡¸I¡¯ll take responsibility for this blunder.¡¹ These people died due to my misjudgement. That¡¯s why this matter is my responsibility. Though it was already too late, I shall exterminate that small fry with my everything, the same goes for the demon race who did everything as they pleased in the north from here, they shall be destroyed. But¨D¨D I wish to perform a small experiment before that. I took out the subjugation picture book. The registration object of the subjugation picture book has been expanded after I cleared that easy dungeon, now it could register someone whose strength is above a certain standard. I¡¯ve tried various experiments with subjugation picture book after that but I failed to register normal monsters or undead into subjugation picture book. The only successful cases so far were Ifrit, Titan, and Deimos. Even though they weren¡¯t normal members of the subjugation picture book, they¡¯re registered as GIrimekhala and co¡¯s kin. Though I had no idea, the current me could vaguely guess the reason. The registration in the subjugation picture book means linking the capture to my soul. In short, they need a certain level of strength to be able to form a link with my soul. The same goes for the human and monster¡¯s corpses before me. But, the current me wishes to register them. ¡¸Since not that much time has elapsed since their death. Their souls should be still around. Please, register them.¡¹ But, the picture book maintained its eerie silence no matter how much I wished for it. ¡¸Impossible huh¡­¡¹ I heaved a sigh. Yeah, life is filled with ups and downs. The result of my actions was an irredeemable mistake. Dead couldn¡¯t be resurrected. That was the providence of this world. In the end, I was the same as those low lives who toyed around with unrelated lives. I wouldn¡¯t try to varnish it with sweet words. No matter how selfish I am, I was originally a self-righteous person, a mistake was a mistake. That¡¯s why I would never try to hide this sin under beautiful words. Something akin to boiling rage to my own mistake slowly rose up from my heart. ¡¸Girimekhala, Beelze, are you there?¡¹ ¡ºRight by your side¡­¡» ¡ºYesh.¡» Girimekhala and Beelze appeared, kneeling before me. ¡¸We¡¯re going to suppress the activity of the demon race in the north after I take care of that small fry called Sugar.¡¹ ¡ºThere¡¯s an Evil Army backing up the demon race in the north. What are we going to do about them?¡» Beelze¡¯s mouth moved restlessly, making a wisping sound the moment the words ¡°Evil Army¡± escaped from Girimekhala¡¯s mouth. Lately, I understand that this was Beelze¡¯s gesture when he was excited. Maybe he was originally related to those trashes from Evil Army. And then, upon seeing Beelze¡¯s excitement, I had no doubt that they were quite powerful. ¡¸Evil Army? What¡¯s that?¡¹ ¡ºThe group from which the three headed wicked dragon who got slaughtered by you a while ago¨D¨D Azi Dahaka, came from.¡» ¡¸A~h, the one who keep yapping around about game huh.¡¹ Honestly, it was a trivial matter for me. I mean, it¡¯s not like the group to which that weakass dragon could beat me. ¡¸The trial has ended. I¡¯ll deal with the aftermath. Don¡¯t try to stop me, this is my duty as the one responsible for this mess. Your job is to clean up the mobs.¡¹ ¡ºAs you wish!¡» ¡ºWith pleasure.¡» After they nodded, I unsheathed Murasame from its scabbard strapped to my waist. ¡¸Well then, time for slaughter.¡¹ I felt so refreshed. I shall make an offering for these people, the victim. Sugar, or the Evil-whatever-Army. I shall kill you in the most humiliating way. (ED: Yeah!) I realized that the tips of my lips rose to the limit. I entrusted myself to the boiling rage in myself. ¨D¨DA while after Kai Heineman left to commit slaughter. The subjugation picture book normally vanished back into Kai Heineman¡¯s body as soon as it finished its job. And yet, for a mysterious reason, the book still floated in the air. The pages in the subjugation picture book flipped rapidly, lines of letters appeared inside of it. ¨D¨DRegistration of Tama into subjugation picture book¨D¨D Failed! Theoritically impossible. ¨D¨DRegistration of Chato into subjugation picture book¨D¨DFailed! Theoritically impossible. ¨D¨DRegistration of Gilbert Loto Amelia into subjugation picture book¨D¨DFailed? Theoritically¡­ Impossible? ¨D¨DRegistration of Gilbert Loto Amelia into subjugation picture book¨D¨DFai, led! ¨D¨DRegistration of Gilbert Loto Amelia into subjugation picture book¨D¨DFai¡­¡­¡­¡­. Led! ¨D¨DRegistration of Gilbert Loto Amelia into subjugation picture book¨D¨DFai¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­. Led! ¨D¨DRegistration of Gilbert Loto Amelia into subjugation picture book¨D¨DFai¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­.. Led! ¨D¨DRegistration of Gilbert Loto Amelia into subjugation picture book¨D¨DF-F-F-F-F-F-F-F-Fai¡­??Led! ¨D¨DRegistration of Gilbert Loto Amelia into subjugation picture book¨D¨DF-F-F-F-F-F-F-F-Fai¡­L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-Led! The letters appeared again, and again. After it continued for several pages¨D¨D ¨D¨DRegistration of Gilbert Loto Amelia into subjugation picture book¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨DSuccess! ¨D¨DGilbert Loto Amelia is the possessor of subjugation picture book, thereby becoming the rightful kin of Kai Heineman. ¨D¨DCreating soul link with his master, Kai Heineman¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D Success! ¨D¨DRecreate the flesh from the soul of Gilbert Loto Amelia¨D¨D¨D¨DFailed! ¨D¨DRecreate the flesh from the soul of Gilbert Loto Amelia¨D¨D¨D¨DFailed! ¨D¨DRecreate the flesh from the soul of Gilbert Loto Amelia¨D¨D¨D¨DFailed! ¨D¨DRecreate the flesh from the soul of Gilbert Loto Amelia¨D¨D¨D¨DFailed! Recreating the flesh from the soul of Gilbert Loto Amelia judged as impossible. Due to the effect of picture book owned by Kai Heineman, an alteration to Gilbert Loto Amelia¡¯s gift¨D¨D¡¾Supreme Mage(Special Class)¡¿ was made¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨DSuccess¨D¨D Got ¡¾Soul Travenger(Returnee Soul)¡¿ title. Power acquisition¨D¨D¡¾Transformation¡¿ Activating the effect of the new title¨D¨D¡¾Soul Travenger(Returnee Soul)¡¿¨D¨D¨D¨D Success. The soul of Gilbert Loto Amelia would be sent back from the present to a random point in the past at a fixed interval. Volume 5 - CH 27 Act 5-27: Disturbing Dream ¨D¨DApplying the registration of Gilbert Loto Amelia as a proper member of the subjugation picture book¨D¨D¨D¨D Denied. ¨DApplying the registration of Gilbert Loto Amelia as a provisional member of the subjugation picture book¨D¨D¨D¨D¨DPermission granted ¨D¨DDue to the register of the soul during the registration as a provisional member, the microscopic alteration has been made in common sense, mind, and flesh. My consciousness arose from the abyss upon hearing that inorganic voice. Opening my eyes, I found myself inside the cave. ¡¸Oi, Gil, are you okay!?¡¹ My body was shaken repeatedly by Chigi inside that cave. ¡¸This place is¡­¡¹ After looking around few times in hurry, ¡¸¡ª!?¡¹ I hurriedly rose up from my position, looking around in hurry due to those vivid memories in my brain. The red haired girl with a bob cut looked at me with a displeased look on her face. Her figure overlapped with the girl in my memories whose head chopped into mince me¨D¨D ¡¸TAMA!¡¹ When I stood up immediately and hug her as I called her name, ¡¸Are you okay!? Are you hurt somewhere!?¡¹ I patted her whole body to confirm her safety. ¡¸HEH!?¡¹ Though Tama was dumbfounded for a while, her eyes turned around as her face flushed red from embarrassment¨D¨D ¡¸¨Œ©–¡ô¡Á¨D¨D¡¹ She raised an enigmatic scream, pushed me away and ran into the innermost part of the cave. A while later, I finally regained my composure after pondering for a while. What in the world was I seeing just now in my memories? I¡¯ve tried to confirm it a few times but, I found that both Tama and Chato were safe and sound. And above all else, they forgot that both of them were assigned to move along with me. Or should I say that ¡°Forgot¡± was an incorrect expression for this situation. ¨D¨DI mean, it¡¯s as if that horrifying massacre never happened. That was the only conclusion I arrived at after thinking carefully. As if the time rewinded to the moment of our quarrel in front of the cave, a few hours before our death. It seems I suddenly passed out right in the middle of the quarrel and fell flat on the ground. Was that a daydream? But, it felt too realistic to be a mere dream. But, I couldn¡¯t say it was real either, just from a mere dream. Since that was the case, this might be a future vision, or should I say, prophetic dream. Since I lost my memory, I had no idea about my gift either. Thus, this power might be the effect of my gift. And then, it would be triggered when I got in danger. Thus, I was forced to see the future once something dangerous was going to happen to me. If that was the case, then that dream would make sense. Since that was the case, it means that we¡¯re in a really dangerous situation. We wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat that blue haired man. Rather, I couldn¡¯t even see his movement since it was simply too fast. As it is, everyone would be killed. If possible, I wanted them to escape but that would mean abandoning Shar. For some reason, I instinctively knew what would happen if I escaped from this. ¡¸We¡¯re cornered huh¡­¡¹ When I scratched my head, trying to find the best solution, Chato and Chigi came to me. Well, we¡¯re about to bet our life in this incoming fight after all. They must have noticed something from my attitude. Chato grabbed me by the collar and dragged me into the private room of the innermost part of the cave. Chigi followed behind. ¡¸Is something the matter, Gil? Can you tell us about it?¡¹ Chigi asked with a serious look on his face. Maybe the reason why they dragged me into this room was to prevent others from eavesdropping. Chigi did a really good job in this regard. A mass panic might occur if the others knew that we were about to fight against the opponent that we could never beat. ¡¸It¡¯s depending on whether you two can trust what I¡¯m about to tell you or not.¡¹ They frowned upon hearing my story. ¡¸Prophetic dream huh. Sure enough, that¡¯s the worst possible outcome.¡¹ Chigi muttered quietly. I was really surprised to see him trust my story. I mean, even I had a hard time believing that kind of phenomenon immediately and had to make several assumptions. And yet, Chigi trusted such absurdity without a shred of doubt in his voice. ¡¸Oioi, Chigi-san, are you really going to trust such absurd story?¡¹ Chato frowned as he asked the most sensible of questions. Chato seems to doubt my story but, since he wasn¡¯t enraged, it seems he at least realized that I wasn¡¯t joking. ¡¸Well. That person happens to have the same gift. It might be the prophetic dream gift given by the god of humans, your people¡¯s god.¡¹ ¡¸Seriously, does that mean I really am going to die as is?¡¹ Chat paled as he muttered. ¡¸Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve got a plan. Have patience.¡¹ "" Chigi left for a while, and then returned with a long and narrow wooden box. ¡¸This!¡¹ When the lid of the box opened up, I saw three stake-like items. ¡¸What is this?¡¹ ¡¸I received this from a certain hunter a really long time ago, it is a stake that can restrict ability.¡¹ ¡¸Eh, are you referring to the same hunter who give that pendant to Shar?¡¹ ¡¸Yes. That person said that it was almost used up anyway, so it was kinda like giving away the last batch of it. The way to activate its effect is by infusing magical power into the three stakes when that dangerous fella is within the vicinity. Unfortunately, none of us among the sheep cat can use it save for Shar who is gifted with magical power. But, since you can also use magical power, can you use this?¡¹ I took one of the stakes and studied it carefully. If I wasn¡¯t mistaken, the letters engraved on its surface were of the ancient alphabet. This was definitely an ancient weapon excavated from some sort of ancient ruin in this world. The fact that it came from ancient ruins itself is enough to regard this as a national treasure class weapon. If this weapon really could restrict abilities, then it was plenty enough to weaken that monster. This might be our only chance to turn the tables against him and win this battle. ¡¸Yeah. We¡¯ve no other choice. But there¡¯s still a huge problem, namely we¡¯ve to wait till THAT appears before we can invoke the effect of this stake.¡¹ I couldn¡¯t read that monster¡¯s behavior at all. I mean, I don¡¯t think that monster was stupid enough to stay still, waiting for me to invoke the effect of the stakes. ¡¸Is that guy really that fast?¡¹ ¡¸Too fast. Too fast for me to perceive his movements.¡¹ I mean, he was already right behind me before I noticed. We might be akin to slow moving slime in that monster¡¯s eyes. That¡¯s why stopping his movement was the crucial part of this plan. ¡¸Is there any plan to somehow force him to stay in his place?¡¹ ¡¸I¡¯ve told you right, he doesn¡¯t recognize us as a threat at all. To stop hi¨D¨D¡¹ No, wait a minute, what was that guy said back then. ¨D¨DOh my, my hand slipped. I¡¯ve to catch the female alive yet I ended up killing one. Yes, that was what he said back then. If both Chato and I didn¡¯t have any weapons in our hands, Tama might¡¯ve survived. ¡¸Anything is okay! Please, please save the future of the village!¡¹ Chigi grabbed my hands, and begged me desperately. I guess hiding the fact that I found out just now would only cause him to doubt me. And I knew that Chigi would understand the reason for this dangerous tactic. ¡¸I saw in my dream that guy said that he have to keep the female alive.¡¹ ¡¸But, you said he killed Tama, right?¡¹ ¡¸If what he said back then was the truth, the matter of him killing Tama is truly an accident. But, it¡¯s just as Chato had said, there¡¯s a chance that he might kill Tama. This is a dangerous gambling that I don¡¯t want to use.¡¹ ¡¸I see¡­ I understand. We really have no other choice but to think of another plan¡­¡¹ "" When Chigi dropped his shoulders in disappoinment¨D¨D ¡¸I¡¯ll become the bait!¡¹ The door of the room suddenly opened by the red haired girl with a bob cut¨D¨D Tama, who declared so as she entered the room and placed her hands on her waist. She might¡¯ve eavesdropped our conversation from the other side of the door. ¡¸No. It¡¯s too dangerous¨D¨D¡¹ ¡¸Be quiet, outsider!¡¹ Tama shouted at me, walking toward Chigi and then bowed to him. ¡¸Chigi-sama, I¡¯m willing to become a bait!¡¹ ¡¸No! Gil have told you that it¡¯s too dangerous right!?¡¹ And got rejected by Chigi. ¡¸If that human really is as strong as you say, then we literally have no way out of this situation. If he catches us, we either become a slave, or die. Since those are the only choice, I¡¯m willing to take this gamble and bet my life for the safety of the entire village!¡¹ She was serious, her face was that of someone who prepared to accept her fate. ¡¸Chigi-san, I agree with Tama in this regard. If that man is really that fast, we¡¯re nothing but sitting ducks for him. Whether It Be bait or not, he is still going to hunt us down. But, since Tama is a woman, he might not kill her. And that moment of hesitation is our chance to strike back!¡¹ "" ¡¸Please understand Chato, I¡¯ve told you that man is way too dangerous!¡¹ ¡¸GIL! TAMA HAD TOLD YOU RIGHT!? THOSE PEOPLE ARE DIFFERENT FROM YOU! THEY REGARDED US AS LIVESTOCK! THAT¡¯S WHY THIS IS OUR BEST PLAN! AM I WRONG!?¡¹ Chato raised his voice angrily while gritting his teeth. I was wrong. Talking with that guy was only a waste of time since he saw the sheep cat as nothing more than livestock. If we didn¡¯t resist, he would see us as nothing more than mere commodities. That¡¯s where our chance to win this battle can come from. ¡¸I understand. I shall obey Chigi¡¯s decision.¡¹ A while later, Chigi¡¯s closed eyes opened wide and, ¡¸Let¡¯s do this! Let¡¯s protect the village!¡¹ He said those words. Volume 5 - CH 28 Act 5-28: A Certain Someone Whose Whereabout is Unknown That guy¡¯s speed was simply too bizzare. Even if we managed to restrict his ability, this plan would fail if he escaped into the thicket. That¡¯s why we had to bait him into coming to an open field. That¡¯s why the most suitable place to confront him was the wide field in front of this cave. Seeing that I had no idea where he came from, we couldn¡¯t leave the cave so carelessly. Therefore, the women and children had to stay in the cave for their own safety, and escape by using the back route of the cave after the battle broke out. Nevertheless, in the worst case in which the resistant group got annihilated, catching up and caught everyone was no big deal for that guy with that speed of him. In short, we bet everything in this upcoming battle. ¡¸Let me to warn you again, Tama, our opponent this time is a total monster.¡¹ We had already placed the stakes around the field, so I approached Tama who stood with an undaunted pose in the middle of the field and repeated my warning to her. ¡¸Either way, the other party is still too fast for us to see, right? The result will be the same anyway.¡¹ ¡¸Well that might be true but sti¡ª¡¹ ¡¸You¡¯re the only one who knows about that guy. Now go away and leave me alone for now!¡¹ Tama shrugged her shoulder, waving her hands casually as she shooed me away, ¡¸Just listen to me, you must not resist at all cost. Once he appears, you can leave the rest to us.¡¹ After I repeated my warning, I turned around, when I was about to walk away from her toward the designated hiding place in the thicket, ¡¸Thank you.¡¹ I noticed her muttering those words. We¡¯re currently hiding behind the trees. That monster is about to come. We would die immediately if we lost our focus even for a split second. That was the kind of monster we¡¯re going to fight. I knew my fingers were trembling non stop just recalling that dream. Somehow, I could feel it. I could feel that my previous self was a somewhat cowardly person. I knew that I wasn¡¯t the kind of person who would do this kind of make-believe hero¡¯s role. And yet, for some reason, here I am, betting my life in this place. It was an action which felt like the exact opposite of me. And yet, for some reason, something in me screams that I mustn¡¯t abandon Shar. £¨Which reminds me¡­£© I would escape with my tail between my legs knowing that I¡¯m gonna fight someone much more powerful than me. But, when it comes to a fight with my belief on the line, I need to display an image of an overwhelmingly strong man. And then, I had to act as if I was that person. I remember someone told me about that long time ago. £¨What a jest¡­ Even though I can¡¯t even remember the person who said that to me¡­£© But, that was my best solution to get rid of this fear in me. £¨Let see, the strongest existence for me is¡­£© Suddenly, the first image that popped out in my head was the figure of your average black-haired youth. £¨Why do I think that this unremarkable youth is the strongest existence?£© I unintentionally let out parched laugh from my mouth. I mean, at glance, that youth seems to be weak enough to be killed by a goblin. And yet, for some reason, I couldn¡¯t imagine the image of that black-haired youth being defeated. £¨Oh right. Let¡¯s try to become him first.£© I had no idea about the identity of this youth, nor did his birthplace. I tried to put the image of that youth in me. Lump of heat suddenly appeared in the center of my chest, spreading on my whole body like torrent of lava. To express my current situation, it felt like I was baked alive. Normally speaking, this should be an extremely unusual situation and yet, for some reason, I felt really comfortable. I was completely immersing myself in that youth image¡­ A while after I maintained the image of that black-haired youth, I noticed something extremely unpleasant fast approaching from the forest. In my prophetic dream i couldn¡¯t feel anything at all and yet¡­ Oh well, it just a pipe dream after all. I guess asking for such accuracy in my dream was asking for too much. Anyhow, that was definitely the blue haired man in my dream. I had to kill him in one strike as soon as I invoked the stakes. Though it was a truly naive plan¡­ That was the most ideal situation. Moreover, that unpleasant sign approached closer and closer. And yet,for some reason, it felt less scarier than the instant death which I saw in my prophetic dream. In fact, I even felt that guy wasn¡¯t a big deal. Naturally, I didn¡¯t let my guard down but, it was also a fact that I wasn¡¯t as afraid as that monster as before. Amidst such disordered thought in my hiding place, the lanky, blue-haired man had finally appeared. Yup, it was the same man in my dream. He licked his lips as he approached Tama. ¡¸U~hm, this is definitely a trap. Doesn¡¯t matter though, it look interesting after all.¡¹ The blue haired man muttered so as he looked around. £¨This guy is a fool huh¡­£© The reason for your lost was precisely because you guys underestimate us. The moment that man arrived right in front of Tama, I loaded my magical power into the stakes. ¡¸UWO!?¡¹ I was really surprised when I felt extremely dense magical power akin to that of muddy river flowing out of my right hand. That moment, three magic circle which formed triangular shape formed around that blue haired man. ¡¸Hee, this is somesort of restriction formulae. Moreover, not the one from my old hometown. This should be excavated from a big ruin.¡¹ The man touched his chin, nodded repeatedly with expression full of interest but, ¡¸But too ba~d.¡¹ When the man muttered so while snapping his fingers, the magic circles vanished. Dammit! Did he just forcibly cancelled the activation of national treasure class item with snap of his fingers? No, I didn¡¯t felt that much pressure from him now. It still felt the same as before the activation of the item but¡­ £¨Let¡¯s think about that for later!£© At least, he didn¡¯t feel like an invincible monster in my dream. Compared in that dream, the current him seem to be really weak. Upon a closer look¡­ He did felt weaker than before the activation of the stakes. Yup, that must be the effect of the stakes. ¡¸This kind of childplay do¨D¨D¡¹ I didn¡¯t waste my time for useless chit-chat and kicked ground with all my power, jumping toward the man. The scenery around me flew at breakneck speed and by the next moment, I had already closing in at that man. ¡¸WAH!?¡¹ I grabbed a hold on his abdomen, using the gap before he recovered from the shock, ¡¸¡¾FLAME BULLET¡¿!!!¡¹ And then invoked My prided skill¨D¨D¡¾Flame Bullet¡¿. The black flame released from the tip of my fingers pierced through the man¡¯s body. ¡¸KUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!?¡¹ Due to the impact of our collision, that blue haired man got sent flying, spinning for who know how many times in the air crashing against numerous trees along the way. ¡¸What the heck is that?¡¹ As expected, I shouldn¡¯t be able to handle such terrifying amount of magical power. Not to mention that the colour of my flame had changed from red to black. Maybe those stakes also enhanced the magical power of its user while weakening its target. Anyhow, he seems so different from my dream, his speed was much slower. That should be the effect of those stakes too. ¡¸G-Gil?¡¹ Tama who stood behind me called my name with bewildered voice. ¡¸It¡¯s okay, the other party won¡¯t be able to move for now. Use this chance to get away from this place!¡¹ ¡¸¡­¡¹ Seeing Tama trembled in fear as she nodded to me, ¡¸NOW!¡¹ I yelled at her and she ran into the cave soon. The blue haired man stood back on his feet, albeit barely. He glared at me with bloodshot eyes, looking like he wanted to tear me to pieces, ¡¸Kill¡­¡¹ And muttered so. He might be weakened due to his wound but, it didn¡¯t change the fact that he was a strong opponent. Since I had no idea when will the effect of the stakes expired. Now was the perfect time to barrage him with attack without giving him a chance to take a breath. ¡¸I¡¯m gonna kill yo¨D¨D¡¹ I jumped again, closing the distance between us before he could finish his sentence. Without giving him any chance to react, my right punch nailed right into his face. I followed the man who got sent flying again with a jump, and connected my previous punch with roundhouse kick. The shin of my right leg landed right on his head, followed by the sound of creaking skull less than a moment later. Just like that, he got sent flying even further. My kick sent him toward the cave at breakneck speed. And yet, I could easily catching up to him with my jump, and overtake him on top of that. This time, I kicked him up, high in the air, I landed on the wall of the cave and ran up to catch up with my foe. ¡¸Wait¨D¨D A¨D¨D¡¹ He tried to say something but my axe kick nailed him down back to the ground. ¨D¨DBOOM! His body fell to the ground in front of the cave as I smashed his skull. The sound of him falling on the ground resounded in my eardrums. My last hit created a giant crater with his as the center, raising a cloud of dust. The remnant of that blue haired man laid on the ground. Did that kill him? His body didn¡¯t even twitch anymore but, I mustn¡¯t let my guard down. Especially when the restriction effect of the stakes had expired, he could easily kill me even in his critically wounded state. Just to be safe, let¡¯s burn him. I pointed the palm of my hands at him and, ¡¸¡¾FLAME BULLET¡¿!!!¡¹ I kept using ¡¾Flame Bullet¡¿ on him again and again. I fired black flame nonstop till not even a piece of his flesh was left. Volume 5 - CH 29 Act 5-29: The End of The 1st Trial Gil nailed down the blue-haired man with an ax kick as if he was sent flying high in the air, the blue haired man¡¯s body literally got planted into the ground by that kick, didn¡¯t even twitch with his face looking up. Gil pointed the palm of his hands toward the man. ¡¸He¡¯s not done yet¡­¡¹ Seeing Gil unleashed numerous vicious looking black flame from his hands, Chato couldn¡¯t help but mutter so with a mix of amazement, and fear. ¡¸We won.¡¹ Chigi managed to somehow squeezed those words. Their opponent had literally turned into soggy charcoal, he didn¡¯t even breath anymore. That¡¯s just how hot the black flame fired by Gil was, he literally ¡°Melted¡± his enemy¡¯s body. The victor had already been decided. ¡¸Hey, Chigi-san, did you see what happened a while ago?¡¹ Chato heaved a sigh as he asked Chigi who was on stand by beside him. ¡¸Not at all.¡¹ Chigi shook his head, he was sweating like waterfall. ¡¸That¡¯s the power of the stakes, right?¡¹ ¡¸At least that what that guy said when I received that stakes. But, rather than restricting abilities, it¡¯s more like¡­¡¹ Yes, that isn¡¯t restricting the blue-haired man¡¯s power anymore, it went beyond that. Those two, or should I say that Gil moved too fast for me to see. I could only barely see one of his attacks after focusing on my nerves. And the next moment, the blue-haired man had already been sent flying. Those stakes aren¡¯t restricting ability, it raise the user¡¯s ability. It was only natural to regard it in that way. But something is amiss. The magic circle is clearly targeting the blue-haired man. Though I have no idea what kind of magic circle is that, it might be the reason behind GIl¡¯s elevated abilities. That was the only explanation for the phenomenon that happened before us. But¨D¨D Just when his train of thought went into labyrinth of mind¨D¨D ¡¸It ended. I burned him till he became nothing more than dust, that should prevent him from reviving.¡¹ Gil turned around as he spoke such misguided remark. ¡¸Reviving, means the restoration ability of that man right¡­ I think he already died with your last kick.¡¹ ¡¸Yeah. That kick literally crushed his skull after all.¡¹ In accordance to sheep cat¡¯s understanding, broken and twisted neck, twisted limbs and torso was enough to confirm the blue haired man¡¯s death. ¡¸Maybe. But, if he turned out hiding some kind of trump card which allow himself to regain his most powerful state, all of us going to die for sure.¡¹ ¡¸Is he really that strong?¡¹ Gil shrugged his shoulder when Chato asked that question. ¡¸It¡¯s thanks to the restriction of those stakes. We won thanks to those stakes, otherwise, we¡¯re going to die.¡¹ ¡¸No way, you must be mistaken! That¡¯s clearly¨D¨D¡¹ ¡¸That¡¯s enough, Chato. That guy have already dead. If I¡¯m not wrong, Sharm should be back in a while.¡¹ ¡¸I hope s¡ª Eh?¡¹ Gil suddenly fell flat on the ground. ¡¸GIL!¡¹ ¡¸O-Oi!¡¹ They rushed toward Gil and checked him, finding out that Gil was still breathing. ¡¸Let¡¯s go back and tell everyone about our victory.¡¹ ¡¸Do we still have to do that, Chigi-san?¡¹ Chato pointed toward the cave with his thumb as he spoke. There was the other sheep cats looking at the three like looking at their heroes. The corners of Chigi¡¯s lips rose up, forming a smile as he waved to those group of sheep cat while carrying Gil with his other hand. ¡¸WE WON!¡¹ Those words became the trigger for the resounding cheers after that. Volume 5 - CH 30 Act 5-30: Warped Common Sense ¨D¨DThe place was around one kilometer north of Ket Nya. The scene projected in Asta¡¯s projection ability showed me the scene where that idiotic prince(Gilbert) baked his enemy till there was nothing left of him. ¡¸GAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE, DON¡¯T YOU THINK SO!?¡¹ I laughed heartily. Yeah, that¡¯s only natural. That guy had shown a performance which exceeded my imagination after all. ¡¸This is impossible¡­¡¹ Asta on the other hand showed a really complicated look. ¡¸Look, I¡¯m correct right?¡¹ Though Asta underestimated that idiotic prince, that idiot was still royalty. According to Rose, he received gifted education in regard to combat from a tender age, he seems to have fairly good achievements in martial arts as well. Given all those factors, he should be able to defeat that small fry without giving the other party a chance to go all out. [TL: Yeah, the fixing of Kai¡¯s huge misunderstanding has literally got canceled by none other than his own Subjugation Picture Book¡¯s ability to create a regressor.] ¡¸Master, what did you do to THAT?¡¹ ¡¸What do you mean by ¡°What did I do¡±?¡¹ She asked another enigmatic question. Honestly I had no idea what Asta tried to ask right now. ¡¸So you¡¯ve no idea. A much appreciated answer, is it Girimekhala? I don¡¯t think so, that guy will definitely tell you if he does something. Since that¡¯s the case¡­¡¹ Seeing Asta drowned in her own train of thought while touching her chin, ¡¸The game has ended. Tell Girimekhala about that.¡¹ I declared the end of the 1st trial. ¡¸What about that small fry assassins?¡¹ ¡¸Well, I don¡¯t want to destroy their festive atmosphere. I¡¯ll handle that matter.¡¹ When I asked the opinion of one of my subordinates in the subjugation picture book who possessed analysis abilities, I heard that Sugar person was a special case despite being the same human as me. That¡¯s why killing him wasn¡¯t a simple matter. That idiot prince seems to notice that fact as well, that¡¯s why he cooked his opponent till the other party became ashes. That¡¯s why his flesh had died. Yes, only his flesh. But the one thing that one had to be careful with was that guy¡¯s possession ability and transformation ability. First was possession, he couldn¡¯t just possess anyone, there were several conditions to achieve that. That¡¯s why he currently tried to possess those women from the thieves gang. ¡¸Master, may I ask you a question?¡¹ ¡¸Uhm? What is it?¡¹ ¡¸Did you foresee the battle of THAT, master?¡¹ ¡¸Well, mostly, it went in accordance to my predictions.¡¹ Well, I hadn¡¯t expected that small fry would be defeated so thoroughly before he showed his final form though. But, that was also his fault for letting his guard down. He got defeated before without even being able to touch his opponent. In a certain way, that was an ideal form of battle. That¡¯s why the victory of this 1st trial goes to that idiotic prince. ¡¸So you¡¯re even messing up with the world¡¯s common sense. Master, you really are¡­ A terrifying Personage.¡¹ Asta heaved a really deep sight as she muttered those rude remarks. Volume 5 - CH 31 Act 5-31: Repulsive Play ¨D¨D5 km south of Ket Nya. Sad, the boss of Sad Terror suddenly fell on her knees, suffering as she scratched her throat. ¡¸B-Boss? Are you okay?¡¹ Her female aide saw Sad¡¯s face with worried expression while patting her back, ¡¸Eh?¡¹ She suddenly raised a hysteric voice. That was only natural since Sad¡¯s face suddenly became flabby. ¡¸HIIIII!?¡¹ That moment, something that used to be Sad suddenly stretched its hand, gripping the female aide who raised a scream by her collar. And then, their flabby faces suddenly flattened. ¡¸IHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!¡¹ The head of the thing that used to be Sad suddenly wrapped the upper-half of the body of the female close aide as she raised a scream. ¨D¨DCRUNCH! The sound of crushed bones and chewed meat resounded in the area. The female close aide who lost her upper-half then plopped on the ground. Short time later, Sad¡¯s entire body suddenly let out a creaking sound, her skin started burbling as if it was boiled. And then, what used to be Sad transformed into a lanky blue haired man, Sugar. ¡¸That was close. I¡¯ve underestimated them. Turned out the natives of this continent had such monsters among them.¡¹ Sugar stretched a little to check the condition of his new body. ¡¸Well, I won¡¯t let my guard down for next time though.¡¹ Sugar licked his lips. Though he felt humiliated to be defeated by someone he looked down to, it was another story if the other party was a strong foe. For Sugar who lacked the general concept of death, a battle to death against a powerful foe was an important exercise to keep him entertained. ¡¸Great, that guy is the be~st! Now I can¡¯t wait to eat him after driving him into the deepest hell!¡¹ He wrapped his arms around his body with intoxicated look on his face, wondering how delicious the taste of the foe who just killed him was, after he cornered the said foe. But, before that¨D¨D ¡¸I should¡¯ve a meal first.¡¹ When Sugar turned around at the cat-faced boy who trembled in fear in the corner, ¡¸HIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!¡¹ The boy raised a shriek. Sugar had a special power, a power to restore his physical strength and magical power by consuming the other living creatures. As a result of his previous defeat, he was so exhausted to the point that he was forced to possess Sad¡¯s body. That power was enough to defeat any normal foe but, for an opponent of that caliber, he need his real body. Otherwise, victory was nothing more than a pipe dream. Or if his blonde haired foe was caught unprepared. ¡¸It¡¯s okay, it isn¡¯t painful. It¡¯ll end in a second.¡¹ The boy tried to step back when Sugar approached him but, ¡¸Too bad for you, the previous meal is your last supper.¡¹ ¡¸Eh£¿¡¹ Someone came from behind the boy, circling around Sugar and caught Sugar¡¯s neck from behind and pulled him back, a man¡¯s voice resounded. When Sugar tried to see his assailant, it turned out to be a youth with a common face and seemingly weak at glance. ¡¸Who, the hell are you?¡¹ The youth¡¯s sheer of arrogance made Sugar wonderign whether the youth was a strongman or just a fool. ¡¸Me? My name is Kai Heineman.¡¹ ¡¸Surprisingly common name.¡¹ "" ¡¸¡ª!?¡¹ Sugar, who felt tremendous killing intent bursting forth from behind him, turned around and saw a beauty with a monocle standing behind him. W-Who in the hell is this guy!? This is the first time I see such a malicious being. Moreover, Sugar was also curious in how he failed to detect the presence of the two newcomers even though they were so close to him. No, it isn¡¯t just the black haired beauty. That black haired brat is the same. No matter how hungry I am, I would never let my guard down even during meal. Previously, only one person managed to achieve such feat before Sugar. Sugar¡¯s survival instinct screamed, telling him that the two newcomers were bad news. He retreated to take some distance from the two, but then his nape of neck got captured again. ¡¸Eh?¡¹ Then he felt as if his head wasn¡¯t in its place. ¡¸Don¡¯t waste your time. Just show your true self.¡¹ Once again, he threw into the air, and then falling on the ground with the most unsightly state. ¡¸Give it up and just show yourself, even if you evolved from small fry and become king of small fry, you¡¯re just a small fry. In fact, you¡¯re not even worthy to stand before my master.¡¹ Said the beautiful man with a monocle as they looked at Sugar as if he was interior to trash on the roadside. ¡¸Well, I might be lacking eloquent speech but, even then I don¡¯t understand what you mean.¡¹ ¡¸Is that so? Well, he should at least feel honoured that I call him small fry.¡¹ ¡¸Oh whatever. Let¡¯s continue our conversation.¡¹ The corners of the youth¡¯s lips rose up as he looked down at Sugar. ¡¸HIIIII!?¡¹ Sugar ended up letting out such indescribable scream the moment he saw the native, or rather, the human revealed a smile befitting of an evil god which sent a terror that he never felt before running down his spine. Sugar¡¯s body reacted spontanously, his body sprung backward, taking a stance to face the monster in human skin before him. ¡¸Since I¡¯m in a really good mood right now, let me give you a chance.¡¹ ¡¸C-Chance?¡¹ A chill running down his spine. He experienced a terror that he never felt before but¡­ ¡¸Yes, it¡¯s a chance called game of tag.¡¹[TL: Game of Darkness.] ¡¸Game¡­ Of tag?¡¹ The black haired youth then placed a hourglass on the ground. ¡¸Yes. This will be your last entertaiment activity before going to the next life. Try to escape from me till all the sand fell to the bottom of the hourglass. I¡¯ll let you off if you can escape from me. But if I catch you¨D¨DYes, you will become Belze¡¯s toy till you die.¡¹ ¡¸This isn¡¯t even a game anymore. Not to mention that you even allowed Belze to have his share of fun. Killing him once for all seems like your greatest act of benevolence now.¡¹ Hearing the remark of the beauty with monocle, ¡¸But this idea sound original right?¡¹ The black haired youth shrugged his shoulder and then touched his chin. ¡¸Agreed. Though I don¡¯t think this small fry can escape from you, Master.¡¹ ¡¸DON¡¯T SCREW WITH ME~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!¡¹ Sugar had finally snapped when he heard the conversation of the two who clearly saw him as something worth even less than than an insignificant pebble on the roadside, he had completely forgotten about his fear towards the unknown. Sugar even started to think that the chill he felt was only in his imagination. Most savage native had a special power called a gift. And he guessed that the two natives before him had power that amplified his vigilance and fear. If that was the case, Sugar felt it was only natural for him to feel the indescribable terror from a while ago. Yes, this Sugar had never experience such fear from the native of this place. But, the same fear from the blonde haired man who killed me before, and it was a fact that I can¡¯t even detect the movement of the black haired youth before. I mustn¡¯t let my guard down, time to go all out! "" Sugar released the beast within him. His skin started to boil, his bones creaking, and his muscle gained even more power. Sharp fangs grew at once from his mouth, he became the strongest creature in the legend. His body grew at least ten times bigger. The current form made him felt like an omnipotent god. ¡¸DON¡¯T GET TOO FULL OF YOURSELF, YOU LOWLY NATIVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!¡¹ He leapt forward, planning to kill the black haired youth with his sharp claws but, his throuat suddenly caught by a burly right arm. ¡ºFeeh?¡» When he raised his voice in confusion. A hand grew from his body with nothing in there before, caught him by his neck, stopping Sugar on his track. ¡¸I¡¯m not looking down on you. I just feel really elated right now since the 1st trial finished without a hitch. That¡¯s why I proposed this game to give you a chance. I¡¯m not interested in beating small fry like you after all.¡¹ ¡¸HOW DARE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!¡¹ The hand gripped on Sugar¡¯s neck like a vise. The hand was completely unperturbed no matter how much he rampaged. £¨HIIIIIIIII!?£© The black aura coming out from the black haired youth¡¯s hand which gripped on Sugar¡¯s neck started to coil around his body, the body that he hijacked from Sad started to crumbling down as if something eroded it from inside. ¡¸Woops, almost killing you by mistake.¡¹ The black haired youth released Sugar from his grip, the released Sugar plopped on his rear. ¡¸Yup, if this guy died here, he¡¯s going to look for another host after all, that¡¯s why the best option is to make him into Belze¡¯s toy, right?¡¹ £¨HOLY FU*CKING CRA*P! THIS GUY IS A REAL BAD NEWS!£© Maybe because they could see through Sugar, he thought that the other party was definitely not the natives of the land. In short, they were unidentified being like him. £¨Gimme a break!£© Sugar was desperate. And when he looked around desperately to find a way to save himself, he saw that. He leapt toward the cat-faced boy, caught him and pointed his sharp claws toward the boy. ¡¸Stop right there! Otherwise, I¡¯m gonna kill this guy!¡¹ He would use this moment to commit suicide and escape with his possession skill. He wanted to get away from the two monsters before him as soon as possible. Anyhow, Sugar could never beat them. The only one who could win against them might be his superior. He thought that the two would fall into panic and yet, the black haired monster looking at him as if he was the most pitiful creature in this world. ¡¸Do it.¡¹ He spoke such simple remark. ¡¸I¡¯M SERIOUS! I really am going to hil this guy!¡¹ ¡¸That¡¯s why I told you to try and do that, if you can, that¡¯s it. Right, Girimekhala?¡¹ ¡ºAs you wish!¡» The head of the cat-faced boy suddenly turned 180 degree, looking at Sugar. The nose of the boy got elongated as a pair of huge tusks came out from his mouth, his eyes were bloodshot, and his pupil shone like black pearl staring down at Sugar. ¡ºHIIIIIIIIII!?¡» He tried to retreat immediately but, it felt like his movement was restricted by the black mist. ¡¸So? Will you accept this game or not? I happen to be in a good mood after all. Either way, I would come you know?¡¹ Sugar realized that if not for the little game they played, Sugar¡¯s life and dignity would¡¯ve trampled underfoot ti them a while ago. And from the black haired youth¡¯s remark, he knew that the monster in human skin wouldn¡¯t even let him to die, he would sufferr forever, ¡¸No¡­¡¹ ¡¸Uhm?¡¹ ¡¸NOOOOOOOOOOOO!¡¹ Sugar had finally snapped under the pressure. ¡¸It seems you want to participate in the game. Then let¡¯s start the game.¡¹ When the black haired youth snapping his fingers, the black mist appeared Sugar stood and escaped from the two of them on foot. Volume 5 - CH 32 Act 5-32: Since That¡¯s the Case, Play as much as You Like After who knows how long he had escaped, the size of the hourglass was high, it would take some time to let it fall. So he wanted to get away as far as possible. But then, he reached his limit. He couldn¡¯t run any further without eating someting. When he confirmed his surrounding, ¡¸GIH!?¡¹ A brown-haired human youth whose hands inserted into the pocket of his black coat raised a small scream upon seeing Sugar. How is such a child staying in this kind of place? There should be no houses or lodgings around this area. Since that¡¯s the case, this must be¨D¨D ¡ºOI IFRIT, A WORTHLESS DREG INVADED THIS PLACE YOU KNOW!?¡» The brown haired boy shouted as he looked up. That moment, black flame shot up from empty space which was then followed by the appearance of a tall and muscular man with two horns growing from his forehead, clad in black suit. ¡¸Y-You guys¨D¨D¡¹ Before Sugar managed to finish his question, the brown haired body had already stood right before him. ¡¸OOOOOOOOO!?¡¹ His field of view turned around along with a jolt from his feet. Sugar¡¯s body spun upward, and then fell to the ground. And just before he regain his composure, something trampled down on the back of his head. ¡ºI received a contact from Girimekhala just now. This small fry is in the middle of playing game of tag with Our Supreme Ruler.¡» ¡ºIs it the game personally directed by Supreme Ruler-sama!?¡» The unmotivated look on the brown haired boy till a moment ago was suddenly replaced with a bloodcurling smile as he asked to the horned man. ¡ºMost likely.¡» ¡ºT-This worthless piece of small fry had actually have the honour to play game of tag with Supreme Ruler-sama!? Dammit¡­ I¡¯m so jealous of him!!!¡» And then trampling angrily at Sugar with a momentum that caused the ground to caved in. ¡ºI feel the same as you, but do you know that you¡¯re going to become Belze-sama¡¯s toy if you¡¯re caught?¡» Though only a little bit, the muscular man said so with slightly compassioned voice. ¡ºThen I shall force him to remain in this place for good! Though just for a moment, I still cannot forgive this small fry to have the honour of playing game of tag with Supreme Ruler-sama!¡» After raising a shrill voice filled with his pent up anger, the brown haired boy stepped on Sugar¡¯s limbs, and broke them as if they were mere twigs with his small feet. £¨I-I-It¡¯s brooke!!£© "" The beauty with the monocle and the black haired monster aside, how can everyone that I met in this land have so much power like this! How can I, Sugar, one of the most prominent member of ¡ºWicked¡», even back in my birthplace suffered like this! I¡¯ve been invicible after I descended to this place. And yet, I¡¯ve been suffering from consecutive defeats after coming to this particular place. Not to mention that in the end, I had to grovel like an insect under the feet of this kid. And it happened because the kid was envying me who was forced to participate in the game of tag against that black haired monster. Like hell I wanted to see this kind of nightmare! ¡¸S-Savhe me!¡¹ Sugar managed to squeeze those words as his face sunk deeper and deeper into the ground due to the trampling of the brown haired boy. ¡ºDream on. Girimekhala-sama ordered us to not let even a mice to leave the realm.¡» The muscular man with horn on his forehead flat out rejected Sugar¡¯s plea. ¡ºThat¡¯s only natural! Do you think we¡¯re going to forgive the small fry who received such honor!?¡» The brown haired boy¡¯s trampling became more and more powerful till it finally broke Sugar¡¯s skull, scattering pieces of his brain and bones. ¡¸You guys captured it before me huh.¡¹ When that carefree voice came out of nowhere, ¡º¡ºSupreme Ruler-sama!¡»¡» The brown-haired boy raised his feet from Sugar and replied with a delighted voice. Sugar who barely managed to raise his face saw the brown haired boy kneeled in front of the black haired monster. The same goes for the muscular man. ¡¸Thank you for your hard work. You did a good job.¡¹ ¡ºThank you, it¡¯s my honor!¡» ¡ºIt¡¯s the greatest honour¡­ For this humble one¡­¡» The two replied with an extremely passionate voice, borderline of fanaticism, as they kneeled in front of him. The black haired monster heaved a sigh instead when he saw such a spectacle, he then approached Sugar, grabbing the latter by hair and raised him up. There was no such thing as majesty or benevolence in the cold piercing glare that captured Sugar¡¯s figure. ¡¸I won this game of tag. Therefore, I¡¯ll have you to become Belze¡¯s toy till you perish. Belze!¡¹ The moment the black haired monster said that name, ¡ºYou called me, Supreme Ruler-chama?¡» A bipedal fly appeared as they kneeled toward the black haired monster. ¡¸¨D¨D¨D!!!?¡¹ A single glance at the bipedal fly was enough to made him felt like he was dropped into the freezing abyss. £¨W-W-W-W-WHAT IN THE HELL IS THAT!?£© This was the first time Sugar saw such a repulsive and sinister creature. A single glance on their figure was enough to shake his very soul. It was the strongest emotion of a creature, something akin to survival instinct. In other words, it was¨D¨D A fear toward absolute predator! £¨To have something like this as his subordinate means¡­£© Sugar finally understood from the bottom of his heart. He finally realized just what kind of monstrosities that targeted him. {No¡­} Sugar could only wail in despair in his heart upon such realization. ¡¸You can play with this guy as much as you like till he died.¡¹ The black haired monster gave such instruction to the bipedal fly. ¡¸A~wright. It means that I just need to keep him alive and toy with him foreve~r.¡¹ That moment, a black mass dropped from the bipedal fly and wrapped Sugar, as if telling the latter that resistance is futile. And that was the last happy memory in Sugar¡¯s life. Volume 5 - CH 33 Act 5-33: The Beginning of Another Event The entrails were scattered on the floor, the meat was stuck on the wall, and the blood was scattered like paint. Such a hellish spectacle was on full display inside the huge mansion. A man with slit eyes, wearing a white suit, sat on a chair in the middle of the room as he kept reading. ¡¸Sugar is dead.¡¹ And spoke frankly. ¡¸For real?¡¹ A tall, handsome, turban donning man asked with a disbelieving look. ¡¸Yeah, Sugar¡¯s presence has already vanished from this world. No doubt about it.¡¹ The man in white suit declared so with emotionless tone. ¡¸Seriously, someone in this land can actually kill Sugar?¡¹ ¡¸Or something close to that.¡¹ The man in white suit standing up and then turned around, looking at the other six people who also sitting around this ghastly room, "" ¡¸The next job has been decided. Let¡¯s avenge him.¡¹ And gave such order. ¡¸Are you sure? We¡¯ve yet to finish the job right?¡¹ ¡¸Doesn¡¯t matter, this is the request from master.¡¹ ¡¸A massacre, is it? Sound good to me!¡¹ The turban man stood up from his chair and let out such exclamations. ¡¸We ¡ºWicked¡» won¡¯t permit defeat. Even if it happens in such backwater place.¡¹ The man in white suit spoke while chewing his lips. And then¨D¨D ¡¸That¡¯s why kill them all, leave no one alive!¡¹ He raised his voice as he strode toward the entrance of the mansion. The worst ¡ºWicked¡» army started to move with a bestial roar. Volume 5 - CH 34 Act 5-34: Behind The Scene of The 1st Trial Inside the dense forest, a woman donning a black suit, Asta, confronted a long nosed monster, Girimekhala. ¡¸Hey, what in the world does that mean?¡¹ Seeing the gloomy look on Astaroth¡¯s face as as she crossed her arms, ¡ºWhat do you mean?¡» Girimekhala replied mockingly. ¡¸Stop feigning ignorance. THAT unexpected development from before is your doing right, don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m just sating my curiosity and won¡¯t blame you. The thing invoked by THAT just now is clearly ¡¾Authority¡¿. How did THAT obtain ¡¾Authority¡¿?¡¹ ¡º¡¾Authority¡¿ holders are restricted even in this world. There¡¯s no way a mere human can become a holder. Let me add that our great Supreme Ruler has uncommon power to grant ¡¾Authority¡¿ to any of his subordinates. Is that what you¡¯re trying to say?¡» ¡¸Are you trying to say that lower species(Human) has actually become Master¡¯s kin?¡¹ ¡ºIn short, it¡¯s just as you say! Gilbert has become a rare exception among us and become a proper kin!¡» Girimekhala declared joyfully as he spread his arms. ¡¸He¡¯s way too weak to be qualified as a proper kin though.¡¹ "" ¡ºMaybe because Supreme Ruler-sama has yet to officially recognizing him. The current him is akin to a diminutive ant crawling on the barren earth compared to all members of subjugation picture book. But, the divine prowess of our god is boundless! Once he is officially recognized¨D¨D¡» ¡¸Okay that¡¯s enough. His will can even twist the world¡¯s providence, us aside, it even works on the human domain. Truly an outlaw. ¡¹ Astaroth raised her right hand, interrupting Girimehkala as he spoke while shaking her head, on it a completely perplexed look. ¡ºIt¡¯s too soon to make such conclusions. He might¡¯ve to clear the trial imposed by Our Supreme Ruler-sama before he gets accepted to stand among us.¡» ¡¸Well, I agree with that. Master clearly failed to see a huge mistake in his recognition. Rather, it got worse. I can pretty much imagine that scale only escalating further and further, becoming even crazier than before once this matter finished. He might even order us to crush evil army.¡¹ Girimekhala smiled ferociously hearing Astaroth¡¯s remark. ¡ºInde~~~~~~~~~~~~d! That might be the reason for Supreme Ruler-sama to raise Gilbert status as kin!¡» And shouted with voice that loud enough to shake the atmosphere. ¡¸No, Master might not thinking that far.¡¹ ¡ºWhat do you mean? Are you mocking our god!¡» Girimekhala¡¯s third eye glared at Astaroth as she asked such a question. ¡¸We have different recognition compared to Master. Just like how we can¡¯t have a clear grasp of the strength of the trash in this world, Master also has the difficulties of measuring the strength of others since he is simply waaaay stronger than any of us. In short for master, the evil army which have past history with us is no different from goblin or orcs, of the cat monster from before.¡¹ ¡ºH-He doesn¡¯t even consider evil army as a threat?¡» Asked Girimekhala, his entire body trembling non stop. ¡¸Maybe, even the strongest force of the evil army, the six admirals are toys he prepared as the last foe for the 1st trial.¡¹ Girimekhala then kneeled on the ground, assuming praying posture, still in trembling state. ¡ºOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! WHAT A SIN! THIS LOWLY BUG HAS ACTUALLY COMITTED SUCH HUGE SIN BY DOUBTING SUPREME RULER-SAMA¡¯S POWER! INDEED, FOR SOMEONE AS POWERFUL AS SUPREME RULER-SAMA, EVERYONE ELSE IS AKIN TO SMALL FRY!¡» He then cried with loud voice that shook the air in hundreds metres radius. ¡¸The subordinate resembled their master eh. Good grief, just how much the scale going to escalate after this.¡¹ Astaroth muttered quietly while stirred herself. And then, as if she realized something, ¡¸What¡¯s the situation with the beastfolk scouted by miss Rose?¡¹ She then turned around toward the lion man clad in golden armor, Nemea, who stood silently behind her. ¡ºIt¡¯s going according to the plan. The troublesome trash has been excluded in this trial by you.¡» ¡¸I see. Nevertheless, even evil army is nothing more than piece of game. Originally, something like this should never happen¡­¡¹ Astaroth muttered quietly without finishing her sentence, her expression was really complicated. ¡ºI agree. After staying by Supreme Ruler¡¯s side, I realize how diminutive, shallow, and crude the world was in my perspective until now.¡» Nemea nodded, completely agreeing. ¡¸Well then, that¡¯s the end of the 1st act, let¡¯s begin the preparation for the next act.¡¹ ¡º¡­¡­¡» ¡º¡­¡­¡» Girimekhala and Nemea stood up and nodded together. The next moment, their figure vanished like smoke. ¡¸Master, please do as you like. We will take care of the rest.¡¹ Astaroth spoke to herself as her figure vanished into the forest, as if she tried to convince herself. Volume 5 - CH 35 Act 5-35: The Birth of Dragon King(Side: Neim) ¨D¨DThe Centre of North Grand, Aldebaran Army Housing Facility, Azure Dragon laboratory The giant blue dragon, one of the four great demon kings¨D¨DCetus¨D¨D was working together with Aldebaran, and their force quickly conquered the northern part of North Grand. Aldebaran army had already built their base right in the centre of North Grand. They kept a lot of captured monsters on their base. And then, hell started. The base was in fact a huge testing ground to create the strongest and most evil of creatures. A while after Aldebaran continued doing so, the smell of rotten meat inside the base grew stong enough to make Neim, the close aide of Ashmedia, frown. Aldebaran stepped forward until he arrived right in front of a giant pulsating meat located in the center of the room and, ¡¸Everything army according to plan.¡¹ Said so as he looked at the lump of meat before him, satisfied. ¡¸Yes. The plan¡¯s completion rate is 90%. The last step is to guide Cetus-dono at the ¡ºKing¡».¡¹ The man wearing a navy blue lab coat placed his fist in front of his chest as he reported respectfully. ¡¸Uhm, the birth of the new king eh. I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡¹ Aldebaran nodded, satisfied. ¡¸Aldebaran, I think I know what you¡¯re trying to do but still¨D¨D¡¹ Neim made the last confirmation. This was their trump card to summon their great god as a countermeasure against the hero. There were few severe requirements to summon their great god. The most important requirement being the possession of ¡ºKing¡» title. Aldebaran and co were just one step away from making ¡ºKing¡». In fact, none of the four demon kings-Including Ashmedia- could receive that title. Primarily, there was a difference in status among the race aside from the majority of humans who received gifts. The rank went up according to the degree of difficulty to become king starting from Pawn>Rook>Knight>Bishop>Vizier from the hardest to the easiest. Even though the demon race was a humanoid race, none of them received gifts. Among all the other races, they¡¯re the most difficult race to reach the rank of Vizier. In fact, the four great demon kings were only Vizier. The only one who managed to become ¡ºKing¡» was a legendary demon king hailed as ¡ºTrue Demon King¡». Naturally, for Neim, her master, Ashmedia was the most ideal candidate to become ¡ºKing¡» but, she was far too kind for that position. The moment she heard the method to become ¡ºKing¡» and summon their great god, she flat out rejected the idea. And from seeing Aldebaran¡¯s transformation this far, Neim came to the conclusion that this method was a one way ticket in becoming a heartless monster. That¡¯s actually the biggest reason why her kind hearted master rejected Aldebaran¡¯s plan. Naturally, she understood just how foolish and cowardly her master¡¯s choice was. But, either way, the demon race was doomed due to the hero¡¯s rule to exterminate all demon race. Especially the current hero who might¡¯ve the power to kill even the demon race¡¯s god. While it might be true that the demon race finally gained a ¡ºKing¡», Neim thought it was too early to celebrate. The had to summon their great god and transform the world into paradise for the demon race. Failing to summon their god even after having a king was an unacceptable failure. ¡¸Don¡¯t worry. We are faithful servants of our great god.¡¹ Aldebaran tilted his head, smiling as he revealed his huge canines. A chill running down into Neim¡¯s spine seeing that un-demon race like expression. ¡ºYou¡¯ve seen the proof right?¡» A squirrel went out of Neim¡¯s pocket, climbed on her shoulder and asked puzzlingly at Aldebaran. ¡¸Of course, My Lord.¡¹ The people around them raised a commotion upon seeing Aldebaran placing his right fist on his left chest and now respectfully at the squirrel. That was a natural reaction since they saw with their own eyes, the prideful Aldebaran was actually bowing at a squirrel. Following that, a small tremor came toward their direction. The one who create that small tremor appeared after he broke the huge gate, it was a huge azure dragon. ¡ºOi, Aldebaran, how¡¯s the preparation!?¡» ¡¸We¡¯re just about to call you. It¡¯s ready. The next step is fusing that and you to make you into king of dragons.¡¹ The huge azure dragon raised his head, squinting his eyes as he looked at the lump of meat in the centre of the room, ¡ºIs that the shadow of their former shelf?¡» And asked Aldebaran. ¡¸Yes. They¡¯re your former subordinates. Those poor guys will become food to make you into king.¡¹ Seeing Aldebaran sweep the corner of his eye with exaggerated gesture, ¡ºThis is the proof of their loyalty to me, their king. Or should I say something akin to their master?¡» ¡¸Well, that might be so.¡¹ Aldebaran¡¯s attitude flipped out, the tips of his lips drew an arc reaching his ears, he raised a laugh as he licked his lips with his unnaturally long tongue. £¨THESE TRASH!£© She knew that she didn¡¯t have the qualification to blame them but Neim definitely disagreed with Aldebaran and Cetus¡¯ methods. She felt that it was too sinister. ¡ºYou guys are truly heretic, it¡¯s almost refreshing.¡» The squirrel spoke in admiration. ¡¸It¡¯s a honor to receive such praise.¡¹ Thereupon, Cetus placed his right fist on his left chest, bowing lightly as he expressed his gratitude. ¡ºOkay, let¡¯s start immediately. Look forward for the return of our great god in this world.¡» ¡ºAs you wish.¡» After bowing for the second time, Aldebaran signaled with his chin to the researchers who got away from the lump of meat immediately. ¡¸Gluttony¡¯s Offering?¡¹ Aldebaran snapped his finger as he hummed. That the giant lump of meat swelled up quickly and heading straight toward Cetus, ¡ºUWA!?¡» It then wrapped around Cetus¡¯ body. The lump swallowed Cetus as the sound of flesh and bones being crushed resounded and compressed finally. It slowly turned into the figure of human youth with a stern look on his face. £¨Oh no!£© An overbearing presence that almost forced Neim to place her right fist on her left chest was emanated from reborn Cetus. The youth examined his entire body in confusion but, he was clearly excited, ¡¸So this is Our new flesh! Wonderful, it¡¯s brimming with power!!¡¹ And said so with delight. ¡¸Sorry for disturbing your moment Cetus but, I have to ask you to lead my army and conquer the southern side of North Grand immediately.¡¹ Hearing Aldebaran¡¯s remark, ¡¸Sure. I¡¯m in a really good mood right now and can¡¯t wait to test my newfound strength.¡¹ He left the room without turning back. ¡¸Kukuku! Now I¡¯m one step closer to becoming the ¡ºTrue Demon King¡».¡¹ Aldebaran¡¯s face warped into a sinister smile after he confirmed that Cetus had left. There was not even compassion left toward the foolish giant dragon who danced on his palm. ¡ºYou guys are truly heretic, it¡¯s almost refreshing.¡» The squirrel who became the medium of the great god spoke with admiring voice. Neim could only bite her lips in frustration upon hearing such nauseated words, £¨But, I¡¯m willing to fall into the bottom of the hell for that Personage¡¯s smile!£© Neim repeated such a vow in her mind. Volume 5 - CH 36 When I opened my heavy eyelids, the red-haired girl who retained her childishness was looking at me with a worried look on her face. She had several strands of cat beard on her adorable appearance which didn¡¯t seem to be any different from humans. Yeah, I knew her. She was the girl I wanted to save at all cost. ¡¸Mornin, Shar.¡¹ I felt a sense of relief as she greeted me with smile on her face. ¡¸What a relief. You¡¯ve finally woke up.¡¹ Shar hugged me, she buried her face on my chest till I couldn¡¯t move at all. It seems she was really worried about me.. I tried to raise my hand to brush the back of her head but, ¡¸Cast!?¡¹ I felt sharp pain piercing my right arm as the bone of my right arm creaked. The same goes for my left arm and leg. It seems I couldn¡¯t even move my finger. ¡¸What happened to me?¡¹ ¡¸Gil, you¡¯ve been sleeping for three days and three nights.¡¹ Shar replied immediately while wiping her tears with the sleeve of her right arm. ¡¸I see¡­¡¹ There were too many things that I couldn¡¯t understand but, seeing that Shar had already returned safe and sound, I felt relieved that one trouble had left. At the very least, the mastermind who sent the group of thieves wasn¡¯t involved with us anymore. It should be a good thing. Nevertheless, even now, I neither had idea about the identity of the mastermind, nor their goal. I¡¯ve this fear that something like this incident would repeat in the near future. Nevertheless¨D¨D We¡¯ve at least overcome one crisis. And yet¨D¨D ¡¸Are you sure that you¡¯re not going to put me in the underground jail?¡¹ I wanted to avoid the situation in which Shar¡¯s position got worsened since she fussed over my health. I mean, even I couldn¡¯t trust myself. ¡¸Don¡¯t worry. Everyone decided to accept you as one of the residents of this village. You¡¯re one of us now.¡¹ When I was wondering where that voice came from, the door opened, followed by the entrance of the owner of that voice, a cat-faced man with scar on his left cheek, Chigi who carried something in the bucket in his hand. ¡¸Eh? What do you mean?¡¹ ¡¸I said, you¡¯re one of us now, you¡¯re also the villager of this village.¡¹ ¡¸You mean I¡­ Am your comrade too?¡¹ ¡¸Yes.¡¹ ¡¸Are you sure about this? I¡¯m a human too you know?¡¹ Even though they¡¯re extremely vigilant toward me till just a while ago-To the point that they wanted to kill me for being a human- How did they recognize me as their comrade that easily? ¡¸It doesn¡¯t have anything to do with being human or not¡­ Is what I want to say but, everyone seems to understand that there¡¯s no need to suspect you.¡¹ ¡¸No need, to suspect me?¡¹ Chigi heaved a sigh as if literally surprised upon hearing my question, ¡¸Otherwise, we will make an enemy of the guy who can literally slaughter all of us with a flip of his hand. That¡¯s why there¡¯s no need to be wary of you.¡¹ ¡¸No way, that should be the effect of those sta¨D¨D¡¹ ¡¸I tried the stakes too and yet, it has no such effect. You won that battle with your own power, overwhelming your opponent with absolute power.¡¹ ¡¸The stakes¡­ Have no such effect?¡¹ Sure enough, my movements felt way too natural. Both my abilities and dynamic vision literally rose across the board, and yet, I felt nothing abnormal about that situation. I just felt that I moved like usual. Well, that might be the reason why the backlash was enough to literally force me to pass out for three days, leaving numerous cracks on my bones, and tore my muscles. ¡¸Anyhow. With this incident, we realized that this village is in danger.¡¹ ¡¸What about the barrier?¡¹ ¡¸Aah, in my final analysis, the reason we can overcome this situation is thanks to you but, had we put in the same situation without you, this village will definitely wiped out.¡¹ Yeah. They¡¯re relying on Shar¡¯s barrier but that was also this village¡¯s fatal weakness. Reason being, the mastermind of this incident had actually kidnapped Shar from within the barrier. If we didn¡¯t think about other defensive tactics, we might be wiped out for sure next time. And by the way¨D¨D ¡¸Shar, do you remember what happened when they kidnapped you?¡¹ Well, it didn¡¯t really matter if she couldn¡¯t answer though. ¡¸Uuhm¡­ I don¡¯t remember at all. When I woke up, I was already in my bed.¡¹ Just as I thought. The mastermind really did as they pleased. I knew that the mastermind didn¡¯t wish to harm Shar. Was it just to test this village? No, that didn¡¯t seem to be the case. The mastermind gave us the time to prepare for the counter-attack against the thieves after all. Without that precious time, this village would be finished for sure. Since that was the case, the motive of the mastermind might be purely for entertainment. They used this village, Ket Nya, as a chess board. If that was really the case, there might be another test waiting for us. Chigi must¡¯ve realized this fact. ¡¸Do you mean, we¡¯ve to reinforce the defense of this village?¡¹ ¡¸Yes. This place is our village. We¡¯ve to protect it with our own hands. And¡­¡¹ ¡¸I know. I¡¯ve nowhere else to go anyway, I¡¯ll cooperate too.¡¹ Seeing me raising my right arm, which became quite muscular after the last battle, and agreed to Chigi, ¡¸Thanks a lot, Gil!¡¹ Shar embraced me with all her might, I ended up suffocated by her. Volume 5 - CH 37 Act 5-37: Nightmare ¨D¨DNoth Grand, the center of Aldebaran army camp, Imp Research Facility The son of the patriach of hob goblin village¨D¨D Gobuza was dragged into a room along with his brethen. It was a room inside a huge wooden building. In the middle of the room was a lump of meat that barely maintained its human form. In front of that lump of meat was a man with red skin, wearing navy blue clothes, red hair swept on the back sitting in the chair. ¡¸N-NOOOOOOOOOO!¡¹ And the hobgoblin whose age was two years older than Gobuza was dragged in front of the lump of meat by the demon race soldiers. The demon race soldiers pushed the hobgoblin toward the lump of meat, and right at that very moment, several eyes and mouth or something similar to that opened up on the surface of the lump of meat. ¡ºGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡» The despaired wail of the hobgoblin who Gobuza regarded as his own brother resounded along with the sound of crushed bones and flesh inside the lump of meat. ¡ºGulp!¡» The lump of meat made a burping sound and something that resembled a face on its surface rotated in its place. ¡¸Well then, you shall become a supplement to help me to become King. Be honored since you can at least become the waste of this lump of meat!¡¹ The moment the red haired man with hair swept to the back and he gave a signal with his eyes, the soldiers threw them one by one toward the lump of meat. ¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡¸Oi, next!¡¹ And just when the red haired man sent down execution order to the next hob goblin in turn, Gobuza, ¡¸Rerad-sama, it seems the experimental body has killed enough for today.¡¹ The red haired man with swept back his hair, Rerad clicked his tongue upon hearing that update, ¡¸Return them to their cell.¡¹ Rerad left the room after he said so, he didn¡¯t even try to hide his annoyance. Gobuza¡¯s legs went limp as he realized that he barely survived, he was then dragged by the soldiers back to his cell. At this point, Gobuza couldn¡¯t even feel sad or angry seeing the death of his brethren. He just felt relieved that his life was spared for another day. Later on, Gobuza cried nonstop, feeling ashamed of his feelings. Volume 5 - CH 38 Act 5-38: Derailed Track Outside of Hypothesis ¨D¨DNoth Grand, the centre of Aldebaran army camp, Imp Research Facility Few shadows of people were writhing in agony inside the dimly lit room. ¡¸Uhm? Did something paas just now?¡¹ The demon guard went out of the building yawning, sleepy look on his face, but then, ¡¸GAH!?¡¹ A black shadow passed by his side, lying on the ground, passed out. ¡¸Oi, stop kidding around in your guard duty! Else, I¡¯m gonna hit you from abo¨C!¡¹ The other guard reprimanded the guard who passed out as he was about to leave the building too, only to find himself suffering from the same fate, fainting with one punch on his abdomen from the person the black clothed man who appeared out of nowhere. The black donner saluted the woman who wore a monocle and black suit along with the long-nosed monster who appeared out of thin air, and vanished into the cover of the darkness of the night. ¡ºTo think that security of this place is this poor. Even if all of this trash works together, they won¡¯t be able to defeat even the weakest residence of Ket Guy. Much less to say about Oboro and his group. To begin with, are they even qualified to become chess¡¯ piece in Supreme Ruler-sama¡¯s important game?¡» The monster with a long nose, Girimekhala crossed his arms as he asked the woman in suit, Asta with a disappointed look on his face. ¡¸I agree with you but, they¡¯re fairly powerful for the level of this world. The citizens of Ket Guy common sense have been messed up by Master. In short, they¡¯re already outside of the common sense of this world.¡¹ ¡ºMaybe but, this is already the most they can do in their evolution phase. No matter how you look at it, it isn¡¯t a test anymore, right?¡» ¡¸I agree.¡¹ ¡ºWell, it¡¯s not like we can disappoint Supreme Ruler-sama either. If we use a little trick here¡­¡» ¡¸Master might destroy this trash right there if he saw the disastrous scene in this research facility. And quite possibly, he will do that on his own.¡¹ ¡ºI know that. That¡¯s exactly the reason why we¡¯ve to move around like this. Well, not that we can decrease the resident candidate of the god¡¯s country any further.¡» ¡¸Indeed. We¡¯ve already discovered the plan of the evil army. They might be planning to accomplish ¡ºDescend of The God¡». We can use their plan¨D¨D¡¹ Asta¡¯s lips went up, forming a wicked smile as she muttered on her own. Her visage bear the resemblance of the devil, ¡ºAgreed, those scum.¡» Girimekhala also had an ecstatic look on his face. ¡¸The divine protection given to them is the ¡ºGluttony¡¯s Offering¡». Since that¡¯s the case, they might be trying to become ¡ºTrue Demon King(Truest Archenemy)¡». Only then they fulfill the condition to invoke ¡ºDescend of The God¡». Look, it¡¯s one of our past work.¡¹ ¡ºAre they going to force their toys(small fry) to evolve to use the technique that we developed before we¡¯re exiled into that dungeon?¡» ¡¸Exactly. Anyhow, since we¡¯re not their enemy, there¡¯s no need to talk about this. They seem to be trying to forcefully invite the upper echelon of the evil army. We might be able to do that without any of these messy and useless preparation.¡¹ ¡ºThat¡¯s great! We can finally finish Somni and Tetle training by making them face those fellas! Those idiots from evil army who tried to dabble with this world ruled by Supreme Ruler-sama will taste the humiliation of being trampled down by those human they¡¯re looking down to!¡» ¡¸One of the six general of the evil army is your former master, are you sure about this?¡¹ ¡ºIt¡¯s not a big deal! My one and only god is Supreme Ruler-sama! Don¡¯t put him in the same level as those lowly scums!¡» He spread his arms, looking up at the sky with bloodshot eyes while shouting with voice that shook the air. ¡¸What a terrifying brainwashing ability. So, is that mean Master truly going to use THAT?¡¹ Asta shrugged her shoulders, shook her head before she asked that question to Girimekhala. ¡ºYes, Supreme Ruler-sama decided to enter the stage of the game on his own!¡» ¡¸Well, nothing is more boring than looking at someone playing the game after all. With that personality of him, I guess this kind of development is just natura¡ª¡¹ When Asta stated her honest opinion, Girimekhala looked up to the sky, ¡ºIt seems we gained total control of this facility. Now we only need to follow the Supreme Ruler-sama¡¯s divine will.¡» His figure then vanished into the darkness of the night. ¡¸Well then, the worst monster who controls the board is joining the game huh. That¡¯s one hell of wicked deed.¡¹ Asta had also walked into the research facility as she mumbled her honest impression. Volume 5 - CH 39 Act 5-39: Escape I[Side: Kobuza] I might¡¯ve fallen asleep after crying for too long. When I woke up, the big moon was already peeking from the window of my cell. Beneath such moonlight, the lattices made creaking sound as the door of my cell opened. ¡¸E-Eh?¡¹ Gobuza raised a confused voice. The key of the cell should be with the demon race who threw them into the prison. Rather, the entire lattice had literally vanished. £¨Wake up!£© Gobuza shook his comrade who barely escaped death like him. £¨Eh, the door is open?£© Gobumi, Gobuza¡¯s childhoodfriend muttered quietly. £¨Ah, we¡¯ve to escape quickly with everyone!£© £¨That¡¯s impossible!£© Seeing his childhoodfriend about to cry, he gently brushed Gobumi on the head and, £¨Otherwise, we, the food won¡¯t be killed until tomorrow!£© He looked around as he spoke to his comrades. The reason Gobuza is still alive right now is simply because the ¡°Monster¡± flesh has reached its limit. Even if they¡¯re caught again, they won¡¯t be killed until tomorrow. Though they might be beaten to pulp if the guard caught him, better try than not. £¨Young master Gobuza is right. We¡¯ve to escape.£© The old male hobgoblin agreed and then stood up too. £¨Yeah, staying here means we¡¯re going to die for sure. Since that¡¯s the case, we¡¯ve to bet on the chance to escape from this place¡­£© The young and muscular hobgoblin agreed. That moment, all the hobgoblins in that underground prison clasped each other¡¯s shoulders and walked toward the gate. Volume 5 - CH 40 Act 5-40: Escape II¨D¨D A Chance of Encounter Amidst The Despair[Side: Gobuza] What¡¯s the meaning of this? Why aren¡¯t we meeting any demon race in guard duty? The place was filled with black fog, our surroundings were dead silent, and we weren¡¯t even seeing one demon race guard along the way out of the research facility. The northern part of the North Grand had been conquered by them and had already turned into a living hell. So their only escape route was towards the south. In the south, there¡¯re many powerful races with high combat power such as red minotaurs, high ogre, superior race of one-eyed giant, the cyclops and the high-orc. Though those races wouldn¡¯t work together under the normal circumstances, Gobuza knew that once Aldebaran¡¯s army moved to the south, those races would see the same living hell as Gobuza¡¯s tribe. Thus laid the possibilities to form a temporary alliance against the same enemy. ¡¸I almost reached my limit¡­¡¹ He took Gobumi¡¯s hand and, ¡¸Just a bit more! We¡¯ll find a hiding place and take a break after the sunrise! Just a bit more!¡¹ He said those encouragement. For them, being able to escape from that hell was already a miracle. But, he knew that the pursuer would come after them. What waited for them once they were caught was a certain death. That¡¯s why their best choice for now was to escape as far as possible. ¡¸Y-Yes!¡¹ Gobumi regained the will to walk for a bit more upn hearing his encouragement. After who knows how long they had been walking, when everyone had literally reached their limit and couldn¡¯t walk anymore, they finally left the thicket into a place resembling that of a plaza. In the middle of the plaza stood a giant tree, the morning light dyed the area under the tree with scarlet colour, was the exact expression for that situation. ¡¸Let¡¯s take a break in this place.¡¹ Their enemy wasn¡¯t just their pursuer from the demon race. The beast who wandered inside the forest itself was already a huge threat for Gobuza and co. In that situation, resting in the relatively safe spot for a while was much a better choice than wandering aimlessly inside the forest. And then, when everyone sat under the shade of the tree¨D¨D ¡¸What the heck is this?¡¹ The muscular hob goblin suddenly raised a bewildered voice upon seeing a vein twined around his leg. The next moment¨D¨D He was suddenly pulled up, swinging upside down in the air by the vine around his leg. ¡¸Oh no! It¡¯s Madagascar! Everyone get away from this place!¡¹ The moment the old hobgoblin warned, the trunk of the giant tree split up, showing a huge mouth with rows of sharp fangs. ¡¸KYAAA!¡¹ Another vine twined around the hobgoblin beside Gobumi and Gobumi herself, pulling their bodies to the air. ¡¸Goburo! Gobumi!¡¹ Gobuza rushed toward the two to safe them but, ¡¸Stop! They¡¯re going to eat you too, Young Master!¡¹ The old hob goblin hugged him from behind to stop him. ¡¸But, Gobumi and everyone are in danger too!¡¹ The madagascar raised the body of the hob goblins till it was right above the opening that resembled a giant mouth. £¨WHYYYYYYYYYY!?£© ¡°Why must we encounter a madagascar of all! Just what kind of sin we committed to deserve all of this!¡± was the nightmare that kept haunting Gobuza and co ever since the demon race destroyed their peaceful village. £¨Is asking for peace too much?£© Surely, they¡¯ve been living a boring, unchanged live until the invasion. Even Gobuza felt so. That¡¯s why he always yearns to become the legendary hero of the monster in his mother¡¯s bedtime story. It was common story among the monsters, the story of the hero fighting against the evil god. But, that naive aspiration had already broken to pieces when he saw the true, cruel nature of the demon race who invaded his peaceful village. ¨D¨D I know that! He knew that there was no hero who would save them from this pinch. He knew that he was living in an extremely cruel world in which the strong eat the weak. The weak could only submit to the strong! ¨D¨D I know that! The powerful tribe in the north had been captured one after another and became feed for the lump of flesh in the demon laboratory. Gobuza and co were nothing more than powerless ants in the current North Grand. £¨But, I refuse to accept this outcome!£© Gobuza might be saved if he chose to abandon his childhood friend. But¨D¨D ¨D¨DThat wasn¡¯t the future that Gobuza wished for! ¡¸Gobuza!¡¹ That voice resounded in his eardrum, he wanted to save Gobumi, £¨Yes! Like hell I can do that!£© His boiling wrath erupted like a volcano. He couldn¡¯t accept this unreasonable situation anymore. He refuse to lost his dearest people again! ¡¸Oi, Young Master!¡¹ He shook the old man¡¯s hand, and grabbed the pole that he picked along the way, ¡¸Let go of them dammit!¡¹ And rushed toward the Madagascar as he raised such warcry. The feeler-like vine swung to the side, hitting Gobuza¡¯s abdomen and sending him flying like a small ball, only stopping after it crashed against the trunk of the tree behind him. That strike just now made Gobuza lose his breath, his body felt like it was creaking nonstop. During that time, Gobuza tried to prop himself with the pole in his hand. In his dimmed view, he saw that the madagascar was about to eat his childhoodfriend. ¡¸OOOOOOOOOOOH!¡¹ When he tried to rush again with a bestial roar, he tripped and fell flat on his face. He raised his face, only to see his childhood friends thrown into the mouth of the madagascar. ¡¸STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!!¡¹ The moment he raised such cries, several lines ran along the body of Madagascar, and his childhood friend dropped into its mouth. ¡¸Dammit¡­¡¹ He failed to save those dear to him again. His clenched fist struck the ground before him because his sense of loss and helplessness. ¡¸Y-Young master!¡¹ When he raised his face again upon hearing the old man¡¯s scream, ¡¸Eh?¡¹ A man with a dog head seized the nape of the neck of his two childhood friends, behind him was the wreckage of madagascar. The man seemed like a kobold, he wore strange attire which combined both trousers and shirt into one. The man with dog head then dropped Gobuza¡¯s childhoodfriend to the ground, ¡¸Nice fight! Don¡¯t worry, these two are safe and sound.¡¹ The man declared so. Gobuza¡¯s consciousness descended into the darkness hearing those reassuring words. Volume 5 - CH 41 Act 5-41: Village of Hope When he opened his heavy eyelids as his body shook repeatedly, the first thing he saw was Gobumi¡¯s worried face. ¡¸Thank goodness!¡¹ As he spent few moments looking at Gobumi, who cried her heart out on his chest, ¡¸You finally awake, huh. If so, come here to eat.¡¹ Someone called out to him from behind. He turned around to see the owner of that unfamiliar voice, a dog-headed man grilling meat with a bonfire. Every single one of his comrades from the village were also eating deliriously on the grilled meat in their hand. ¡¸You are?¡¹ ¡¸Me? Well¡­ My name is Ruu Garuu. Just call me Ruu.¡¹ The man replied with a merry tone. Since both Gobumi and brother Goburo, who should be eaten by madagascar, were safe and sound, this person should be the one who defeated the madagascar, saved Gobumi and brother Goburo. But why? I mean, since Aldebaran started his invasion of the south, everyone should be too busy to care about someone else. This person should be someone from the kobold tribe. But¨D¨D ¡¸Why di¨D¨D¡¹ ¡¸Save your question for later, you must be hungry right? Eat first.¡¹ The man forced the meat on Gobuza¡¯s hand. Smelling the fragrant scent of the grilled meat, Gobuza¡¯s stomach, which had missed meals for the last few days, let out a loud sound. The dog man, Ruu, then listened to Gobuza and co¡¯s story as they enjoyed their meal but, ¡¸I see¡­ So that¡¯s why those people¡­¡¹ He only muttered those short words. His expression was calm and collected. And yet, Gobuza didn¡¯t miss the glint of madness hidden within those eyes, ¡¸Ruu¡­-San?¡¹ That¡¯s why Gobuza tried to call Ruu. ¡¸Oops, my bad, well, your situation isn¡¯t that much different from me. I also escaped from kobold village in the north.¡¹ ¡¸You too?¡­ Don¡¯t you want to fight back?¡¹ Brother Goburo asked as he hung his head despair. ¡¸Well, fighting an army of that size is a fool¡¯s errand.¡¹ I felt as if I received a hook on the side of my head, seeing Ruu-san reply with a helpless smile on his face. Indeed. Take the Madagascar that just got insta killed by Ruu-san, it was a monster which is akin to a living calamity that lives in the forest, no one dares to live around them except for the tribe with prominent combat forces, that¡¯s why the area around madagascar tended to be avoided by other living beings. If you happen to meet a madagascar, the only means to save yourself is running with your tail between your legs. Not to mention that Gobuza¡¯s desperate rush was nothing more than a suicide attack. He would definitely die under normal circumtances. Ruu-san killed that madagascar very easily. It means that he came from a tribe with extremely powerful combat prowess. Meaning that the opponent who forced that powerful Ruu-san to escape must be even more terrifying. We¡¯re literally small fries in this situation. ¡¸Then, we too¡­¡¹ Though Ruu was bewildered for a moment seeing Gobuza hung his head down, he recovered immediately and scratched his head awkwardly, ¡¸Don¡¯t worry. The only thing my tribe lacked are numbers. Moreover, there¡¯s still hope.¡¹ ¡¸Hope?¡¹ Hope? Where can you find hope in this hopeless situation, which even forced powerful tribes to run away? There is no way we can have peace of mind with such a threat looming over our heads. ¡¸Yeah, you¡¯ll find medium-sized villages if you keep walking south of here. The combat tribes all over the North Grand began to gather in the same direction. Though I said I ran away from Aldebaran army, I don¡¯t think I lost to them. If we set aside our difference and worked together, we should¡¯ve a chance to stop the invasion of that filthy demon race.¡¹ Gathering of combat tribes. One might say that it was the most ideal situation for Gobuza and co. Even if just a joke, there really was no other way to stop Aldebaran¡¯s invasion to the southern side. ¡¸Please take us to that place.¡¹ ¡¸Don¡¯t worry, that¡¯s my intention.¡¹ Ruu smiled as he agreed to accept the request, and then took a bite of the skewered grilled meat in his hand. As Gobuza enjoyed the taste of delicious meat in his mouth, ¡¸What kind of monster the boss of that village is?¡¹ That was the one thing Gobuza was most curious about at that moment. Though they had to be united facing such predicament, properly speaking, it was the gathering of tribes who couldn¡¯t accept the other tribes, especially so for the tribes with high combat prowess. ¡¸Well, according to the rumour¡­¡¹ Ruu massaged his chin as he started his story. Volume 5 - CH 42 Act 5-42: The Remaining Memories of The Worst Fella ¨D¨DFew months before Gobuza met Ruu¡­ ¡­ Notice from the subjugation picture book¨D¨D Since Gilbert Loto Amelia has been registered as temporary member of the subjugation picture book, part of his sealed memory shall be released. ¨D¨DReleased 5% of the sealed memories. It was inside a luxurious room. I kept kicking the magnificent looking furniture with an indignant face. ¨D¨DI¡¯m the next king of this kingdom! A mere servant isn¡¯t supposed to talk back to me! That fu*cking incompetent! Seeing me stomping my feet like a kid, the muscular man with blue hair and unshaven beard only stared at me with pity and then, ¨D¨DPrince, the crown contest has only just begun. You¡¯re not the next king yet. He nonchalantly rebutted my remark. ¨D¨DAl, are you trying to say that I would lose to that failure too? The blue haired man, Al, heaved a sigh and stood from his chair. And then¨D¨D ¨D¨DYes, as it is, you¡¯ll definitely become the first one to drop out from the crown contest. ¨D¨DDon¡¯t mess with me!! You think those failures can defeat me!? ¨D¨DPrince, reality never goes according to your will. You can curse all you want but, prince, you¡¯ll definitely look back at this point in the near future and feel nothing but regret. Al declared so while gritting his teeth. Al was my swordcraft teacher, and he never stated any denial of me until now. ¨D¨DMe!? Regret!? As if! Al shook his head as he closed his eyes, ¨D¨DNope, you completely misunderstand my point. The point is, by the time you regret it, it will already be too late for you. You betrayed so many people, your big sister, your vassal that followed you wholeheartedly. You¡¯re a heartless master whom no one wanted to follow. That¡¯s why please find your friends, those who are willing to forgive you even after knowing that you¡¯re a mere rotten shell. And said something that akin to the greatest insult for a royalty like me with a pitying look on his face. ¨D¨DAl, you ba¡ª When My anger reached boiling point hearing such admonishment, ¨D¨DThat¡¯s all I can tell you. As for what you¡¯re going to do later, it has nothing to do with me. Godspeed, prince¡­ Al then turned around and muttered so as if it was a monologue. The scene changed. ¨D¨DI have no need for my knight to be incompetent . Kill him! ¨D¨DT-Tetle has been your attendant since your childhood, you know!? Hearing an elderly knight ask such questions, ¨D¨DSo what? Useless attendants are nothing more than a hindrance. I¡¯ll kill you if you dare ask such questions again! I spoke again in a louder voice. My aide knight clenched his teeth in frustration and left the room without even bothering to bow. ¨D¨DAre you sure about this? He must be one of your earliest vassals right? Hearing a loach bearded mercenary who I just employed a while ago. "" ¨D¨DI don¡¯t need a useless piece. The same goes for you guys. I replied immediately as if it was a matter of fact. ¨D¨DOh, I¡¯m scared, you really are a scary one, prince. But that is also one of the qualifications for a king. The mercenary placed his hand on his chest and spouted flattery. That moment, my field of vision got interrupted. Ah yes, this was a dream. A dream about a useless, shi*tty bastard with a hole in his brain. A mere unsightly clown who had never realized that he wasn¡¯t the only special one. His idiocy was simply shot through the roof. I mean, this very shi*tty bas*tard who passed judgment with his emotion was genuinely, the most useless person in this world. Volume 5 - CH 43 Act 5-43: Daily Life and Hazy Dream of A Shi*tty Bas*tard The first thing that I saw when I opened my eyes was the now familiar ceiling. Seeing that the sky outside still dark, I knew that the sun had yet to rise. I felt like I just had a long, and suffocating dream. I could only remember the ending but, it was the dream about a shi*tty trash who kept betraying those who believed in him. ¡¸It¡¯s too real for a mere dream, though. Are that my memories?¡¹ Before I realized, I judged myself. In a certain meaning, that trash was truly a heretic. Despite me doubting my own original personality, I couldn¡¯t believe that such trash exists in this world. According to Chigi, I seemed to be an adventurer before I lost my memories. Since that was the case, that dream might be my memories when I acted as that stupid prince¡¯s bodyguard. Anyhow, the only result I could see if that trash became the king of a kingdom was destruction. It is just as that blue haired man, Al had said, that kind of trash should be eliminated as fast as possible. Though my memories were still hazy, at least I wasn¡¯t the trash prince whose whereabouts I had no idea about. I didn¡¯t have that much leisure to do something foolish like that trash prince. I mean¨D¨D Suddenly the sound of lively footsteps resounded from the door of the room, ¡¸GIL! WAKE UP! IT¡¯S MORNING!¡¹ The red haired girl threw open the door shouting my name. ¡¸Morning, Shar.¡¹ I raised my right hand and greeted her back while yawning in my bed. ¡¸Today is the day of important meeting in the village you know!?¡¹ ¡¸Seems to be the case.¡¹ I got off from my bed and stretched. Yup. Today was the important meeting that will decide the future of Ket Nya. Reason being, they learnt from the previous raid that Shar¡¯s power alone was far from enough to keep this village safe. We had to decide our next priority in case something similar happened in the near future. That¡¯s why I proposed to hold a meeting on this day. And since it was my suggestion, I definitely can¡¯t be late. ¡¸Nevertheless, having to wear the same clothes day and night sure is inconvenient. Let¡¯s prepare counter-measures for this too.¡¹ I verified my own power when I was incapacitated in the bed due to muscle pain. As long as I have this power, the defense of this village aside, I could even raise the standard of living in this village. ¡¸C¡¯mon Gil! THe breakfast time is running out!¡¹ Shall stood at the door of my room, puffing her cheeks as she placed her hands on her hips. ¡¸Oops, right away.¡¹ I headed toward the 1st floor with a wry smile. ¨D¨DThat strangely realistic fragmented scene. From then on it might have felt terribly unrealistic, and disgusting. That¡¯s why I might end up keeping it in the corner of my head, trying my best to forget about it. Volume 5 - CH 44 Act 5-44: Invitation to the Monster From Another Tribe ¡¸This is my proposal for the development of Ket Nya.¡¹ I did my best to come up with this plan for the last few days,even cutting on my sleep, ¡¸¡­¡¹ Everyone ended up just looking at it in silence with their mouths open. ¡¸Uhm, is there something wrong with this plan I made?¡¹ I tried to ask everyone present in a hesitant voice, however, ¡¸Well how should I say it, rather than bad, it¡¯s more like¡­ You know?¡¹ Even when I asked for the opinion of Chato, who sat beside Tama, with the same face, ¡¸Yeah¡­¡¹ He nodded in agreement with all others present. Chigi crossed his arms while looking at me, this staring contest lasted for a while, ¡¸Maybe everyone¡¯s question is something along the line of ¡ºCan we even do this?¡»¡¹ Chigi then took the initiative to decipher the meeting members¡¯ reaction to me. ¡¸It might be possible with my power.¡¹ The last few days testing this newfound power was enough for me to come with this ¡°impossible¡± plan. ¡¸We can¡¯t always rely on the barrier constructed by Sharm. That¡¯s why I established a few places for the construction of enchanted weapons. Moreover, raising the quality of life will automatically raise the productivity of the village itself. That¡¯s why if possible¡­¡¹ Chigi started making a rough draft while mumbling over something. ¡¸Anyhow, let¡¯s start with the place that we understand immediately. There also a few policies that I need to discuss after that.¡¹ ¡¸About the proposal to create alliance with the other tribes, including some combat tribs, huh¡­¡¹ Everyone in the room made a really anxious face hearing the remark from the old, cat-headed woman. ¡¸I¡¯m against this plan! Think about it, just how much of our brethren became victim of those guys¡¯ atrocities in the past?¡¹ The cat headed youth with a bob cut denied the idea on the spot. ¡¸But at this rate, nothing can stop the Aldebaran army from marching to the south. All the peaceful monster tribes in the North Grand have already become their victims. This it an undeniable fact.¡¹ The old woman with a cat face could only shake her head with a sad face as she uttered those words. ¡¸But still, it doesn¡¯t mean that we¡¯ve to work together with those savage ogres or pigs!¡¹ Tama slammed her dominant hand on the table but, ¡¸Yeah. If it¡¯s just simple alliance, then there¡¯s no need to recruit those battle junkies.¡¹ Something was amiss. I could actually declare so with certainty even though I had no memories or knowledge about those battle junkies beforehand. I mean, I knew exactly that we absolutely couldn¡¯t make an alliance with those guys. Those kinds of people were normally nothing but bunches of muscle brains whose status was based solely on their strength. Definitely not the kind of folks who are willing to hear the opinion of those weaker than them. ¡¸Oi, are you going to wage a war against them?¡¹ ¡¸It¡¯s not a war since I¡¯ve no intention to kill them. In exchange, I¡¯ll beat them real thorough.¡¹ I¡¯ll force them to help us after I beat the crap out of them. That was the only way to have a proper, equal conversation with them. ¡¸Though saying it is easier than done, you do realize that the other party is the strongest, or second strongest combat tribe in the North Grand, right?¡¹ ¡¸I don¡¯t care. Seeing that the northern part of the North Grand is occupied by the demon race, it means that the power of the demon called Aldebaran is even more than that. If things keep going in this direction, those two tribes would be the first ones to become Aldebaran¡¯s target.¡¹ ¡¸Sorry but, I¡¯m not asking whether you can defeat them or not. The problem is whether you can convince them! Those battle junkies don¡¯t listen to words!¡¹ "" Seeing Chato pointing out the most obvious problem in this plan, ¡¸It¡¯s not matter if it¡¯s possible or not. The situation has already escalated to the point that we have no choice but to do take action.¡¹ I told them so with a reassuring voice. The mastermind, who was specifically targeting and observing this Ket Nya was obviously a malicious being. The previous case made me realize some more hard facts. The mastermind clearly had no intention to help us, or destroy us, they acted more like mere observers. Maybe they just want to observe if we could clear the trial imposed on us or not. If we succeed, we are naturally going to advance to the next stage. That will continue till we finally get defeated, I get this feeling that it was some kind of game. In this situation, we would almost certainly be defeated in the next stage.I mean, we were by no means strong, and our defeat means only one thing, death. With those kinds of possibilities in the back my mind, I proposed this plan. ¡¸That again huh. But Gil might be right.¡¹ Chato heaved a sigh as he shrugged his shoulders, ¡¸Chigi-san, I agree with Gil¡¯s plan!¡¹ And agreed obediently. ¡¸There¡¯s no other way. You might even say that the current situation forced us to choose this option. Everyone should¡¯ve realized what gonna happen if we chose to do nothing at all, right?¡¹ Tama also nodded as she asked for everyone¡¯s agreement. The members had no choice but to nod with a vexed look on their faces.The facts were irrefutable and they would surely die in the near future if nothing is done. ¡¸We¡­ Might have no choice but to do this. Otherwise this villa¡ª No, the entire North Grand will become hell on earth.¡¹ Just as Chigi had said, Ket Nya had no choice but to participate in whatever the mastermind had prepared. Volume 5 - CH 45 Act 5-45: Persuasion of The Combat Tribe I The defense wasn¡¯t simply seeking items for defense. In the end, it included personal defensive abilities. And everyone came to realize that after the previous incident. Moreover, we wouldn¡¯t be able to develop in a better direction unless we had a standardized defense. Thus, the first and best option was forming an alliance with the other tribes. That¡¯s why I was currently visiting the high orc of the pig tribe¡¯s village along with Chisi and Chato. We were currently facing a fully armored pig-head mman inside a stone castle. ¡¸Oioioi, lowly cats like you guys actually had the gall to offer an alliance with us, are you trying to make us die laughing?¡¹ Though they were laughing loudly, they were visibly pissed off after hearing our proposal. Well, sheep cats were undoubtedly a weak tribe even by North Grand standards. In short, they were akin to plebeians. And those plebeians were actually brave enough to seek cooperation with a strong combat tribe even by human standard. This is the reason why I said that there were limited ways to force them to hear our proposal. ¡¸If you refuse cooperation based on equal standing, then the only way left is subordination, right?¡¹ ¡¸Wait a minute, Gil!¡¹ Colour drained from Chato¡¯s face who stood beside me, he grabbed my shoulder and whispered. ¡¸Sub¡­ Ordination?¡¹ One of the bigger orcs with brown skin stood up from his chair, and seized the huge hatchet on his arm. This one was the only monster with skin color closer to red. This particular orc seems to be a special one among them. "" ¡¸Yeah, either way, the entire North Grand would be destroyed. I don¡¯t want to do this but, at this rate, what awaits us is total destruction.¡¹ This was the truth. The northern demon king called Aldebaran, whose army was currently advancing to the south, was one of the four great demon kings. Humanity was in a heavily disadvantageous situation against the four great demon kings, before they summoned the monster from another world who was hailed as the hero. And strangely enough, despite not knowing anything about myself, I was really knowledgeable about the political situation in this world. And yet, the revelation about this matter brought more worries to me. ¡¸That¡¯s nice words for a lowly cat. I shall reward you by chopping your head and exposed it to weather!¡¹ My current appearance was changed to that of a¨D¨D sheep cat youth with my abilities, making me look like a sheep cat too. According to my investigation, this ability was ¡ºTransformation¡». Its effect was to allow me to change my appearance to any creature in my imagination. Yes, the change wasn¡¯t limited to outer appearance, the same goes for the inside too. Otherwise, I could keep my outer appearance and only change my inside or vice versa. I think the transformation that I did when I repelled the band of thieves from before was an inside transformation. But then, there were several restrictions to this ability of mine. Regarding the inside transformation, it was only limited to anyone whom I have met before, outer appearance transformation wasn¡¯t restricted by this, not to mention that I could literally change my outer appearance to just about anything as long as my imagination allowed it. And this transformation was what I used to change my current appearance. I mean, it would be easier for them to have an audience with sheep cat rather than sheep cats mixing with humans, right? ¡¸Enough with pretentious talk. Come at me!¡¹ The orc was clearly pissed off when I beckoned with my hand. ¡¸How dare you! Fine then, DIEEEEEEEEEEEE!¡¹ He stepped forward, raising his hatchet, and brandished it toward me. Seeing the approaching hatchet, I unsheathed the long sword hanging on my waist and parried the blow, redirecting its power. ¡¸N-NHAAAAAA!?¡¹ I quickly closed in toward the orc who had yet to recover from his shock, and landed a blow on his abdomen with the hilt of my sword. The power behind my blow was enough to send the orc flying behind, and only stopped after he crashed against the wall behind him. £¨As expected, there are no problems as long as I¡¯m not using him.£© During an experiment with my newfound power, I found out that my body wouldn¡¯t be exhausted unless I transformed into that black haired youth. Though my inside was currently transformed to the swordmaster in my dream, I found no problem with this transformation. ¡¸¡­¡¹ The orc stood up, lowering his stance. His conceit from before had disappeared, the real battle had only just started. This was obvious from his stance. This guy was powerful. I couldn¡¯t afford to have a leeway against him. I had a reason to win this fight. That¡¯s why¨D¨D I readied my sword and rushed toward him. Volume 5 - CH 46 Act 5-46: Persuasion of The Combat Tribe II The victor had been decided. The orc laid face up in front of me. That guy was strong. Even I left in a tattered state after the battle. I used the power of the master whose name I had no idea of. But, I knew that his strength was the real deal. And this pig headed monster¡¯s skill was almost equal to that of a swordmaster. The reason I came out as the victor was simply because my physical strength was slightly above the orc. Well, I might be able to win in mere seconds if I transformed into that black haired youth but, that guy was like an exception among exceptions. Even now, I still couldn¡¯t see anyone, or just anything that could win against him. ¡ºKill me.¡» The orc who I just defeated shouted. His current expression was completely different from before he fought me, it was respect for those stronger than him. I had never expected to see such an upright and gallant attitude from a monster. ¡¸I refuse. I¡¯ve told you before, right? Your power is needed for the future of this North Grand. There is no need for us to quarreling at each others again.¡¹ ¡¸Is the demon race that marching to the south even more powerful than you?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, maybe.¡¹ Even after losing my memories, I still felt lingering fear toward Aldebaran, the four great demon king. That guy wouldn¡¯t spare anyone who lost against him. If they¡¯re lucky, they would be reduced to a slave. Otherwise, they¡¯re dead. Even if this entire orc tribe challenged him, they would be utterly defeated. That¡¯s why we had no choice but to unite the entire monster tribe. ¡ºI see¡­ Fine. Let me hear your proposal first. But, I¡¯ve a condition.¡» He raised his body, sat cross-legged and crossed his arms as he glared at me. ¡¸What¡¯s your condition? I¡¯ll do my best as long as it¡¯s possible.¡¹ ¡ºLet me see your real appearance. Your smell is different from monster.¡» He spoke in a low voice, his nose twitching as if smelling me. When I turned around and looked at Chigi, he nodded at me. Either way, the matter about me being a human was already known among the sheep cat. There was no need to keep this matter a secret after this. ¡¸Understood.¡¹ I cancelled my transformation and returned to my original appearance. The orcs raised a ruckus the moment they saw my original appearance. ¡¸You are¡­ A human?¡¹ ¡¸Yes, my name is Gil. And I have no idea about the rest of my identity, neither from where I come from.¡¹ From the fact that I¡¯m strangely familiar human society, there was no doubt that I was a human. But since I excelled in magic, had strange ability, and lost my memories. I must have extremely special circumtances. ¡¸You have no idea about your origin?¡¹ The orc asked with confused look on his face. ¡¸Yes. The sheep cat are the ones who sheltered me, wandering in the forest, losing all of my memories.¡¹ I replied while pointing at Chigi and co. ¡¸The human who lost his memory huh¡­ That¡¯s sound fishy.¡¹ The orc showed a wry smile on his face. ¡¸Same here I guess.¡¹ I agreed with him. There was never a suspicious person like me. I mean, humans were the nemesis of the monster tribe. Chigi and co who accepted me immediately were the strange ones. The orc stood up, put back his fallen chair on its place, and sitting in there, ¡¸Let¡¯s talk. Everything will be decided after that.¡¹ And spoke with the same blunt voice. ¡¸Are you sure about this? I¡¯m a human too you know?¡¹ ¡¸Hah! Hah, whether you¡¯re a human, orc, or cat, we obey the strong. That¡¯s the rule of our tribe. Not to mention that I¡¯m also rather annoyed by those demon race.¡¹ Seeing that everyone in his tribe seems to have the same opinion, ¡¸Thanks.¡¹ ¡¸It¡¯s Bhutai.¡¹ ¡¸Uhm?¡¹ ¡¸It¡¯s my name. Just call me Bhu.¡¹ With that introduction, our sheep cat gained our first comrade from a combat tribe. Volume 5 - CH 47 Act 5-47: City of Monsters ¨D¨DNew City, Ket Nya. A few months had passed. Bhu and co were a considerably powerful combat tribe in the North Grand. After Bhu and co from the high orc tribe joined our alliance, more and more tribes expressed their decision to join Ket Nya. Especially the smaller combat tribe around Bhu and co. And then, one of the biggest factions in North Grand, the Red Minotaurs tribe and the surviving one eyed giant, the Cyclops tribe became the trigger who ruled more than half of the territory in the southern part of the North Grand. ¡¸Hou, that one seems to be a good one.¡¹ The man with the dog face who entered the smithy muttered so. It was the same smithy where I enchanted swords. Currently, I used my abilities to imitate the skill of the famous magic engineer and blacksmith whose name I can¡¯t remember in my lost memories to create enchanted weapons. ¡¸Ah, Ruu-san.¡¹ His name was Ruu Garu, a young kobold who joined us recently along with the group of hobgoblins. According to the women from other kobold tribes, he seems to be regarded as a handsome gentleman with a refreshing smile. He was currently living with the hob goblin who he protected along the way. ¡¸Is that enchanted weapon? Let see¡­¡¹ After I gave him the completed sword, Ruu-san examined the weapon from close up. Honestly speaking, the result of his appraisal never missed even once. Even though he insisted that he couldn¡¯t use magic-Which is true since the kobold tribe couldn¡¯t use magic- His combat sense was unbelievably sharp. It was obvious from the fact that any kind of weapon that got his approval turned out to be a really excellent one in live combat. ¡¸Not bad. This is a hit.¡¹ Hearing Ruu-san muttered on his own, ¡¸Yeah!¡¹ I made a guts pose. His approval means that we got another additional weapon in our arsenal. My current biggest worry was the rumor about dragon race razing cyclops to the ground. According to the story that I heard from the survivor of that incident, the dragon who razed their village with such overwhelming power was the strongest, gigantic blue dragon of North Grand¨D¨D Cetus. That guy singlehandedly destroyed the cyclops village. If not for Ruu-san¡¯s timely rescue, all of the surviving cyclops might have been slaughtered back then. We were in urgent need to raise our combat force to fight against such a powerful foe. ¡¸And yet, in the end¨D¨D¡¹ ¡¸Yeah. Everything depends on the wielder of the weapon. Right?¡¹ ¡¸Exactly. We¡¯re weak. We¡¯re going to die for sure if we keep attacking blindly.¡¹ Ruu-san who came to this place and saw our war potential judged that we¡¯re still too ¡ºWeak¡». At this rate, we would be trampled down by the Aldebaran army. As of now, I trained in accordance with Ruu-san¡¯s instruction and felt a great improvement in my skills and abilities. That includes this enchanted weapon, when I told Ruu-san about this matter, Ruu-san gave several pointers. And then, the one thing that I developed after hearing his pointers was this enchanted weapon. Moreover, I never forget to spar with the other monsters every day. ¡¸Gil, master Ruu, it¡¯s time for the meeting you know?¡¹ Bhu, the chief of the high orc tribe entered the room and called out to us cheerily. ¡¸I see. Let¡¯s go then.¡¹ Ruu-san then headed out of the room. ¡¸Yeah!¡¹ Bhu also followed obediently from behind. At first, Bhu refused to admit Ruu-san challenging him to a match, the result of their match was a landslide victory for Ruu-san. Ever since then, Bhu has always followed Ruu-san like a little brother. I grabbed the newly made sword and followed after them. Numerous monsters come and go along the road made of brick, wooden buildings lining up along the road. Lively solicitation and fragrant aroma that whet my appetite came from the direction of the butcher. £¨This place has completely transformed compared to when I just came to this village.£© After the high orc tribe joined the alliance, the number of monsters who joined our alliance increased at astonishing pace, Ket Nya had already developed to a level comparable to medium-sized human cities. Naturally, we built a high stone rampart around Ket Nya and installed several anti-siege weapons on top of the rampart. This place was safe as long as the rampart wasn¡¯t breached. ¡¸Ah, Gil!¡¹ The red haired cat girl, Shar, called out to me, waving her hands with a beaming smile on her face when she saw me. ¡¸Shar, you¡¯re prone to fall if you run like that.¡¹ And just as I had expected, she tripped right in the next moment and I barely managed to catch her before she fell flat on the ground. ¡¸See, I¡¯ve told you.¡¹ ¡¸¡­ Thank you.¡¹ Shar¡¯s face was flushed red as she thanked me, and when she tried to get up, ¡¸You two get along really well eh.¡¹ Ruu-san spoke in a teasing tone with a gentle look on his face. ¡¸Yeah, we¡¯re getting along!¡¹ Seeing Shar raised her right hand cheerfully, ¡¸Yeah, Gil!¡¹ Even Bhu readily approved that fact with a silly look on his face as he slapped my back. ¡¸Guh, Bhu, I¡¯ve already told you that we¡¯re not in that kind of relationship right?¡¹ ¡¸If you¡¯re a man, just accept it!¡¹ Bhu laughed heartily as he slapped my back, completely ignoring my opinion. ¡¸Hey Gil, what is ¡°That Kind of Relationship¡±?¡¹ Seeing Shar cocked her head as she asked that question, ¡¸Uhm, it¡¯s not important .¡¹ I replied to her while brushing her hair. ¡¸U~h, Gil, are you trying to deceive me now?¡¹ ¡¸No way. There¡¯s no way I can do that.¡¹ It¡¯s a lie, I told her a lie. Seeing that, Ruu-san heaved a sigh as if he was completely dumbfounded and, ¡¸Gil, maybe¡­ This might be just my assumption but, I think you¡¯re going to face a really important choice in the near future.¡¹ And told me so with an extremely serious look on his face. ¡¸Why are you suddenly saying that out of nowhere?¡¹ ¡¸Just hear me for now. When you meet that kind of situation, it¡¯ll be for the best if you already know the answer. But, in case you¡¯re completely have no idea about what to do, just chose the option that you will never regret.¡¹ Hearing Ruu-san unusually serious yet profound remark, ¡¸What does that mean?¡¹ I ended up asking back in puzzlement, ¡¸You will know when the time is high.¡¹ Ruu-san muttered and started walking again. Volume 5 - CH 48 Act 5-48: Dissonance ¨D¨DKet Nya¡¯s Conference Room. ¡¸You have finally come before us huh¡­¡¹ Hearing Chigi¡¯s gloomy remark, everyone present in the conference room couldn¡¯t help but grit their teeth. As if hunting us down. That giant azure dragon¨D¨D Cetus had been destroying the village in this region slowly as if enjoying despair and fear, and that guy had finally arrived in this village. ¡¸Just when I¡¯m wondering when will he come eh¡­ So what are we going to do? This village going to be destroyed unless we do something about that guy.¡¹ The woman of the tribe with head of bird¨D¨D Garuta tribe asked everyone in this place with vorlorn look on her face. ¡¸This is a good village. I¡¯ll fight till the last drop of my blood!¡¹ Bhu claimed that he would bet on his life to protect this Ket Nya. Bhu was one of the major figures behind the success of my plan to form the alliance. In short, he has an attachment to this village. ¡¸I agree with your statement about this village being a good one. But it¡¯ll be better if we can prevent that guy from destroying this village right?¡¹ The youth with the lizard head, a lizard man, muttered while propping his cheeks. Everyone in this place agreed with his opinion. Thus, everyone started to brainstorm on their own. ¡ºMay I ask a question, Ruu-dono?¡» The one who broke the silence was a giant man with one eye from the cyclops tribe, asked Ruu-san. He, Cyclone, was the surviving member of cyclops who was rescued by Ruu-san who led the rescue team back then. This was his first time participating in this meeting but, he obviously had some displeasure about this situation. And I was vaguely aware of the reason. ¡¸What¡¯s matter?¡¹ Ruu-san who closed his eyes replied so while opening one of his eyes. Everyone present in this conference room gulped as they rarely had the chance to see Ruu-san¡¯s savage figure like this. ¡ºWhy there¡¯s a human in this place? This should be Our, monster¡¯s village right?¡» ¡ºI want to know about that too! The likes of human are nothing more than our food. So why is this guy in this place, attending such important meeting on top of that?¡» Following up Cyclon¡¯s question was the statement from the man with the head of crocodile, Crocodas. Suddenly, Bhu¡¯s right fist hit the table, ¡¸You bastards, how dare you newcomers say something like that?¡¹ When Crocodas received the angry glare of Bhu, his face was obviously twitched. ¡ºY-You better not thinking about getting along with human, you hear me! Human has always been our enemy! That¡¯s the never changing principle since the beginning of this world!¡» And shouted to the top of his lungs. ¡¸Sure enough, that might be true. The reason why those brutal and savage demon race marching to the south must be for the human race.¡¹ The woman of Garuta tribe spoke absenmindedly while looking at me but, ¡¸I don¡¯t mind though. Gil-san understands us to the point that I think it doesn¡¯t really matter even if he is a human.¡¹ The young lizardman voiced different opinion. ¡¸That might be true but, getting along with human is a bit¡­¡¹ The woman of Garuta tribe spoke. Whenever the new tribe joined our alliance, this sense of alienation kept getting in the way. She was right, even the demon race who did as they pleases received the same treatment as human. It was no longer in the realm of suspicion toward human. At this rate, we wouldn¡¯t be able to start the conference. In short, we would be wasting our time on this pointless debate instead of discussing what matter the most. Not to mention that a huge threat called azure dragon coming at us. ¡¸I will leave for a moment.¡¹ After conveying my intention to the promotor of the meeting, Chigi, I left without even waiting for the reply. Volume 5 - CH 49 Act 5-49: A Touch of Anxiety I was currently absentminded, staring at the sky while lying on the lawn of the hill in one corner of Ket Nya. I knew all along that I, the sole human, was a foreign substance in this place. Rather, Chigi and co, Chato, and Bhu¡¯s friendly attitude toward me was a strange one from a normal perspective. That¡¯s why I had expected this kind of treatment. But still¡­ £¨Yeah, I¡¯m definitely a lonely soul.£© They were monsters. For humans, they were the second most incomprehensible creature after the demon race. It was only by chance that I built a relationship of trust with some of them. Or rather, Crocodas was right, Shar and co¡¯s attitude was abnormal one. I understand that but, at this kind of time, when they didn¡¯t rely on me was the darkest time of my life. £¨I guess I¡¯ve to leave this place after this situation calmed down to some extent.£© It was something that had been in my mind for a while. This place was paradise for monsters. And I really hope it will stay like that. Thus, I, the sole human, was an unnecessary foreigner. This paradise would be complete once I disappear. ¡¸And yet, I can¡¯t bring myself to do that¡­¡¹ The moment I muttered those words, ¡¸Yeah, that kind of worry is the privilege of youth.¡¹ Before I knew it, a strong and reassuring voice resounded in my ears. When I turned around, I saw a man with a dog face, Ruu-san standing in front of the door. ¡¸How¡¯s the meeting, Ruu-san?¡¹ ¡¸Well, we decided to subjugate the lizard that will be moving to the southern direction two days later.¡¹ ¡¸I see. Ruu-san and the other should be able to fend off the invaders.¡¹ There won¡¯t be a problem as long as Ruu-san is here. I mean, I really couldn¡¯t see the bottom of this person¡¯s abilities after all. He also had a good head on his shoulder. I always get this feeling that he could single-handedly fend off that giant azure dragon, Cetus even if the latter brought an army with him. ¡¸I wonder about that.¡¹ Ruu-san turned around after he said such a profound remark. ¡¸Ruu-San?¡¹ This was the first time I saw this person putting on that kind of air. So I unintentionally asked him again. ¡¸Gil, if by chance my actions get hindered, you¡¯ll be the one who lead the team after me.¡¹ Ruu-san gave such instructions without as much as looking at me. ¡¸What¡¯s that¨D¨D¡¹ He was already waving his hand and left before I managed to stop him. The situation in which Ruu-san¡¯s action got hindered eh. That equates to us losing our greatest combat force. It was something that I wanted to avoid at all costs. But, Ruu-san never said nonsense until now. Since that was the case, it means that he already considered the possibility of him being held back in place before we reach Cetus. When that happens¨D¨D ¡¸I¡¯ll try to do something if that happens.¡¹ I muttered, trying my best to crush such anxiety. Volume 5 - CH 50 Act 5-50: Turmoil Before Decisive Battle Two days later, our allied force came to the wetland region to train our siege formations for the sake of defeating that azure dragon¨D¨D Cetus. This wetland region provided us with an extremely wide area required for practice. There was a huge swamp in this wetland region. And no one but the lizardman could find the location of that swamp. And once you stepped into that swamp, not even that azure dragon¨D¨D Cetus could escape from it at the moment of notice. We would unleash an all out attack at that moment. It was a simple tactic, but also the only one with a chance to subjugate Cetus without having casualty on our side as long as we fulfilled certain conditions. The 1st step was having Cetus to get into the swamp. The 2nd step was our attack on Cetus. The 3rd step was preventing Cetus from getting out of the swamp. Fulfilling all steps aside, if even one of those conditions failed, we¨D¨D Wouldn¡¯t be able to subjugate the dragon. Nevertheless, we have Ruu-san for the 2nd condition, I have my plan for the 1st and the 3rd conditions. I think we might be able to manage it somehow. When I tried to make an arrangement in the wetland¨D¨D ¡ºWhy do I have to follow this human¡¯s plan!?¡» Crocodas raised an objection while pointing his two pronged spear at me. ¡ºCrocodas-sama, this is not the time for something trivial like this!¡» "" Another man with crocodile head-the subordinate apparently- tried to stop Crocodas, only to faint in agony after Crocodas struck that man¡¯s solar plexus with the butt end of his spear. ¡ºThis great me follows no one!¡» He spat at his passed out subordinate with bloodshot eyes, and then pointed his spear at me again. Oh crap. Those bloodshot eyes. He was serious. This guy really wanted to kill me right before the decisive battle. From the very beginning, I already had a bad feeling about this. The most vital part of our plan was cooperation. In this situation, I wouldn¡¯t be able to participate in this plan even if Ruu-san told me to participate. ¡¸You bastard¨D¨D¡¹ Chato, who stood beside me almost grabbed the hilt of his short sword strapped on his waist but, ¡¸There¡¯s fool like this wherever you go.¡¹ Ruu-san, who stood beside Chato, stopped the latter faster than me, speaking while heaving a sigh. ¡ºHah!? What did ya mean!?¡» Seeing Crocodas who pointed his spear at Ruu-san while glaring angrily at the latter, I realized that Chigi who usually mediates the situation at times like this had this twitched smile on his face. ¡¸Fool¡­¡¹ "" Even Bhu shook his head in disappointment while muttering those words. Maybe he meant that someone who know about Ruu-san¡¯s strength wouldn¡¯t do something as stupid as this Crocodas. Crocodas¡¯ tribe had a long history of conflict with Bhu¡¯s tribe. That¡¯s why though he knew how terrifying Bhu¡¯s strength was, he had no idea about Ruu-san¡¯s strength. Though Ruu-san seems like a gentle and sane person at glance, that only for when he was outside of combat. He was the kind of person who showed no mercy in battle, a perfect killing instrument. In fact, only the people who ever went to battle with him know how he was slowly, and very carefully dismantling the demon race, who tortured and killed parents of cyclops right before their own child, while humming with faint smile on his face, as if enjoying the agony of the demon race from the beginning till the end. That¡¯s why even Cyclon, one of the leaders of the big three of combat races, is tipping his hat for Ruu-san. More like truly scared of him from the bottom of his heart. ¡¸Oh, my bad. I love to call anyone who don¡¯t know their place as fool.¡¹ ¡ºYou think I¡¯m that weak!?¡» ¡¸Yeah, weak indeed. There¡¯s many others stronger than you in this world. Frankly speaking, you fall under the category of truly weak in this world. Trying to push yourself into danger is the proof of your idiocy, are you trying to kill all your comrades too?¡¹ ¡ºThis is¡­ Not my style! I¡¯m the kind that charges from the front. How dare a mutt like you boss me around!¡» Crocodas pointed his spear at Ruu-san while shouting at the latter. Luckily, or unluckily perhaps, he never saw Ruu-san in battle before. Anyone who ever saw Ruu-san in combat would never dare to address him as ¡°Mutt¡±. ¡ºEnough of this, Crocodas!¡» Cyclon tried to stop Crocodas, clearly preventing the latter from going too far but, ¡ºNot even you can stop me, Cyclon-san! Let me to teach this Mutt what persuasion by power really means!¡» When Crocodas was about to charge at Ruu-san with his spear, Ruu-san looked at the horizon while clicking his tongue. £¨They are already here huh¡­£© The moment I saw him muttering those words while drawing the long sword on his back, I followed his line of sight. ¡ºHow dare you¨D¨DWhere are you lo-!?¡» Crocodas shouted angrily as he grabbed Ruu-san¡¯s shoulder but he fell on his rear the moment he saw the being that appeared before Ruu-san. That was only natural. The human-shaped being who stood before me with white mask covering their face released a baleful aura that distorted the air around him. £¨Oh cra*p, this guy is bad news!£© The soil and the water on the ground within the influence of his aura slowly started to float in the air. Dammit, that was a piece of real bad news! They had the majesty of an overwhelming strongman which eclipsed even the slender blue-haired man who raided this village a few months ago. How did I meet such a monster at this kind of timing? If I¡¯m not mistaken, this guy¨D¨D Might be even more dangerous than our current subjugation target, the giant azure dragon, Cetus. ¡¸Listen to me, you guys can¡¯t win against that fella. I¡¯ll be this guy¡¯s opponent. I¡¯ll leave Cetus to you guys.¡¹ Ruu-san walked toward the monster that released such a baleful aura while carrying the long sword on his shoulder. The next moment, a heavy clash of metal resounded. Volume 5 - CH 51 Act 5-51: Commencing The Plan Their collision alone was enough to create a shockwave akin to a typhoon, exposing the ground of the wetland region and creating a huge crater. It is just likes standing right before a disaster, £¨What the hell! I¡¯ve never heard about fighting for real!£© The two then moved away along with the storm created by their clashes that trampled the wetland, and the faint cries of a woman. ¡ºM-Monster¡­¡» Crocodas fell on his rear, barely managing to squeeze those words. ¡¸Do you understand now? You barely avoiding death you know?¡¹ Chato grabbed Crocodas¡¯ trembling right wrist with an equally frightened look on his face. ¡ºD-Don¡¯t tell me, that human too?¡» Crocodas looked at me as he asked. Unlike before, his face dyed in the color of despair. Well, that¡¯s natural I guess. I¡¯ve never seen an existence as unreasonable as Ruu-san. And the monsters in this place might feel the same way as me. Rather, I¡¯ve been wondering just who in the hell was that person(monster)? His origin was a complete mystery. He might be something along the lines of Illusory Demon King of The Monster, or the Phantom King, Or the fifth member of Four Great Demon King. ¡ºGil isn¡¯t as absurd as that person but, he definitely stronger than you. He defeated me after all.¡» The other monsters who just joined our alliance raised a stir the moment Bhu said those words proudly. ¡ºBut, this mean there¡¯s a huge hole left behind by Ruu-dono absence during the subjugation of the azure dragon. Moreover¡­¡» Everyone had a gloomy looks on their faces when they heard Cyclon¡¯s remark. They knew what Cyclone was trying to say. Cetus aside, that black lump class opponent could easily kill all of us if not for Ruu-san. That was an undeniable fact. And yet¨D¨D ¡¸We have no choice but to do it. Otherwise, we¡¯re going to die without being able to fight back.¡¹ We couldn¡¯t expect Ruu-san¡¯s help at this point, that was the fact. But, that didn¡¯t equal Cetus stopped his advance. Unless we defeat that guy right here, he will arrive at Ket Nya a few days later. We were already checkmated. We had no choice but to defeat Cetus right now. ¡ºRuu-dono must have wanted to say that too. But, human, I¡¯m still not trusting you. I¡¯ll kill you the moment you act suspicious. Understand?¡» Cyclon didn¡¯t even hesitate to release his killing intent at me, ¡¸Sure, do as you wish.¡¹ I didn¡¯t hestitate even for a second to give such reply, ¡¸COMMENCING THE OPERATION!¡¹ The operation began with a cue from Chigi. Volume 5 - CH 52 Act 5-52: Behind The Scene of The 2nd Trial When I entered the tent after the post-meal exercise with Asta, Girimekhala, Ifrit, and Titan were kneeling. ¡¸So cruel, why did it suddenly turn into a real battle! I thought I¡¯m about to die for real back then!¡¹ The Chicken Majin-dono who entered a while later raised a protest with a sulking look on her face. ¡¸Uhm? I have no intention to fight for real though?¡¹ It was but a performance after all. So I did my best to go easy on her. Rather, I wouldn¡¯t fight Asta for real. Well, I guess it¡¯s just an exaggeration from her side. That¡¯s why she got that embarrassing Chicken Majin title. ¡¸Are you¡­ Serious?¡¹ Asta asked with a look of bewilderment on her face, her cheeks twitching non-stop. ¡¸Yeah, I kept it down at the level of the boss of current trial.¡¹ Don¡¯t be that scared, the current enemy was one of the four great demon kings, Aldebaran. It would be a good experience for them since a stronger enemy would come later. They had to get used to that kind of pressure. Asta crouched down, seemingly at the end of her wits, ¡¸That stupid prince¡¯s performance will only deteriorated after you showed such thing!¡¹ And screamed like usual. Uhm, I guess I had to hold back from pulling that kind of stunt again since Asta looked furious (more than usual) . ¡ºSupreme Ruler-sama, the preparation for the 2nd trial has been completed.¡» Hearing Girimekhala¡¯s remark, I sat in my chair, seeing that Asta heaved a sigh, shook her head, stood up, snapping her fingers. Suddenly, the scenery of the marshland with the army of the monsters on their post appeared before us. ¡¸Master, I have a question.¡¹ Asta asked, wearing a serious face. ¡¸Why so formal now?¡¹ ¡¸What are you going to do about your participation in that stupid prince¡¯s group after this 2nd trial?¡¹ ¡¸Uhm, I already did everything I can do. There¡¯s nothing I can do there anymore.¡¹ In the end, this was the trial to test the soul of that stupid prince. No matter what kind of shitty enemy that will appear after this, I had no intention to help them anymore. It is just that leaving them on their own device would make them far too weak. That¡¯s why I gave them just the minimum amount of help. I¡¯ve pointed out the general situation, and left some warning for that stupid prince too. Now that boy is on his own. ¡¸Do you really think that they can clear the rest of the trial without your help?¡¹ ¡¸I don¡¯t think it¡¯s possible. Firstly, my requirement for Gil to clear the trials aren¡¯t strength.¡¹ The strength of the four great demon kings was well known in this world. Though I wouldn¡¯t lose to them, the same couldn¡¯t be said for Gil and co. The requirement to clear the final trial needs him to do so by himself. ¡¸What if that monkey failed to recognize that fact?¡¹ ¡¸Then he will die. But, that has been already agreed from the very beginning.¡¹ This wasn¡¯t training. This was my last, ethereal thread of mercy for Gilbert who committed such grave sins. He would survive if he cleared the trial, and die if he fails. This was a game, with him betting on his life. There was no exception since the king and prime minister themselves were the witnesses. ¡¸¡­¡¹ Hearing that, Asta stared straight into my eyes for a while but, ¡¸Master, have you been aware of the deed of that maggot called Aldebaran?¡¹ She asked a question that I had expected. ¡¸Yeah, I heard about it from the monsters that I protected along the way. I also know about what you guys did behind the scene.¡¹ Girimekhala¡¯s body trembled nonstop upon hearing my remark. It was just a casual remark but, it seems it hit the bull¡¯s eyes. ¡¸Honestly I¡¯m surprised¡­¡¹ ¡¸Eh? About what?¡¹ ¡¸I thought that master would blow his top the moment you know what they did.¡¹ ¡¸You have some misunderstanding here, Asta. I¡¯m neither a hero, saint, or hypocrite with a sense of justice. At this point, Aldebaran has yet to become my enemy, and we¡¯re a third party. In addition, we have no justified reason to intervene directly with this situation.¡¹ Strong people resolved the problem with power just like a brave or hero in the legend. That was one of the solutions. But, the people we save would remain weak. I couldn¡¯t expect true growth in mentality from them. Take Gil and the sheep cats for example, they showed more flexible thinking capabilities after they passed the 1st trial. ¡¸A guide, does that mean our roles are showing them the right direction?¡¹ ¡¸Not something as grandiose as that. It is just that our intervention isn¡¯t needed in the current stage. In short, I¡¯m just doing it my way.¡¹ ¡¸Then, what are you going to do about Aldebaran if that idiot prince failed his trial?¡¹ ¡¸Honestly, I¡¯m disgusted by the way Aldebaran is doing things. In case Gil was defeated in this trial, I¡¯ll take the responsibility and dispose Aldebaran myself.¡¹ Even if the other party was four great demon kings, losing wasn¡¯t an option. I would crush him with everything I got. ¡¸Really, selfishness that knows no bound.¡¹ Seeing Asta stated her opinion with rather dumbfounded look on her face, ¡¸Indeed. Since the very beginning, I¡¯ve been a selfish person. And will always stay that way in the future.¡¹ I revealed a whole faced smile as I declared so to Asta. Asta was exaperrated in seeing that and, ¡¸You may do as you like, Master.¡¹ She placed her right hand on her chest and bowed elegantly. ¡¸That¡¯s my plan from the very beginning.¡¹ ¨D¨DThus begins the 2nd trial betting on the pride and life of the monster who organizes it. === Volume 5 - CH 53 Act 5-53: March of Azure Dragon The azure dragon, whose length exceeded 20 mel turned the wetland into scorching hell with his breath as he marched on. Sitting on the throne installed on the back of that azure dragon was a blue-haired youth with a grim look on his face.[ED: I was watching Hobbit: Five Armies when editing this, so I¡¯m really in the mood for dragon fights.] ¡¸Heed my order. DESTROY! BURN! KILL! DESTROY ALL!¡¹ The blue-haired youth ordered the azure dragon with a cheery look on his face, in contrast to the cruel nature of his order. ¡ºGUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!¡» The azure dragon raised its head to the sky and raised a warcry, its voice shaking the hearts of men. and then fired a large scale fire breath that burned the wetland, killing most of the living beings inside. ¡¸Kuhahaha! This is just a small part of my overwhelming power! This is the pinnacle of dragon strength, the strongest race in the world¨D¨D THE DRAGON KING!¡¹ Cetus raised a delighted voice. His power was unrivaled. There was no need to work together with a human who looked like the demon king. Neither he needs to keep working together with Aldebaran. To begin with, Cetus didn¡¯t give a shi*t about the revival of a dubious god revered by the demon race. Cetus¡¯ goal was ultimate strength. Now that he achieved his goal, he felt this was the right time to fulfill his original ambition. Namely, proving himself as the strongest creature in this world. Since Deboa already perished, the number of beings who could rival Cetus was limited. Naturally, the current Cetus had no intention to lose but, that didn¡¯t change the fact that there was only a small number of people who he had hard time to deal with. Those were the world¡¯s three divine beasts. The sealed Deboa was one of them, and in terms of strength alone, they¡¯re far more powerful than the four great demon kings. Currently, Cetus wanted to kill the rest of the divine beasts and make a name for himself. For that, Cetus needed to store more power. And the method for that was by his one and only unique method, namely preying upon humans. After he reigned over the southern part of North Grand, he would head back to the northern part to destroy Aldebaran¡¯s army, taking the control of Aldebaran¡¯s territory, and then would start to invade human territory. Different from the demon race whose meat was tough, human meat was soft and tender. Especially the meat of women and children, Cetus couldn¡¯t stop drooling just by recalling the superb flavor. Anyhow, the best thing about eating humans was the fact that their flesh enhanced Cetus and co¡¯s strength far more than when he ate the demon race. They couldn¡¯t attack the humans until now due to the interference from the church, mysterious people of the empire, or the troublesome hero but, the current him didn¡¯t have to worry about them again. He would reign the human territory, eat all of its citizens, and the already strong Cetus would become even stronger. Those cycles would continue till he became truly unrivaled in this world. ¡¸My mind can¡¯t help but to feel really delighted.¡¹ And as he was lost in his own world, imagining the future of him who became the strongest, ¡¸Eh?¡¹ He saw the remnant of magical power in the wetland area before him. Maybe there was binding magic invoked when I stepped into the marsh, the movement of my leg feels restricted. What a petty trick. ¡¸Foolish.¡¹ Only fools will do something like this. The body of an azure dragon is something that I created from a single thread of my hair. Shackling its feet along won¡¯t be enough to stop me. Most of all¨D¨D ¡¸You can¡¯t restrict my body with such weak magic.¡¹ Pitiful creatures who rely on such transient hope. Well, this is already pretty good for those lowly creatures. I don¡¯t mind even if I have to change my route but, that¡¯s too boring, a king like me doesn¡¯t need to be on guard against those lowly creature tactics. Moreover¨D¨D ¡¸Let¡¯s enjoy this farce.¡¹ ¨D¨DI want to see those monsters¡¯ desperate faces the moment they see me destroy their one and only hope. ¨D¨DI want to hear those monster despaired death throes. ¨D¨DI want to laugh my ass off when those monsters kneel on the ground, begging me to spare their sorry lives. ¡¸That¡¯s why I shall trample them under my foot.¡¹ Cetus smacked his lips as he ordered his other body to trample the monsters underfoot. Volume 5 - CH 54 Act 5-54: The Thought of The Worst Lowlife We invoked the binding spell to make the guy who entered the bottomless marsh notice our presence. Nevertheless, this was a mere bluff with no actual binding power. It¡¯s just for the sake of stopping the dragon¡¯s limb for a while. The real one was a large scale, three dimensional, flame type binding art. This art was something that I found by accident when I was experimenting with my strange mimicry power with Ruu-san¡¯s assistance. To be exact, I closed my eyes and imagined the figure of four most skilled mage in my memories. The first one was the figure of an obstinate old man with navy blue robe. The second one was the black haired, cheeky-looking youth. The third one was a beauty with jet-black, long and glossy hair. The fourth one was a tall youth with long blue hair tied behind. When I tried to mimic them, I got a flash of inspiration and made this extremely vicious, binding type magic tool. And the crux of our tactic was using this magic tool for large scale siege and annihilation tactics. Currently, Chigi, Chato, and I were on standby, waiting for that dragon to step into the determined area before invoking the magic tool. ¡¸Is that guy really going to take the bait?¡¹ Chigi who sat beside me gulped before asking such a question as he looked at the approaching azure dragon. ¡¸If Cetus is really the kind of dragon race that you and the others say, then he might take the bait.¡¹ Cetus was the patriarch of dragons who had already ruled this North Grand for a long time. Due to his over-bloated pride and arrogance as a dragon, he would definitely walk right into the trap even after he knew it was a trap. It came from the confidence that weak creature like us would never come up with something that could bind him. Or maybe, his pride wouldn¡¯t allow him to avoid the trap prepared by the one he regarded as lowly monster. Unknown to him that it was the very same pride that would kill him. ¡ºHe will step into the trap for sure! It¡¯s already knowledge about that Cetus bas*tard among us! Even his fellow dragon is nothing more than disposable pawn for him!¡» Bhu, who sat by my right, spat out. ¡¸But man, he¡¯s so huge, right? Will Gil¡¯s trump card even work on him?¡¹ ¡¸Chato, his size might be intimidating but he¡¯s nothing more than an oversized lizard. It isn¡¯t even our main problem.¡¹ Maybe because I saw the battle between Ruu-san and that black aberration. When I compared that dragon with Ruu-san or that black aberration, it really felt like an oversized lizard for me. Not to mention that this magic tool of mine was something that received a stamp of approval by Ruu-san. There was no way it couldn¡¯t bind a mere oversized lizard. ¡¸Oversized lizard, eh? That guy is Cetus, the ruler of North Grand you know?¡¹ Chato asked, completely dumbfounded, ¡¸I¡¯ve never said that Cetus is weak. His real body is most likely the humanoid on that dragon¡¯s back.¡¹ I explained to him what I really meant. As a matter of fact, I didn¡¯t feel any threat from that oversized lizard. Rather, the humanoid figure leaning on his chair on top of that dragon released regal air befitting the ruler. I¡¯m almost convinced that the humanoid figure was the real Cetus himself. ¡ºHumanoid figure on the back?¡» Bhu squinted his eyes as he asked me. ¡¸You¡¯re right! That bas*tard!¡¹ Chato cursed loudly, Chigi also nodded, ¡¸Indeed. But, even us, the sheep cat can barely see his figure¡­ Gil, you really have one hell of a pair of eyes.¡¹ They had yet to notice that something was amiss because of the distance between us and Cetus. And yet, the current me could actually see his figure so clearly at such a distance. Did I really have such good eyes? ¡ºHe¡¯s coming!¡» My derailed train of thought snapped back to reality along with Cyclon¡¯s scream. That azure dragon heading toward us while reverberating a tremor with every single one of his steps. Indeed. The action of those with uselessly high pride was easy to predict. I mean, it felt like something I was really familiar with. This might have something to do with my dream about the worst of the worst lowlife. Thanks to that lowlife, the seemingly unattainable victory was not impossible anymore as everything went according to our tactic. Now it¡¯s time to send this guy to Hades. £¨The reason for your defeat is your own pride!£© I loaded my magical power into the magic tool as I sneered at Cetus. Volume 5 - CH 55 Act 5-55: Perfect Victory ¡ºGUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!¡» Several dozen mels tall azure dragons raised a roar, trampling over various binding formations which were placed as traps to make him lower his vigilance. The moment that azure dragon arrived before us, he had already entered into the affected area of my trump card. ¡¸START!¡¹ From the very beginning, the other binding formations were dummy to hide the existence of my trump card. At this distance, this guy wouldn¡¯t be able to escape. Numerous red snakes came out from the binding type magic tools placed in the vicinity, coiling around the azure dragon and the villainous looking blue haired youth on its back. ¡¸Chains? How foolish!¡¹ The blue haired youth tore off the red snakes. But, each red snake split into countless others, and slithered to bind his entire body. ¡¸Uhm?¡¹ Finally, the youth started to lose his cool, he used both his hands to tear off the snakes, only to end up with much more snakes than before. It was this magic tool¨D¨D¡¾Flame Snake of Gluttony¡¿¡¯s forte. It restricts movement of the target and increases their number infinitely by consuming the magical power of the target. And then¨D¨D ¡¸Cocky maggots, don¡¯t underestimate me! We are the legendary king of dragons, THE DRAGON KING! The binding art from inferior creature like you won¡¯t be able to stop this Cetus!¡¹ And, red snakes¡¯ size expanded rapidly, as if dying the world in red color. BOOM After a short pause, every single one of them exploded, creating a local storm in the vicinity. After the storm had passed, and cloud of dust had settled, The first thing in my sight was a hemispherical crater covering the entire bottomless marshland. ¡¸A-Awesome¡­¡¹ Chato muttered, ¡ºSuch huge dragon, blown up to dust.¡» Bhu nodded in agreement as he stated his impression. ¡¸But, only the dragon that blew up. Its¡¯ real body is safe and sound.¡¹ It appears that guy is already on death¡¯s door but¡­¡¹ The limbs of that villainous looking blue haired youth had already gone from the base, I could also catch a glimpse of his internal organs, more than half of his face melted. Nevertheless¨D¨D ¡¸No, that¡¯s doesn¡¯t seems to be the case.¡¹ Judging from the loss of the limbs, half melted face and abdomen, and countless blue threads healing his wounds and restoring lost parts of his body at an seemingly blinding pace. Just as I expected from the Dragon King. I had long since predicted this outcome. Now we¡¯re racing against time. ¡¸UNFORGIVABLE! YOU DAMN MAGGOT! YOU DISRESPECT THIS King!! WON¡¯T BE FORGIVEN WITH SIMPLE DEATH! I¨D¨D¡¹ I ignored the nonsense rambling of Cetus glaring at me with bloodshot eyes; and drew image of the black haired youth, the strongest existence I had come to know, with ¡ºImitation¡». Just like before, I felt a lump in my chest. Simultaneously, I felt my bones and muscles creak as they transformed into the strongest. ¡¸¨D¨D¨D¨D¡¹ I kicked off, jumping towards the rambling guy. In the blink of an eye, I closed the distance; the youth, floating in the air, pulled back his right arm charging. ¡¸Eh?¡¹ My dominant fist nailed right into his right cheek as he raised a dumbfounded voice. Cetus¡¯ body was nailed right into the scorching red crater accompanied by a cracking sound. Amidst the cloud of dust created from the impact of his fall, I landed right by his side. ¡¸M-M¨D¨D¡¹ I ignored his rambling, grabbed him by the head, kicked him into the air, and jumped after. In a flash, my body flew straight until it pierced the clouds, arriving right behind him, and delivered a roundhouse kick. ¡¸GABA!¡¹ He fell again, and crash-landed head-first on the ground. Cetus¡¯ body twitching non stop inside the crater made from his fall, I unsheathed the enchanted sword hanging on my waist, (the one received Ruu-san¡¯s stamp of approval) and loaded my mana into it. The overflowing flame from the sword¡¯s blade formed a bird. And I brandished that sword toward Cetus with resolve. ¡ºHIBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡» Cetus raised loud death throes, and after confirming his entire body was annihilated, an extreme sense of fatigue assailed my body amidst the sense of relief. Volume 5 - CH 56 Act 5-56: Show Me Your Struggle Most of Cetus¡¯ body had been annihilated. ¡¸Well, normally, this is an obvious result.¡¹ Asta spewed her sarcastic impression. ¡¸Well, yeah.¡¹ This result was just as expected from Gil¡¯s ability and performance. Asta stared silently at my face for a while but, ¡¸Master, honestly speaking¨D¨D There¡¯s no way they cleared the 2nd trial with that battle just now¡­¡¹ She shrugged her shoulders as she stated the most obvious fact. ¡¸I know your concern. That oversized lizard is actually the trigger to start the 2nd trial. The real 2nd trial comes after this.¡¹ That lizard called Cetus wasn¡¯t qualified to be the boss of the 2nd trial. He was nothing more than the sacrifice to start the 2nd trial. ¡¸So you have realized what we did behind your back.¡¹ ¡¸Of course I am. I also know that Aldebaran is trying to summon the one they referred to as the great god.¡¹ ¡¸Master, are you going to make Gilbert fight that great god?¡¹ ¡¸I¡¯ve told you before, right? What I expect from him isn¡¯t strength. Honestly, I won¡¯t go as far as forcing him to do the impossible. But well, his strength did need to reach a minimum threshold to clear the trial though.¡¹ God didn¡¯t exist in this world. That¡¯s why being hailed as the great god by Aldebaran might be just an exaggeration but still, it was also the fact that they¡¯re referred to by Aldebaran, one of the four great demon kings. The boss of the 2nd trial, the fella who was about to be summoned with those suspicious rituals, was limited to those whose strength was within Gil¡¯s strength. ¡¸Master, don¡¯t you think that so-called ¡°Minimum¡± is akin to trying to scale the heaven for that monkey?¡¹ ¡¸It¡¯s rare to see you showing such care, did you by chance took pity on Gil?¡¹ This was a trial to turn him into someone he really wished for after all. The normally listless Asta had actually fussed over the matter about Gil. Well, not that I¡¯m gonna reconsider this matter even if Asta asked me to spare Gil. ¡¸You jest. I just have this worry about a certain blockhead who is ignorant of the way of the world might be ended up losing all his motivation once he found out about the boring reality of this world.¡¹ ¡¸A blockhead who is ignorant of the ways of the world huh? That person sounds like a pain in the a*ss.¡¹ From the fact that she used a rather unique way to express her feelings, that blockhead she spoke of must be a unique person, like her lover for example. Well, that person might participate in this plan too. To be honest, I was really surprised to see that Asta acting more and more like my friend lately. ¡¸¡­¡¹ Asta looked at me for a while with rather exasperated look on her face and then heaved a really deep sigh. That is also something that Lyla did many times in the past. Yeah, it seems that person was truly a pain in the a*ss. Well, let¡¯s forget about that matter for now. ¡¸Whatever. Back to the topic. I assume that you guys already know about that summoning ritual.¡¹ ¡ºAs expected of Supreme Ruler-sama, nothing missing from your e¨D¨D¡» I raised my right hand, interrupting Girimekhala before he completed his speech, the latter bowed and then stepped back, ¡¸That¡¯s an overstatement. I know that one of your goals is to avoid the victim from the monster¡¯s side. You have my gratitude for that and I won¡¯t blame you for what you did. You guys did a splendid job.¡¹ And expressed my gratitude to them. ¡ºW-We¡¯re unworthy of such praise¡­¡» Seeing Girimekhala stutter, on the verge of crying on top of that, ¡¸Once again, I, Kai Heineman order you. Let¡¯s start the real 2nd trial upon the resurrection of that great god!¡¹ ¡ºAs you wish!¡» Girimekhala¡¯s whole body trembled as he replied with a voice that shook the air, his body then wrapped in the black mist and vanished. Soon, Ifrit turned into a black flame and vanished too, which was followed by Titan who turned into black sand. Asta also bowed lightly and retreated before her body blended with the darkness. ¡¸Well then, the real game has only just begun. Show me your best struggle!¡¹ I said those encouragements as I looked at the figure of Gil within the image projection before me. Volume 5 - CH 57 Act 5-57: Victory Declaration That kind of end was not what the monsters expected. The giant azure dragon, Cetus¨D¨D was the leader of the blue dragon clan who ruled North Grand for a really long time. He was the symbol of fear and strength for the monsters who lived there. Anyone who opposed him would meet a demise. That was the common sense of the monsters. Or so it was supposed to be. And yet, that symbol of strength was crushed so easily. This time, the monsters¡¯ common sense was crushed by none other than one, tiny human. ¡ºOi Chigi, tell me what is THAT!?¡» Cyclon grabbed Chigi by his collar with his right hand and his left index finger pointing at Gil who was lying on the ground, exhausted. ¡¸A human¡­ Maybe.¡¹ Though Chigi himself doubted it, Gil himself claimed that he was a human. ¡ºDon¡¯t screw with me! Our opponent is Cetus! Not to mention that bas*tard becomes even stronger with some sort of shady ritual! And now you¡¯re telling me that guy got squashed like a bug by a mere human!¡» Cyclon had a fair point. Cetus had already evolved into a ¡°King¡± by sacrificing his brethren. That was the information that they managed to get from the enemy that got captured by Ruu. Meaning that Cetus had already become the king of dragons, the Dragon King! Hence, even more powerful. And yet, Gil squashed him like a bug. Thus, Chigi came to realize that both Ruu and Gil were an outlier, irregular existence that couldn¡¯t be measured by the normal standard of this world. ¡¸Cyclon, I understand what you feel right now. But, it is what it is.¡¹ If he was that powerful, maybe no one but Ruu can stop Gil when the latter ran amok. Just imagining the situation with Gil running amok alone was enough to convince Chigi and co, the sheep cat, and the monsters who saw the fight between Gil and Cetus. ¡ºThis outlier human and that monster-like kobold! Seriously, just who in the hell you really are!¡» Crocodas muttered anxiously. ¡¸Well, Ruu-dono aside, I don¡¯t even know that much about Gil. I can only say that without those two, we definitely won¡¯t be able to win this war. ¡¹ This was nothing more than Chigi¡¯s intuition, the enemy they¡¯re going to fight was one of the four great demon kings, Aldebaran, but he felt that it wasn¡¯t as simple as that, it felt like some sort of nightmarish script was hidden well behind that facade. The writer of that script chose the North Grand as the stage for his script with Chigi and co as the actors who played the protagonist role. In addition, he pretty much realized that the most important factor to win this game was none other than Gil. He even started to think that the trigger for the play was the moment Gil stepped into Ket Nya. ¡ºIs THAT not our enemy?¡» Hearing a question asked by Cyclon, ¡¸Yes, if THAT is hostile toward us, we would have long since perished. And Gil won¡¯t be able to move for few days due to the recoil after using that power.¡¹ Chigi replying while gritting his teeth. ¡ºDoes that mean this power is some sort of last trump card?¡» ¡¸Yes. He was also put into this state the first time he used this power months ago. He can¡¯t even walk during these parrots. In short, Gil used that power since he trust us with his back.¡¹ Hearing those words, Cyclon looked at Gil with rather complicated emotions on his face but, ¡ºI¡¯ll at least admit that he¡¯s not hostile for now. But, it doesn¡¯t mean that I trust him!¡» Crocodas voiced his stand. ¡¸That¡¯s fine. From the very beginning, our goal is to build relationship based on trust. And we already know this has to be done step-by-step.¡¹ Cyclon left in silent after Chigi said so while clenching his teeth. ¡ºDo tell me, is that one of the ability of Gil¡¯s¡¾Imitation¡¿ ?¡» Chigi nodded to answer Bhu¡¯s question, ¡¸Maybe. Gil told me before that he tried to become the strongest existence with his ¡¾Imitation¡¿.¡¹ And added more information. ¡ºStrongest existence, is it? I wonder which one is stronger, that guy or Ruu-san?¡» ¡¸Who knows, both of them are simply beyond the scope of my understanding. At the very least, I wish that so called strongest existence isn¡¯t our enemy.¡¹ ¡ºAbsolutely.¡» Chigi looked away from Bhu who laughing merily and turned at Tama and Chato who rushed at the unconcious Gil, and snapping his fingers, ¡¸Well then, time for victory declaration.¡¹ He looked around at the other monsters in the marshland, ¡¸WE WON!¡¹ Chigi shouted as he raised his right fist in the air. After a brief silence, the monsters raised a thunderous cheer. Volume 5 - CH 58 Act 5-58: The End of Azure Dragon ¨D¨DNorth of the Marshland, Under the Marsh of North Grand ¡¸ Those bastards¡­¡¹ The scary youth, Cetus, crawled in the muddy marshland, cursing his opponent who outsmarted him. Both his arms and legs were torn from roots, half of his face melted, his body burnt black. Countless, blue thread appeared on his body, quickly patching those grieve wounds ¡¸Those human-sham! I won¡¯t let them have an easy death! I shall return this humiliation with eternal torment!¡¹ As Cetus swearing like that¨D¨D ¡¸You seems to be in a quite bad shape?¡¹ A beardy, tall and muscular man called out to Cetus cheerfully while looking down at the latter ¡¸Aldebaran! You, You tricked me! Become King my ass! If I really am a king, how can a dragon king like me lose to those lowly monsters!¡¹ Cetus shouted angrily at Aldebaran but the latter just shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. ¡¸You are the king of dragons. There¡¯s no doubt about that. Right, my lord?¡¹ "" He looked at the squirrel on his right shoulder as he asked that question, ¡ºYes. You¡¯re a king. The reason for your loss is simply because your opponent is stronger than you. The other party might be the guardian deity of this area¨D¨D But that matter aside, you are undoubtedly¡­ A King.¡» The squirrel seems to be thinking about something else but he reassures a fact that Cetus has yet to accept. ¡¸MY OPPONENT IS STRONGER THAN ME!? DON¡¯T SCREW WITH ME! Dragon King is the strongest being in this world. As if finding someone stronger than me is that easy!¡¹ ¡ºYeah, that statement is incorrect. You¡¯re nothing more than a slightly stronger king of lizards in this world. And a king of lizard shouldn¡¯t make such a boring jokes.¡» The squirrel spoke with mix of scorful and dumbfounded voice, ¡¸LIZARD! YOU SAID I¡¯M A LIZARD!¡¹ Cetus raised an enraged roar while spitting tiny fire pillars from his mouth, staring at the squirrel with bloodshot eyes. ¡ºThat¡¯s enough. Shut this noisy lizard!¡» The squirrel raised a frown and ordered Aldebaran. ¡¸As you wish. My Lord.¡¹ Aldebaran seized Cetus¡¯ shoulders. And then opened his mouth slowly. ¡¸W-What are you doing? Let go!¡¹ From Cetus¡¯ perspective, who could only look at Aldebaran from the edge of his field of view, Aldebaran¡¯s mouth opened up beyond normal level, his face became bigger, the tips of his mouth torn, he turned into something akin to a giant reptile. ¡¸NOOOOOOOOOO!¡¹ Cetus raised a scream, ¨D¨DCRUNCH! Aldebaran¡¯s oversized mouth had already swallowed Cetus as a whole. Though Cetus raised agonizing wails as Aldebaran chewed him up, the latter suddenly crouched down on the spot pinning his chest, as if in pain. The skin of Aldebaran¡¯s body suddenly undulates like waves, creating something like a crimson coloured cocoon. The squirrel got down to the ground and raising his arms, ¡ºFinally ¡ºTrue Demon King(Truest Archenemy)¡»! The piece¡¯s evolution surpassed my expectations! Now the preparation for the ¡ºDescent of The God¡» has been completed! The last step is to perform the ritual once this sacrifice breaks out from the cocoon!¡» And shouted delightfully. Volume 5 - CH 59 Act 5-59: The Remaining Memories of The Worst Bastard ¡­ Announcement from the subjugation picture book¨D¨D Due to the rise of compatibility between Gilbert Loto Amelia¡¯s soul and his master, Kai Heineman¡¯s, part of the sealed memories shall be released. ¨D¨DMemory Release 10% Before I noticed, I was inside a georgeously decorated room. I sit in my overly adored, to the point of being inelegant, chair. ¡¸So? Has the empire agreed to the contract?¡¹ Upon hearing the question that came out from my own mouth, the man with barrel-like figure placed his right hand on his chest and, ¡¸Yes. The Glitnir empire will arrange a peace treaty with our kingdom after Princess Rose marries the empire¡¯s 3rd prince. The knight that going to accompany her are our protege, everything went in accordance to the plan.¡¹ Reported the progress of the plan with proud face. ¡¸I see! I have high expectation for you, Fracton!¡¹ ¡¸I¡¯ll definitely fulfill His Highness¡¯ expectation!¡¹ The man whose figure resembled that of kappa, Fracton bowed his head with his right hand on his chest. ¡¸Yes, I¡¯ll be waiting for your good news. The fate of our motherland lays on your shoulder!¡¹ ¡¸Y-Yes! I¡¯ll success no matter what!¡¹ Fracton who moved to tears by my request bowed again left. ¡¸You know what¡¯s going to happen if he fails, right?¡¹ ¡¸Don¡¯t worry. Fracton did this for his motherland. That¡¯s the setting.¡¹ ¡¸Then I have no worry left. With this, that annoying woman will leave this kingdom!¡¹ I picked the glass on the table and sipped wine, imagining my victory. ¡¸¡­¡¹ This was the best premium wine presented by a high rank noble. It was so delicious, and rare to the point that your average noble couldn¡¯t even dream to get a sip of it. And yet, this time, the wine tasted like water taken from gutter. The scenery changed. The uselessly gorgeous door opened up, a young and muscular man with military attire stormed in and slammed both his hands on the table before me, ¡¸Your Highness, why are you selling your own older sister to that filthy pig?¡¹ And roared angrily. The officials who happened to be in the same room as me twitched the moment they saw the man¡¯s devil-like enraged face. ¡¸Older sister? That woman is the enemy of us, the royalty and the nobles since she planned to destroy the ordor of this kingdom. It¡¯s only natural to get rid of your enemy, right?¡¹ ¡¸Do you really know what you¡¯re trying to do? If something goes wrong, your own sister will become the plaything of that filthy pig!¡¹ ¡¸Humph! That¡¯s just the right punishmest for a great sinner like her!¡¹ Hearing that, the man was shocked, and then he shut his eyes as he shook his head, ¡¸Okay, I get it. You don¡¯t have a vessel of a king. No, calling you a madman isn¡¯t exagerration either.¡¹ He spat such words while looking at me with eyes filled with scorn and pity. ¡¸How dare¨D¨D¡¹ I flew up from my chair in rage, shouting at him while trying to grap his collar but, the man easily shook my hands, ¡¸I have enough of your idiocy. Feel free to act like king of monkey after this, I have nothing to do with you anymore!¡¹ Turned around and left the room. I felt like a mountain on the verge of exploding seeing the sudden alienation of the subordinate on whom I relied for a long time. ¡¸DAMMIT!¡¹ I kicked the fallen chair while cursing on that man¡¯s name, again and again. Suddenly, the vivid spectacle dimmed out, my line of sight got distorted again. This dream has yet to end huh. The memory of a huge idiot who regard himself as an ideal king. The dream of the lowest, worst bastard who forgot about the reason why he wanted became a kind had reached its¡¯ climax. I was laughing. I know very well the reason why the young man abandoned the idiot prince. Anyhow, king aside, he didn¡¯t even have the qualification to be called a human. Volume 5 - CH 60 Act 5-60: Calm Before Storm When I opened my eyes, my field of vision was so dim. The first thing that I saw was my dearest red-haired girl. ¡¸Gil, thank goodness¡­¡¹ The red-haired girl, Shar, threw herself into my embrace, trembling all over as she buried her face in my chest. As my senses returned, I started to feel dull pain in my whole body. I guess I¡¯m suffering from another muscle pain like before. This always happens whenever I try to mimic that strongest existence. I might have to sleep few more days before this muscle pain recedes ¨D¨D ¨D¨DIs that the dream of my past? No, as if that person was me. I shook my head to stop thinking about that unpleasant dream. The bastard in my dream was a trash who went as far as selling his own blood. Even if I lost my memories, I knew that I wouldn¡¯t do that kind of thing in the past. I might not have been a good person in the past but what that idiot prince did was just too disgusting. But¡­ That dream looks even more vivid than the previous one. Rather than a dream, it might be something that happened in the past¡­ £¨Like hell I¡¯m doing something so stupid!£© ¡¸Hey Gil, is something the matter?¡¹ Shar looked into my eyes with extreme worry. ¡¸Nothing, I¡¯m just thinking about something. I¡¯m fine!¡¹ I hugged Shar as I spoke, showing off my brightest smile while enduring the muscle pain that tortured my body. Yeah. I¡¯m not that bas*tard. I might be the hunter employed by him, I might leave his side too since I also feel disgusted by that basta*rd just like the man from before, and stranded to North Grand after escaping from the pursuit of that ba*stard¡¯s assassin. I kept reminding myself about that while crushing the anxiety in my chest. The creature called human had a tendency to always try to look away from the harsh reality. That is exactly what happened to me right now. I tried to deny the fact that the idiotic, heartless, and irredeemable prince in my over realistic dream was not myself. That spectacle, the feeling on my skin, the smell, it wasn¡¯t something that I saw from another perspective, it was me. The me of this time refused to accept that cruel reality. At this moment, I faintly realized that I would be trapped in this seemingly never ending nightmare with no way to escape. Volume 5 - CH 61 Act 5-61: The Root of Fear in The Material World(Side: Neim) ¨D¨D Central North Grand, Reception Centre of Aldebaran Army, Integrated Laboratory Dozens of cocoons were placed on the pedestal inside the laboratory. Aldebaran¡¯s subordinates standing around those cocoons, looking in awe at them. One of the staff of demon king Ashmedia, Neim, was also looking at the ritual that was about to start. £¨Soon, our gods will descend into this land¡­£© Neim and co were looking anxiously at the ritual for the descent of evil god that was about to begin. For this ritual, Aldebaran went as far as sacrificing his people and the monsters in North Grand. Once this ritual succeeded, that would be the doom for the humanity, and this world would become the paradise for the demon race. If the demon race didn¡¯t extinct first, that¡¯s it. And yet, Neim had no intention to praise Aldebaran¡¯s deed. Rather¡­ ¡ºWell then, it¡¯s about to hatch.¡» That voice came from the squirrel on Neim¡¯s shoulder. At that very moment, all the red cocoons on the pedestal crumbled down. ¡ºGUHAHAHAHA! FINALLY, THE TRUE DEMON KING IS BORN!¡» The whole body of the three meters tall aberration with a lizard face which came out from the cocoon started to undulate, becoming more compact till it formed the figure of muscular man with red hair, Aldebaran. Following after that, the aberration inside the other cocoon had also started to hatch one-by-one, they were the upper echelon of Aldebaran¡¯s staff. Aldebaran¡¯s other subordinate who spectating such spectacle clapping their hands, raising their cheers to welcome their leader who became even more powerful than before. £¨T-Too different!£© Though Aldebaran¡¯s strength rose rapidly until just before he entered the cocoon state, it was still within Neim¡¯s expectation. The same goes for Cetus. Even if her leader, Ashmedia was weaker than Aldebaran from before, Aldebaran still had to pay a steep price if both sides fought to the death. But, the Aldebaran who stood before her right now was a completely different being. He had clearly transcended the race called the demon race. ¡¸With this, I can open the path to god! Right, My Lord!?¡¹ Hearing Aldebaran¡¯s question, the squirrel on Neim¡¯s shoulder raised a chirp, ¡ºOf course. Now you¡¯ve opened the possibility for the ritual. You can¡¯t wait to start the ritual, right?¡» The squirrel replied with an excited voice that they never used before. ¡¸Of course. Everything is in accordance to our god¡¯s will.¡¹ When Aldebaran was kneeling on his knee, his subordinates who were just hatching from the cocoon had also followed the fashion. ¡ºOkay then, start the ¡ºDescent of The God¡».¡» The squirrel jumped from Neim¡¯s shoulder and landed on the floor. The moment they raised their right arm, a huge magic circle appeared. ¡¸HIIIII!?¡¹ Just looking at the ominous dark red magic circle alone was enough to send a chill running down into Neim¡¯s spine. And she ended up retreating as the fear became even stronger. And it wasn¡¯t just her, Aldebaran¡¯s other subordinates did the same. Everyone tried to get away from the magic circle. The magic circle rose in the air, and then formed a sphere that swallowed Aldebaran and co. And then, the squirrel started to dance while singing a song which resembles a bizarre incantation. ¨D¨DThe strongest in this world is evil? ¨D¨DThe noblest existence in this world is evil? ¨D¨DThe purest existence in this world is evil? ¨D¨DIt¡¯s our father, and mother. The absolute standard that gives birth to us!£¡ ¨D¨DTo paint the entire world with the colour of despair!£¡ ¨D¨DTo destroy the world!£¡ ¨D¨DTo make the flower of evil bloom in this world!£¡ ¨D¨DAnd turn it, our home, the paradise of evil! ¨D¨DThat¡¯s our, the evil army¡¯s raison d¡¯etre! Black red sludge-like muddy stream came out from the magic circle and started to envelop Aldebaran. Countless black red thorns came out from the sludge that enveloped Aldebaran, it stuck onto the body of his subordinate who also came out from the cocoon, wrapping them in the same way as him. £¨Is that, the crest of our god?£© She saw it before in the ruined temple. Surely, the form that currently enveloped Aldebaran and co was the crest of the god that Naim and co believed. All her doubt had vanished, it was indeed the ritual for the descent of the great god. But, that was¨D¨D £¨Can we truly put our trust into them?£© Even though it was their god that descended into the mortal world, Neim was trembling non-stop due to fear instead of joy. ¡°They were the god that we revered until now. But, what if we were wrong?¡± That was what Neim thought at this very moment. No, in the first place, both the human and demo race were members of the human race. If that was really the case, doesn¡¯t that mean both the human and demon race was nothing more than plaything for the god? £¨No, that¡¯s too far fetched!£© Neim shook her head to drive out the ominous premonition that came like a never ending wave. And then, the situation turned for the worst. The red sludge transformed into two shapes. One turned into a three faced ogre with red skin, clad in red armor. The other one turned into a young man whose skin was filled with red coloured geometric tattoos. And then, the squirrel transformed into a clown with gaudy attire and a novel make up. ¡¸Hee~, I¡¯m really surprised to see us, the three of pillars came together like this.¡¹ The young man whose body filled with red geometrical tattoos spoke merrily, ¡¸Yeah. Not too shabby, old man Piero!¡¹ The three faced ogre spoke to the clown called Piero while spreading his arms. ¡¸¡­ It¡¯s really strange after all.¡¹ The squirrel, or rather, Piero muttered while touching their chin. ¡¸Strange? What are you talking about?¡¹ The young man with geometrical tattoos all over his body frowned, and asked upon hearing Piero¡¯s muttering. ¡¸Surely, I know that it¡¯s possible to summon everyone with this technique. The problem is, it is supposed to take a few hundred years at minimum. This pace, and the fact that it can summon three at once is¡­¡¹ ¡¸Yet we come to the material world, right?¡¹ Hearing the three faced ogre¡¯s question, ¡¸Yeah. That¡¯s why I want to say it¡¯s supposed to be impossible.¡¹ The man called Piero replied with a solemn look on his face. ¡¸Did you mean that someone in this world allowed the three of us to come at the same time?¡¹ The young man with red geometrical tattoos on his body asked Piero with sneer on his face. ¡¸¡­ No, forget it. I guess I¡¯m just overly worrying about this. As if the lowly bug in this world could reach our realm.¡¹ Piero heaved a sigh and then shrugged his shoulders as he spoke. ¡¸That matter aside, what are you going to do from here?¡¹ ¡¸Naturally, to summon the officer of the evil army with this place as our base. The three of us can come to this material world at once after all. Meaning that we, who come first have geographical advantage. There¡¯s also our descendants and people who live on this land. We can replenish our rank as long as we can make the full use of them as sacrifice.¡¹ Piero¡¯s line of sight then moving toward Neim. ¡¸Hii¡­¡¹ She was trembling due to the extreme fear like newborn calf. Reason being she couldn¡¯t feel majestic air form the three aberration that just appeared. In contrast to when she got a goosebump when she saw Aldebaran who became a true demon king, she felt nothing from them. And yet, she felt like a frog being stared by snake, Neim knees gave up, she couldn¡¯t help but smiling despite her whole body had already drenched with sweats. ¡¸Are you¡­ Great god?¡¹ When one of Aldebaran¡¯s subordinate asked with timid voice, ¡¸Yes. We are great god who lead many other gods. The existence that you people referred.¡¹ Piero replied with an amused face. ¡¸What happen to Aldebaran-sama?¡¹ ¡¸Ah, he is.¡¹ When Piero snapped his fingers, Aldebaran, who was sitting with both of his knees suddenly moving again. ¡¸A-Aldebaran-sama!¡¹ Piero suddenly revealed a wicked smile upon seeing one of Aldebaran¡¯s subordinate spoke in relief, ¡¸Yeah, I¡¯m in a really good mood right now. This is my special reward for you guys.¡¹ Snapping his fingers again as he spoke. That moment, Aldebaran suddenly stood up and grabbed his subordinate who called him out from behind. ¡¸Eh£¿¡¹ The poor subordinate who was at loss for a moment then got eaten up by Aldebaran whose face transformed into that of a reptile. "" ¡¸HIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!¡¹ Aldebaran¡¯s other demon race subordinate who watched the spectacle while holding their breath retreated at once while raising a scream. ¡¸Don¡¯t scream. Anyone who became the offering for the ritual will experience a never ending torture. Being able to die painlessly on the spot is the minimum compassion from me to you guys for your achievement. You people should be happy with that.¡¹ The man called Clown spoke those indescribable remarks again as he snapped his fingers. Aldebaran rushed to the thing that used to be his subordinates, and ate them. In the blink of an eye, every single one of his subordinates in this place was eaten by Aldebaran. ¡¸Well then.¡¹ Neim had finally realized. They¡¯re not the savior that Neim and co had been waiting for. Because those three pillars look at Neim and co as if the latter was mere bug, or even worthless than bug. ¡¸You did a really great job for a mere pawn. That¡¯s why your life is spared.¡¹ The corner of the mouth of the man called Clown curled up as he spoke those overly indulgent remarks for the current Neim. ¡¸Kuhi¡­¡¹ ¡°Maybe he really meant it. Otherwise, I had long since died.¡± Having been cornered that far, that was what Neim thought at this time. But, she couldn¡¯t muster any courage, ¡¸You guys, run¨D¨D¡¹ And ordered her subordinates to escape but, ¡¸Unfortunately. The same reward can¡¯t be given to your idle subordinate, right? That¡¯s why your subordinate going to become the sacrifice.¡¹ ¡¸Eh?¡¹ When she raised her face and looking around as she let out shocked remark, ¡¸¨D¨D¨D!!!?¡¹ She ended up raising a mute scream. Reason being her subordinates had already become something like sludge. ¡¸Well then, now you may leave before I change my mind.¡¹ Neim turned around and escaped from the three aberrations before her ater Clown released the binding on her limbs. That moment, Neim didn¡¯t feel sad or angry toward her murdered subordinates, just a pure, primal fear. And that very fear was the reason why Neim kept running like there was no tomorrow. Volume 5 - CH 62 Act 5-62: That Game Is The Personification of¨D¨D Ignorance Is A Bliss Piero lost interest in Neim, who escaped while stumbling over and over again and then stood on tiptoe. ¡¸You lot, we¡¯re going to continue the ritual in this land to replenish the evil army.¡¹ ¡¸I understand. So? What about the sacrifice?¡¹ The young man whose skin was filled with red geometric tattoos yawned as he was asked so. ¡¸There¡¯s a demon race who live in this land, they should be enough for sacrifice. If there¡¯s not enough, well just use the monster who lives in the southern side of this land.¡¹ ¡¸Monster? Can they even be used as a sacrifice?¡¹ Three-faced Asura asked curiously. ¡¸Well, despite being called a monster in this world, they¡¯re still part of the land god of this land, so it should be possible.¡¹ ¡¸Land god eh? Another small fry.¡¹ ¡¸Naturally, compared to us, everything in this world is small fry. Don¡¯t you think so?¡¹ ¡¸No doubt about it. Well, you¡¯re a bargain even as a joke. The sooner we did, the faster the rest of us can come to material world.¡¹ Hearing Asura spoke to himself, ¡¸That¡¯s enough about summoning our evil army, what are you going to do?¡¹ ¡¸Naturally, let¡¯s go after that demon race called Neim to repenlish our rank with the remaining demon race.¡¹ ¡¸And here I thought you really are going to spare her life as a reward but, that¡¯s your plan huh.¡¹ When the young man with geometric tattoos, Angra, threw such remark while nodding in agreement, ¡¸Why use such roundabout method, just torturing her and forcing her to spit all the information we need is way faster right?¡¹ Asura asked why Piero didn¡¯t do the simplest choice. ¡¸Think about it. For someone who wore such distasteful attire to actually show proper attitude. What do you think is the worst situation for that worm?¡¹ ¡¸Dunno.¡¹ Piero¡¯s lips curled up into an ominous smile. A glance at his ominous visage was enough to convince Angra that his guess was right on the money. ¡¸The more the sacrifices, the better the situation will be. Add some humans too, I¡¯m famished since I come to the material world.¡¹ ¡¸Leave it to me. They¡¯ll arrive in no time.¡¹ When Piero snapping his fingers with both hands, ¡¸Let¡¯s start the game. Everyone do your best to exhibit your ¡°Evil¡±!¡¹ And walking out slowly. ¨D¨DThat¡¯s right. This was a game. But, it was nothing more than a stage for the comeback of the defeated, and foolish prince. No more, no less. In the end, even they, the general of evil who used every single bit of their ¡°Evil¡± to kill that foolish prince would eventually fall into the bottom of hell due to the machination of a being far more wicked than them. Yes. Their defeat was predestined. And they who had yet to know that reality was starting to dance like a real clown on the palm of the worst aberration. Never they expected that the end of their dance was an end that was even more wicked than death. Ignorance is bliss. Thus the cogwheel of the worst game for them had started to move, and triggered by their own hands, on top of that. Volume 5 - CH 63 Act 5-63: The Bud of Rebellious Phase(Side: Ares) ¨D¨DCelestial Palace, Goeting Room of Ares Palace In the office located in the Goeting room of Ares palace, there was a secret investigation about that fly-headed monster from way back. The reason why it was done in secret was simply because Ares¡¯ grandfather, Deus had put a gag order to prevent his grandson from directly getting involved in the matter of current Lemuria. Thus, Ares had literally broken the taboo. Naturally, Ares was well aware of the fact that they were no match for that existence. It was something that forced even the strongest god, Deus to move in person after all. Meaning that the mobilization of the heavenly army was only a matter of time. It was already beyond the authority of Ares, a mere high-rank god. Nevertheless¨D¨D For Ares, the fly-headed aberration was the hated enemy who toyed around with their important subordinates¡¯ life. ¡¸Next is, inside that huh.¡¹ The place was a dome-shaped, transparent membrane that covered the entire land of North Grand, which was located on the north of the East End of Amelia kingdom. It was purely by chance that Ares noticed that membrane. The reason is them investigating the entire land of Lemuria to get more info about the fly-headed aberration. That membrane seems to isolate everything inside from the outside world, while at the same time reflecting the scenery inside. No, this membrane doesn¡¯t seems to be such a simple structure. Because when I tried to use appraisal on that membrane, it actually canceled my appraisal. Meaning that I can¡¯t do anything but watch what transpired inside. The reason why there¡¯s no report from the heavenly army was also because of that membrane. Naturally, I wouldn¡¯t go as far as taking the heavenly army¡¯s job to subjugate that fly-headed monster. But I can¡¯t just sit around doing nothing. That¡¯s why¨D¨D ¡¸Ramiel, I¡¯ll leave this matter to you!¡¹ ¡¸Yes!¡¹ The girl with a pair of pure white wings on her back, kneeling down before Ares, replied with a strong tone. Honestly speaking, Ares wanted to visit Lemuria on their own. But as someone who had already become a high-rank god. They were bound by law even in the material world under their management. Basically, they couldn¡¯t investigate on their own. Moreover, I couldn¡¯t afford to let the heavenly army and Deus-sama to know about my secret investigation. That¡¯s why I have no choice but to let her who specialized in the investigation to do this job. Naturally, I shouldn¡¯t entrust this kind of investigation with the highest level of danger involved in sneaking into the unknown enemy¡¯s territory shouldn¡¯t be entrusted to such inexperienced girl. ¡¸Now listen carefully. This investigation is really dangerous. If you feel something amiss, you have to return immediately.¡¹ Even when Ares reminded her of her priority in this matter, ¡¸Yes! I¡¯ll accomplish my duty at all costs!!¡¹ Ramiel said that she would fulfill Ares¡¯ expectations instead. ¡¸You seem to have misread my intention, let me tell you again, please abandon your duty and return immediately the moment you feel something amiss. This is an order!¡¹ ¡¸Yes!¡¹ Maybe because she was so delighted being relied upon, Ramiel¡¯s figure vanished from Goeting room with a delighted look on her face as soon as she said that. ¡¸I¡¯m such a coward.¡¹ This should be my personal grudge. And yet, I still tasked such dangerous duty to my subordinate even after knowing the risk. Especially when the enemy is something that forced Deus-sama to mobilize the heavenly army. Originally, waiting for news from a safe place while my subordinate risked her life isn¡¯t something that I can do as a god. And yet¨D¨D ¡¸I can¡¯t forgive such cowardice! As if I can do something as cowardice as this!¡¹ This was what they really felt, the true feelings of their own situation. Just remembering that fact almost drove Ares to commit suicide. Such strong desire was budding in Ares¡¯ mind. And the one who planted such seed in Ares¡¯s mind was none other than the fly-headed monster and their master, a mysterious god called ¡ºSupreme Ruler¡». ¡¸This debt will be paid in full!¡¹ Ares clenched theor fist while muttering such words, clearly determined. Volume 5 - CH 64 Act 5-64: Before Seeking Assistance ¨D¨DNew city, Ket Nya. Two months have passed since the battle against Cetus. The news about Cetus¡¯ subjugation had already spread in North Grand, and various monster tribes in North Grand wished to join Ket Nya. Naturally, there was a need to secure their housing, and the sudden expansion of Ket Nya¡¯s population resulted in the construction of another five cities centering around Ket Nya, those cities were connected to Ket Nya with a stone rampart. The one who suggested this planning was Ruu-san. In fact, that person(monster) seems to be really amused by my imitation ability and thought it was fake but¡­ ¡¸I never expected that something like this is possible¡­¡¹ My thought was the same as Chigi as we looked at the monster moving toward Ket Nya using the stone rampart. ¡ºAgreed. Maybe, not even I from a while ago believed such thing is possible.¡» Bhu also agreed with Chigi. ¡¸It¡¯s thanks to Gil!¡¹ The red-haired girl, who was clinging on my right arm, Shar, puffed her chest proudly. ¡¸Yeah. Your antics these days rival that of Ruu-san you know?¡¹ Tama spoke teasingly while looking boringly at me. ¡¸Ruu-san eh¡­ Seriously, just what in the world is that person(Monster).¡¹ No one had seen Ruu-san ever since. Our strongest war potential was absent. This was the most anxious matter for the current us. Ruu-san had been absent for two months. Normally speaking, he should¡¯ve defeated that masked aberration from before but¡­ ¡¸Well, that personage might have his own reason for not appearing before us.¡¹ No one among us, including Chigi, could imagine Ruu-san losing to any kind of foe. Well, I also couldn¡¯t imagine Ruu-san lost in a fight. ¡ºMaster eh. Well, he appeared out of nowhere. We only need to protect this city until his return. But, are we really going to ask for the human¡¯s assistance?¡» Bhu asked about what we¡¯re going to do after, wearing an solemn face that he never showed before. ¡¸We have no other choice, this is the only way to survive this predicament you know?¡¹ ¡ºHmm¡­¡» Even I realized that this was a double-edged plan. Anyhow, the strongest war potential of humankind and the one who could break the current deadlock, the hero, was famous for her hatred toward the monsters and majority of the demon race. Since that fact was not included in my lost memories, there was no doubt about it. Naturally, the central church, who wields the largest force among the humankind was out of question either. In the first place, they were the reason for severe distinction in accordance with one¡¯s own gift. They already ostracized the beastfolk who aren¡¯t not endowed with gift, so asking them to help the monster was out of question either. The Amelia kingdom aside, even asking for assistance from the Glitnir empire and Eastern Great kingdom of Butou which centered around humans was pretty much impossible. The only organization we could rely on in this world was the Hunter guild. Their organization movement is based on profit and loss without any prejudice. Once they judged that there was profit in this trade, namely non-hostile monsters, they might have made an arrangement to protect this city of monsters. Naturally, this was a huge gamble. But either way, all monsters in North Grand would be massacred if we just sat and watched. And after seeing the trend in the last two months, I was almost convinced of that outcome. ¡¸I have never expected that they¡¯re going as far as sacrificing their kin too¡­¡¹ Chigi muttered with a forlorn look on his face. Few things have happened in the last two months. A group of demon race¡¯s deserters coming to this country was one of them. Naturally, we throw them into the prison in fear of them being spies. The words that came out from those deserters from the demon race could only be described as hell on earth. ¡¸Yeah, never expected that 80% of stationed demon race became sacrifice for that wicked ritual. They even target their own kin. I don¡¯t want to imagine what is going to happen if they catch us.¡¹ I knew what was going to happen to the monster and human race who became victims. This was a war after all, we couldn¡¯t expect decent treatment from our foes. As a wise man once said, everything is fair in love and war. But, they went as far as to sacrifice their own kin, the same demon race to a mysterious ritual without even batting their eyes. I¡¯ve heard about Aldebaran¡¯s atrocities before but, this was completely different from the previous case, it was downright disgusting. Aldebaran had crossed the bottom line as a king, or should I say, as the demon race itself. ¡¸Gil¡­¡¹ I caressed Shar¡¯s hair as she clung onto my arm, looking up with worried face and then, ¡¸It¡¯ll be alright. That¡¯s why we need the assistance of the humankind.¡¹ I spoke with a firm voice, as if to convince myself. If they were to be left on their own devices, those guys would become the threat for the entire world. That was the only way for me to persuade the Hunter Guild. As long as I could convey the current complicated situation of the demon race, I might be able to convey them. ¡ºThough I feel bad for disturbing your lovey-dovey moment but, we have to go.¡» Bhu¡¯s face broke into a grin as he pointed at the gate of Ket Nya with his index finger. For some reason, Tama puffed her cheeks, and Chigi shrugged his shoulders with a dumbfounded look on his face. Thus we stepped into the gate of Ket Nya with such an awkward situation. Volume 5 - CH 65 Act 5-65: The Movement of Evil Army In the huge castle located in the northern part of North Grand. Blood red carpet adorned on the floor of a huge semi-circular room, within the room was an ornamental chair modeled after six ugly monsters. Three-faced Asura, one of the duo inside the room was sitting in the said chair, leaning on its backrest, the other one was the young man with red geometric tattoos all over his skin, Angra, who sat on the floor, eating something like a pastry. And then, there were three other aberrations in front of the two, saluting to the latter. The first one was the bipedal evil god with the head of fish, Forneus. The second one was an evil god who clad in military uniform and had countless snakes growing from her head, Medusa. The third one was an evil god with a leopard head who was clad in the same military uniform, Ose. The three of them were famous admirals known for their combat prowess even among the elites of the evil army, many gods were too scared to fight them. Moreover, another dozen or so officers were kneeling behind the three. Every single one of them was cream de la creme, the strongest veteran soldiers of the evil army. ¡¸What a spectacle. Ain¡¯t there quite a few of them.¡¹ ¡¸Agreed. This much alone can rival Indra and Thor from the heavenly army, and since none of them are here, we¡¯re invincible.¡¹ Angra throws an appropriate reply while munching on the pastry. ¡¸So? What about that guy¡¯s subordinate from the demon race?¡¹ When Asura asked that question while looking at Aldebaran who kneeling far away from the rest of the soldiers, ¡ºReporting! Almost all the demon race in this land has already been used as a sacrifice.¡» Vice-admiral Ose replied immediately. ¡¸Meaning that we have more than enough force, we don¡¯t need to supplement our troops with the monster in the south.¡¹ Angra yawned while muttering lazily. ¡¸Of course. Yet that shitty Piero went off somewhere after saying that he has to pick something.¡¹ Hearing Asura¡¯s remark, the bipedal, fish-headed evil god clad in a tailcoat, Forneus stepped forward, ¡ºThen, please allow this Forneus to prepare the supplies need by your excellency.¡» He bowed respectfully as he spoke. Asura stared at Forneus for a while but then, "" ¡¸Sure, go ahead.¡¹ ¡ºIn regard to that, I ask permission to use the remodeled demon race and Aldebaran over there.¡» When Forneus summoned a stick and asked for permission, Aldebaran and his upper-echelon staff, who were waiting beside the door of the room, prostrated to him. ¡¸Aah, you¡¯re the one who remodeled them eh? Sure, do as you like.¡¹ Asura gave his permission with a wave of his left hand, while his right hand was holding on to a cup made from bones, filled with red-coloured liquor. ¡ºThank you for granting this honor.¡» After giving such an exaggerated expression of gratitude, Forneus left the room with an ugly and sadistic smile on his fish face. Aldebaran and co were following after him from behind. ¡¸To be able to let the three vice-admiral to reincarnate with the demon race, if that shitty Piero really finds a bargain in this world, the other three pillars might be able to come to the material world too.¡¹ Hearing Asura speaking while clicking his tongue, ¡¸In your case, you might only want to toy with the said bargain if you find them, isn¡¯t it?¡¹ ¡¸Ain¡¯t gonna do that. The liquor just tastes much more delicious while looking at the suffering of those lowlives.¡¹ ¡¸Good grief, if only you don¡¯t have such an annoying hobby.¡¹ Seeing Angra shook his head, spoke in disbelief, ¡¸Hah! You¡¯re the last person I want to hear that from.¡¹ In response to Asura¡¯s sarcasm, Angra just shrugged his shoulders and vanished from that room. ¡¸Okay, it¡¯s party time.¡¹ Asura revealed a vicious look on his face as he drank the liquor in his cup. Volume 5 - CH 66 Act 5-66: A Mistake in The Final Choice Inside a four-storied building located in the center of Ket Nya. The leaders of various tribes had gathered in a hall wearing grim looks. The man from the Cyclops tribe, the one-eyed giant, Cyclon hit the table with his fist, ¡ºWE CAN¡¯T DO THAT!¡» He shouted his own claim. ¡¸No matter what you say, it¡¯s a fact that we left are with no other choice, Gil-san¡¯s current proposal is correct in this case.¡¹ The young lizardman who said those words shut his mouth in a hurry when Cyclon glared at him. ¡¸I give my vote to Cyclon. We can trust Gil, but we can¡¯t trust the wretched human! Sorry but, please spare us from saving the human who will, in turn, backstab us later!¡¹ The woman from the Garuta tribe gave her ballot to Cyclon. ¡¸Count me in! We, high ogres, have a debt of gratitude towards Gil for saving us, but that doesn¡¯t extend to the other human! Sorry but, we can¡¯t trust humanity yet! Not to mention that I still can¡¯t forgive the human who trampled the soul of my big brother with underhanded tactics!¡¹ The youth with horns growing from his head added so with a hatred-filled face. His name was Org, the patriarch of high ogre, one of the combat tribes. After the subjugation of the giant azure dragon¨D¨D Cetus, we launched a campaign and recaptured the entire southern side, saving their tribe in turn. Well, despite what I said, our enemy¡¯s troops had already withdrawn from the southern part once we came, thus resulting in us recapturing the entire southern side without any battle. ¡¸I understand your concern but, we really have no other choice. Not all humans are hostile toward us, take the hunter who saved us a long time ago or Gil for example.¡¹ Chigi tried to explain the situation; however, ¡ºAnd my younger brother is hunted down by none other than the one you called a hunter! Humans are our enemies! That¡¯s an undeniable truth! You guys agreed with us, right!¡» One of the monsters sitting among us looked around, trying to find approval. ¡ºYeah! Like hell we¡¯re going to trust humans!¡» ¡ºWe will protect our city of monsters with our own hands!¡» The voice of rejection and hatred toward humans came out one after another. After spending the last two months, resolving one problem after another with them, I thought we reached an understanding. That was what I wanted to say but, it was also the fact that fewer and fewer people keep their distance from me, it was a bond between them and me But then, it was limited only to me, a person called Gil, not a human called Gil. The trench between the human and the monster was too deep and too wide. Keep insisting on forming an alliance with the human race would only have adverse effects. They might even have begun to doubt me. Having internal conflicts like so when we have no idea when the attackers may as well be on the move is a recipe for disaster for self. ¨D¨DIf I tried to insist, I was really afraid that I might lose their hard-won trust. That¡¯s why I thought that I just had to go with the flow in accordance with their intentions. But, me from that time had yet to understand that my escapism would lead to an even greater tragedy. Volume 5 - CH 67 Act 5-67: The Last of Ordinary Daily Life Three days after the meeting. The result of the meeting in accordance with the majority of votes was to not ask for assistance from the hunter guild. The decision had been made. Either way, assistance from the hunter guild was the absolute requirement to ensure the safety of the monsters. And since the ones who needed that the most, the monsters, rejected such an idea, I had no choice but to accept that fact. For the same reason, no optimum solution comes to my mind to ensure the monsters¡¯ safety and our victory. Our opponent was Aldebaran, the most notorious among the four great demon kings. We¡¯re doomed if we only wait for him to make his move without thinking of any countermeasures. I have to come up with an emergency plan as soon as possible. I leaned my chin on the window frame in my room, as I looked at the passing monsters on the street. ¡¸GIL! TODAY IS THE FESTIVAL!!¡¹ Shar came and broke into my room and called out with her bright voice, leaping onto me, and catching my head in her embrace. This reminds me, today was the ceremony of the completion of the new city. Previously, Ruu-san had told me that a celebration was needed to raise the sense of solidarity and celebrate the freedom of the captives. And today was such a day. ¡¸Thanks for the reminder, Shar, shall we go together?¡¹ As the one who received the responsibility of opening the ceremony, I couldn¡¯t set a bad example by coming late. ¡¸Yeah!¡¹ Shar nodded happily as she clung onto my arm, her special position, as usual. Upon leaving the house, I saw that various monster tribes had been heading toward the plaza. Just a while ago, they often quarreled with me, a human, or Shar, but it rarely happens nowadays. Anyhow, some of them bear extremely close resemblance to humans. At first, my appearance was really conspicuous in the middle of the city but that isn¡¯t the case nowadays. As of now, I have pretty much adapted and blended with the city. But well, that wasn¡¯t the only reason¨D¨D ¡¸GIL, SHAR, COME AND EAT THIS!! ON ME!¡¹ We received two grilled meat skewers from the butcher aunty of the orc tribe. ¡¸THANKS!¡¹ I thanked the aunty and handed the other skewer to Shar. The aunty was Bhu¡¯s relative. ¡¸It¡¯s delicious.¡¹ Shar¡¯s face loosened as she munched on the meat skewer. {ED: She is kinda cute, ngl} ¡¸GIL-SAN!¡¹ A green-skinned boy waved his hands on me with a wide-faced smile. He was a green-skinned pixie, just like a few other boys beside him. ¡¸Gobuza, are you walking around the festival?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah!¡¹ ¡¸Are you enjoying it?¡¹ ¡¸It¡¯s the best!¡¹ That was the best compliment for me, the promoter of the festival. ¡¸Glad to hear that. Make sure you come to the plaza.¡¹ We were heading toward the central plaza while receiving various gratitude from the monsters. The place we were heading for was a huge plaza in front of Ket Nya. A few monsters had already been waiting for me in front of the plaza. ¡¸You¡¯re late, Gil!¡¹ ¡¸Look, the promoter is late!¡¹ Chato and Tama called out in a loud voice. ¡ºOi Gil, we have already arrived!¡» On the table in front of the innermost building, Bhu called out to me while raising the wooden cup in his hand. Sitting at the same table was one-eyed giant, Cyclon, and crocodile faced Crocodas, also with one of their hands on the cup. I also received a reminder from the three monsters who were already drunk. At first, Cyclon and Crocodas were willing to work with me while keeping their distance, but lately, we have been talking with each other quite often. ¡¸Good grief, we ended up starting first since the promotor of the ceremony is late¡­¡¹ Chigi shrugged his shoulder as Org of high-ogre chiding me and, ¡¸Don¡¯t be like that. He¡¯s been racking his brain lately to come up with the best counter-plan. You need to take a break.¡¹ ¡¸Maybe but¡­ Hey, Gil, what are you thinking about? Won¡¯t you share thath with me?¡¹ Hearing Org asked with sober voice, ¡¸I¡¯m about to tell you about that.¡¹ ¡¸Yeah right. Well enough of that, let¡¯s start the ceremony immediately!¡¹ Chigi nodded, hearing Chato remark, and then rose to the altar. We clapped our hands to get everyone¡¯s attention and started the ceremony. Volume 5 - CH 68 Act 5-68: March of Demon King Army Grassland, 10 km the North of Ket Nya. Forneus, the fish-headed vice-admiral of the evil army; Aldebaran, who kneeled before him, and two other remodeled demon race. ¡ºIt¡¯s about to begi~n. As my masterpiece, I won¡¯t forgive you if you can¡¯t even defeat the likes of land go~~~~~~~~~d!¡» He screamed in a singing manner and hit Aldebaran¡¯s shoulder with his staff. ¡¸We will meet Our God¡¯s expectations!¡¹ Aldebaran replied loudly without bothering to raise his head. As if he was in trance. ¡ºAfter this, you will attack the place that made a pact with the land go~d! Oka~y, now clap your hands!¡» Aldebaran and his subordinates started clapping their hands. Forneus then started to walking around slowly while heaving his body up and down, ¡ºWha~~t is the mo~~st important thi~~ng, in this ga~~~me?¡» When Forneus asked that question with his hands on his ears, ¡¸TO SPREAD ABSOLUTE DESPAIR!¡¹ ¡¸¡¸¡¸¡¸¡¸ ABSOLUTE DESPAIR WITHOUT A SHRED OF COMPASSION!¡¹¡¹¡¹¡¹¡¹ His subordinates then followed with a loud chorus. ¡ºYES, EXACTLY~~~~~~~~~~~~! Urokonu, Fuguo, it¡¯s your tu~~rn!¡» Suddenly, a pair of fish-headed men and women clad in military uniform appeared and gave a salute. ¡ºYour duty is to supervise the super easy mission of those demon ra~ce. This is an impo~rtant duty. Be prepared since you¡¯re going to be punished, and dealt with if this mission is failed.¡» ¡º¡ºYOUR WISH IS MY COMMAND!¡»¡» After giving a salute, the two figures vanished yet again. ¡ºWe~ll then, now unleash your dee~pest evil, your pleasure, your enjoyment!!¡» Forneus suddenly raised the staff in his hand, and started singing a rap with a husky voice. The next moment, Aldebaran and his subordinates stood up in clockwise fashion, and then started to sing a rap and dance a strange dance along with Forneus. And then¨D¨D Aldebaran and his subordinates ran while singing a song. Thus started the march of the demon king army who had lost their mind. Volume 5 - CH 69 Act 5-69: Entering The Most Insane and Dangerous Game ¡¸That must be the so-called city of monsters.¡¹ The high-ranking angel with a pair of pure white wings on her back, Ramiel, was looking at the city of monsters before her with a rather complicated look on her face. She descended into this world to investigate this region under the order of the chief god Ares. Truthfully speaking, the so-called monster was the kin of a low rank god beast god, evil god, or wicked god. In short, since they literally had a hostile relationship with Ramiel¡¯s group, Ramiel¡¯s current act was no different from invasion to the enemy territory. ¡¸I don¡¯t want to do this but, I¡¯ve no choice, this is personal request from Ares-sama after all.¡¹ She expected to see a low level quarrel between the monsters and the demon race. From the perspective of high-ranking angels like Ramiel, it was a trivial quarrel of the weaklings. Even the spirit and dragon race were nothing more than an ant on the roadside for her, ready to be trampled down as she hummed happily. I¡¯ve never seen Ares-sama that anxious since the last raid of gods. That¡¯s why I had to be very careful. Knowing that the heavenly army was moving to subjugate that malicious god of fly, I had to get rid of that guy as soon as possible. Ramiel¡¯s duty was to get rid of the worthless anxiety of her master in the lower world. She knew that her master wouldn¡¯t feel relieved unless she showed him that the god of fly was nothing but small fry. ¡¸I shall bring back a good news for our beloved god.¡¹ She clenched her hands and shouted loudly before she went into the city of monsters. The current Ramiel still believes that this lower world was filled with nothing but small fry. She had not even a shred of doubt in that regard. Seeing that the creatures of the lower world could never win against god, that assumption was correct, under normal situation, that¡¯s it. But, never realized that this world, Lemuria, had already undergone an earthshaking transformation due to the machination of a certain aberration. Never did she realize that the three vice-admirals, two admirals, and many other officers from the evil army had already come to this land before her. Their current force alone was enough to crush the main force of the heavenly army. And worst of all, was the fact that the promoter of the game was none other than the most vicious, malicious, and wicked aberration. And that very same aberration knows not of compromise or mercy in this game. This was the real, and the worst death game. The level of the participants in this game would make her look like an insignificant ant on the roadside. How ironical Ramiel entered the gates of hell without a shred of worry. This marked the moment she entered the most vicious, and devilish game. Volume 5 - CH 70 Act 5-70: The Beginning of Nightmare After Chigi, the representative gave his greetings, and the festival began with each representative announcing the start together. Since management duties had been taken care of, currently the three of us, me, Shar, and Chato were participating in the opening program in the plaza. Tama, the female sheep cat wore strange attire while hopping on a ball, at the same time, a young female high ogre showed her sword skills. ¡¸Both Tama and the high ogre are equally skilled.¡¹ That kind of dexterous performance was too much for a human like me. No, I did recall in my vague memories that a certain human could accomplish the same performance. ¡¸According to Org, the only one who can accomplish such a performance is a female ogre, the body of male ogre isn¡¯t flexible enough for that. Well, that should be the same as us.¡¹ Said Chato as his line of sight was locking on Tama who was performing a dance. ¡¸Hee, does that mean the woman of your tribe are also more skillful than the men?¡¹ ¡¸Well, at least such acrobatic feat is impossible for me.¡¹ Here I thought that Chato could perform such a feat too with his nimble body but, I guess it was an overstatement. ¡¸And yet, why I couldn¡¯t do that at all?¡¹ Shar asked with a dumbfounded face but, ¡¸Well, it¡¯s simply because you¡¯re too stupid.¡¹ Chato replied in a teasing manner. ¡¸Buu~, objection!¡¹ When I caressed the head of the pouting Shar, ¡¸There¡¯s a martial arts tournament on the side, right?¡¹ I decided to change the topic of our conversation. I mean, though the pouting Shar was so adorable, she wouldn¡¯t speak at all in that state. All her redeeming features were overshadowed by that pouting. ¡¸Oh right. The one who fights right now should be the master of Cyclone and Org. Shall we go to watch their match?¡¹ ¡¸Yeah.¡¹ We headed toward the nearby huge building while raising our right arm toward Tama. Amidst the chorus of yells that shook the air and ground beneath my feet, an ogre and a one-eyed giant fought fiercely on top of a round stone arena in the center of the building. ¡¸Oooh, they¡¯re already starting.¡¹ Looking at those two, it seems they were almost equal in terms of abilities. And seeing the feverish atmosphere in the stadium, it was a completely heated match for sure. We sat on the spectator seat and started to see the unfolding match. ¡¸Just as expected I guess¨D¨D It really is low-level fight.¡¹ The moment I heard those out-of-place remarks for this situation, I turned my head toward the direction of that voice, I saw the figure of a red-haired woman with pair of wings on her back, and standing by her side was a black-haired freckled youth, his forelocks were long enough to cover his eyes. ¨D¨DTHROB! My head was assailed by a sharp pain akin to a pile driven into it. At the same time, I felt that the scenery around me was distorted, I saw the figure of eight years old freckles youth chasing after my back and then, ¨D¨DI have no need for incompetent knights. Kill him! The figure of me as that lowlife in my dream was linked with the scene that I saw a while ago. ¡¸¨D¨DTle¡¹ ¡¸GUH¡­¡¹ I pressed my head, desperately enduring the head-splitting headache, "" ¡¸Gil?¡¹ Shar who sat beside me was looking at me with a worried look on her face. That moment, my headache vanished as if it never existed, and my field of vision cleared up again. Those winged pairs should be members of the Garuta tribe. Just like sheep cats, some of the members of the Garuta tribe had the head of a human instead of a bird. Well, I guess it was just a mere coincidence that they had the same face. And yet, I felt a strong sense of deja vu the moment I saw the face of the freckled youth. Rather, he seems to be a dear person to me. Though it felt like a deja vu, let¡¯s try to call him to clear up the situation. ¡¸I¡¯m okay.¡¹ I caressed Shar¡¯s hair to calm her down and just when I stand up to call the pair, ¡¸Excu¨D¨D¡¹ And just when I was about to call the pair of boy and girl from Garuta tribe¨D¨D ¨D¨DKANKANKAN! The loud sound of chime reverbrated in the air. Many people stood up at once, looking in the direction of the northern gate. When I matched their gaze and looked to the sound, from the communication magic tool installed on the ceiling, ¡ºALERT! ALERT! IT¡¯S THE RAID OF THE DEMON KING ARMY!! THEY¡¯RE COMING!¡» The impatient scream from the youth of Garuta tribe who happen to be on look-out duty resounded in the building. That announcement caused a huge uproar in the entire building. ¡¸GIL!¡¹ Chato called me wth impatient look that I had never seen before. ¡¸Cyclon and Org, go and gather the other chiefs to gather in the war room ASAP!¡¹ ¡ºRight away!¡» ¡º¡­¡­¡» The duo nodded and ran amidst the chaotic situation. ¡¸Chato and Shar, please guide the citizen of this city to the shelter!¡¹ ¡¸Roger!¡¹ ¡¸Okay! Do your best too!¡¹ After the two of them nodded, ¡¸EVERYONE, ATTENTION PLEASE! FOLLOW ME, WE WILL HEAD TO THE SHELTER!¡¹ Chato shouted loudly. ¡¸WE WILL GUIDE YOU TO SHELTER!¡¹ Shar swinging her hands above her head to gain the attention of the people in the building. The rest is up to them. Now I had to go do my own duty. First, start by trying to understand the situation. With my running speed, it wouldn¡¯t take few minutes to arrive at the north gate if I ran from this place. I should use this moment to understand the situation. Thus, I ran at full speed toward the north gate. Volume 5 - CH 71 Act 5-71: To The Battlefield After leaving the arena, I ran toward the northern gate, exclaiming all the while, reminding everyone to head to the shelter. I had finally arrived at the north gate. ¡¸Where¡¯s the enemy?¡¹ I asked the member of the Garuta tribe who happen to be on the lookout but, ¡¸About that, I see the demon king army led by Aldebaran marching toward us while doing a strange dance from the direction of the marshland a while ago but, for some reason, I lost sight of them.¡¹ He replied with a puzzled face, as if unsure of what he saw a while ago. ¡¸What do you mean by Aldebaran marching with strange dance? The army vanished? Ain¡¯t those armies just in your dream?¡¹ Bhu who arrived at the north gate after me furrowed his eyebrows as he asked that question. ¡¸I¡¯M NOT LYING! I REALLY SAW THOUSANDS OF STRONG ARMY OF DEMON RACES MARCHING AT HIGH SPEED IN THE MARSHLAND WHILE DOING A WEIRD DANCE! PLEASE TRUST ME!¡¹ The youth from the Garuta tribe on lookout raised his voice in protest. ¡¸Even if you insist, it¡¯s the fact that we didn¡¯t see them right now.¡¹ Yeah, Bhu was right, I really couldn¡¯t see even the shadow demon king army from atop the rampart. I mean, it was literally impossible to make thousand people vanish at once. Looking at the other monsters who are on the lookout duty along with him, it seems the youth really didn¡¯t tell a lie. That was the reason why the short-tempered Bhu didn¡¯t really get angry at the youth was because he realized that the youth wasn¡¯t daydreaming. ¡¸Naturally, we have no reason to lie to you guys. This might be part of the enemy¡¯s strategy.¡¹ ¡¸Is that a mere illusion? Maybe they become desperate after we defeated Cetus.¡¹ ¡¸Uhm¡­ I think so¡­¡¹ Illusion. No matter how I think about it, it doesn¡¯t seem to be an illusion. I mean, Aldebaran was the demon king. Will he really stoop as low as using illusion for diversion? No matter how much I think about it, this tactic didn¡¯t correlate with the image of Aldebaran in my head. ¡¸Let¡¯s return to the conference room for now.¡¹ If this was a diversion, we need to prepare a countermeasure. ¡¸Ye¨D¨D¡¹ Bhu¡¯s reply was interrupted by a pillar of fire that rose to the heavens along with an extremely loud explosion from the center of the city. after pillar of fire followed another one as if they rose in rhythm. "" ¡¸GIL!¡¹ ¡¸Yeah, those guys have already raided our city!¡¹ No doubt about it, Aldebaran had already raided this city. ¡¸What shall we do then?¡¹ ¡¸We will fight back those intruders. Bhu, go help the citizens get to the shelter!¡¹ ¡¸What about you, Gil?¡¹ ¡¸I¡¯ll go to defeat their leader, Aldebaran.¡¹ That should be enough to destroy their morale. Naturally, I¡¯m neither a hero nor brave. The subjugation of the demon king is the job of a hero or brave, that¡¯s why I¡¯m aware that the chance of my victory was slim. But, I had no choice but to do this. Bhu stared silently at me for a while but, ¡¸I understand. Don¡¯t die on me. You lot, help me to guide the citizens. GOGOGOGO!¡¹ After he said so, Bhu led the guys on lookout duty to help the citizens evacuate. Well then, now it¡¯s my turn to head to the battle. I¡¯ve come to love the monsters and this city too much to let those bastards do as they please. I shut my eyes and drew the image of an arrogant blue-haired swordsman, my ideal swordsman and the teacher of swordcraft. I kicked the ground and headed toward the battlefield as soon as I felt the familiar sensation of overflowing strength from me. Volume 5 - CH 72 Act 5-72: The Last Trump Card The city turned into hell on earth. The city that was built by us turned into a scorching hell, and the corpses of monsters were littering the street. Many of them were my acquaintances. ¡¸DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT ALL!!¡¹ I was naive. Or rather, I was too naive. Among the four great demon king, Aldebaran was infamous for his cruelty. I should never underestimate his cruelty. I of all people¡­ Should¡¯ve expected this result. I saw the figure of three demons singing an eerie song at rapid pace while dancing a strange dance far ahead of me. ¡ºUnbearable hunger? It¡¯s the reflection of our mind? Even this pig is sumptuous dish? It wet my appetite even in half-roasted state ?¡¹ One of them held something that looked right-hand as his body wriggled in a euphoric manner. ¡ºYou are overeating? You¡¯ll get indigestion later?¡» The second person by the side chewed on what looked like the remains of a hand while doing the same strange dance. ¡ºWorry not? For we have iron stomach ? That will be our noisy demon king army meal?¡» My line of sight froze immediately as my gaze landed on the red-haired man with all-back hairdo in the middle biting off something with both hands. And then, my field of vision turned red due to anger, when I realized that the thing the man chewed at was the head of auntie butcher from the orc tribe. ¡¸YOU MOTHER FU*CKER!¡¹ In unsheathed my enchanted flame sword and closed in immediately toward the red-haired man in the middle, thrusting the tip of my sword toward his eyebrows. ¡ºToo ba~d? It¡¯s futi~le!¡» My enchanted sword was grabbed by his bare hand. ¡¸Oh cra¨D¨D¡¹ A chill ran into my spine, I released my sword immediately, trying to step back and yet, a hand moved faster and grabbed my head. ¡ºFood is comi~ng? Let¡¯s dig i~n?¡» The mouth of the red-haired man split like that of a fish. £¨Dammit, this isn¡¯t enough!£© Even with the image of my sword teacher, I couldn¡¯t hope to match this guy. It seems I had no choice but to mimic the strongest existence to win against him. But, the backlash from using that would render me immobile for a few days. What if I still couldn¡¯t defeat this guy even after using that? ¡¸GUH!¡¹ Having no other way but to see the approaching fish head, I draw the image of mediocre black-haired youth, the strongest in my mind with ¡ºImitation¡». This will be the third time I use this form. I was really surprised as soon as I transformed into the strongest existence. I kicked the head of the guy on the right. That simple kick blew the entire upper-half of that guy¡¯s body, turning him into mince meat along with his entrails. It didn¡¯t even take a moment for me to recover from my shock and unleashed a punch on the face of the demon race on the left, blasting his head to small pieces. The body that lost its head flew backward, and crashed into the building behind him, destroying the building in the process. The last one who tried to escape became the target for my ¡¾Flame Bullet¡¿. The moment the first bullet hit the target, I drove my punch into his guts, and fired consecutive ¡¾Flame Bullet¡¿ from the palm of my hand. Since I was forced to use my trump card, the battle from this point on would become a race against time. According to the information from the ex-prisoner of the demon race, The red-haired man with pony hair from before was one of Aldebaran¡¯s close-aids, Rerad. He had rather peculiar sleepy eyes and donned a navy blue uniform. Since that was the case, the other close aide of demon king Aldebaran, Dharma, should be nearby. I had to at least kill the other two before the effect ran out. I picked up my enchanted sword and ran at full speed to find both Dharma and demon king Aldebaran as soon as possible. Volume 5 - CH 73 Act 5-73: Infiltration 1(Side: Ramiel) Time goes back a little bit to the moment when Ramiel managed to infiltrate the monster city, Ket Nya. In her opinion, this place was a city created by cheeky monsters. Thus she didn¡¯t have high hopes for their artistic sense. And knowing that her master had actually expected something from those poor monsters who couldn¡¯t even be compared to human-made her¨D¨D £¨What the¡­ Hell is this?£© Awe immediately. The street and building were identical to the one built by humans. There was even a butcher, fish market, bar, and clothes store. The townscape of this city is no different from the city built by humans. Rather, in terms of scale and development, it can even rival the metropolis of Lemuria. £¨How can the civilization of those monsters reach such height, this must be a fake!£© The intelligent creatures in this lower world were separated into two major divisions. The first one was the race who became the representative of heaven and received the divine protection of the god, the humanoid. They¡¯re specially designated creatures that evolved from the monkey with low intelligence and ability and were given wisdom by the gods. Using that wisdom, the humanoid developed civilization. Human race aside, the other humanoids are people who were created due to God¡¯s mischief, resulting in them being subspecies of the human race. Even among those humanoids, the demon race was a special case, they were crossbred between the gods who belong to shadows such as a wicked god or evil god, and humanoid. Their existence itself is akin to filth, that¡¯s why Ramiel and many of her colleagues despised them. But still, it didn¡¯t change the fact that they were humanoid. In regard to this matter, save for a small number of them, the majority of the monster such as plants, fishes, or animals, was nothing more than the tumor that received treatment from the gods. In short, without wisdom, they were nothing more than lowly creatures. The demon race aside, she really couldn¡¯t imagine that the monster would be able to build a civilization similar to that of humans. £¨And yet, since this city exists¡­ It means that¡­£© Just when she was deep into her own thoughts, she bumped onto something. ¡¸Ouch¡­¡¹ She fell on her rear and as she looked up, she saw a freckled youth whose half of his face was covered by his black haired forelocks turned around to see her, ¡¸Ah, my bad. Are you okay?¡¹ He apologized and offered his hand. ¡¸¡­ Don¡¯t bother¡¹ Ramiel didn¡¯t take his hand, she stood on her own, moving away from him as she took a stance. Naturally, the reason why she didn¡¯t take his hand was due to her disgust toward the monster, but above all, she felt something was amiss. £¨That¡¯s strange¡­ There should be no one in front of me¡­£© The other party might be a small fry but, it didn¡¯t change the fact that she was right inside the enemy¡¯s territory. Ramiel had never forgotten to invoke her ¡¾Invisible Cloak¡¿ as soon as she came to Lemuria. That skill allowed Ramiel to erase her presence and figure, and enable her to feel the presence of the other within the range of her ability. And her skill did not detect any kind of presence in front of her. But she dismissed it as mere coincidence not worth of thinking about. But then she wondered how did the youth before her managed to call out to her even though her presence and figure was supposed to be hidden by ¡¾Invisible Cloak¡¿? £¨No, that¡¯s also a mistake.£© Only to realize immediately from the gaze of the surrounding people that the effect of her ¡¾Invisible Cloak¡¿ had been canceled. £¨Is he the one who canceled it? This monster?£© She thought such a thing was impossible. Ramiel¡¯s skill, the ¡¾Invisible Cloak¡¿ , was on completely whole another level compared to the skill owned by the human race. Even if heaven and earth got reversed, none of the inhabitants of this world could cancel her skill. Thus, she started to wonder if she accidentally canceled her skill after she bumped on something. Wait, could it be that this youth isn¡¯t actually a monster? In this point, even though the youth before him has the same pair of pure-white wings on his back like Ramiel, outer appearance alone was far from enough to judge if he really was a monster. £¨Could it be!?£© The most scary thing was the fact that she couldn¡¯t feel anything from the freckles youth before him. She had never felt this kind of inorganic feeling even back in the celestial realm. She knew that the monster of this region wouldn¡¯t be able to act like him. Thus, she came to a single conclusion. ¡¸You must be being ordered to investigate this world like me!¡¹ The moment she placed her hand on her waist, pointing the other, her field of vision warped for a moment. By the time she snapped back, she had already been held by the freckles youth in the dim back alley. ¡¸Ha? Eh?¡¹ Just when she tried to cope with the current reality, the freckled youth let go off Ramiel, covering his face with his right palm. ¡¸Dammit. Such a huge blunder¡­¡¹ And muttered so. Seeing his current behavior, as if he couldn¡¯t recognize her. Thus she was convinced that he was far more powerful than Ramiel. Since that was the case, Ramiel was convinced that the boy before him was the same high-rank angel who received the blessing of Ares, just like her. ¡¸Y-You¡¯re coming down into this world under Ares-sama¡¯s order to investigate this region, right?¡¹ Hearing Ramiel¡¯s question, the freckles youth, £¨Ares? That¡¯s the name of Holy Warrior God right? Is this also¨D¨D£© He muttered so while holding his chin and, ¡¸Indeed. I received the order and hid inside this city. That¡¯s why don¡¯t disturb my mission.¡¹ Told her so as he tried to leave. Having never heard about the youth from Ares, Ramiel took a liberty to guess that her master must¡¯ve another reason for sending the youth without noticing her. Naturally it didn¡¯t mean that Ares doubted her investigation ability. She guessed that the reason why her master sent down another investigator was simply because the case was impossible to be handled by herself. Thus¨D¨D ¡¸I know your identity. Since that¡¯s the case, there¡¯s nothing wrong with me following along, right?¡¹ ¡¸Hah? Don¡¯t screw with me! I refuse!¡¹ Seeing the freckles youth refused her request, ¡¸You should¡¯ve received the order to cooperate with me from Ares-sama. In that case, I have no choice but to report about your refusal once we return. Are you sure you want me to do that?¡¹ The freckles youth look bewildered for a moment after hearing that but, he then heaved a sigh, ¡¸Okay, I understand. But we have to prioritize my order, understand?¡¹ And agreed, albeit with a condition. Volume 5 - CH 74 Act 5-74: Infiltration 2(Side: Ramiel) After that, even though the freckles youth told Ramiel that his name was Tetle, he didn¡¯t tell her more than that. A competent angel like him should be quite famous in the Ares Palace and yet, she was completely unfamiliar with his name. She then assumed that Tetle was the trump card of her master. That why her master seems to be convinced that the god of fly was hiding in this region. ¡¸Is there a meaning in observing that human?¡¹ Despite her attempt to ask since a while ago, Tetle simply just ignored her and kept observing the seemingly harmless, blonde-haired human. She knew that there must be a meaning behind his action. And then, she could also felt some sort of strong emotion on Tetle¡¯s face as the latter observed the blonde-haired human from afar. Thus, she knew that for the current Tetle, the blonde-haired human was the most important observation object. Not to mention that the human who supported the monsters might¡¯ve been related in some way with the god of fly. Since that was the case, she thought that they should just arrest the blonde-haired human, and bring him back immediately to Ares¡¯ Palace for interrogation. And yet, Tetle kept observing the blonde-haired human. Hence her failure to hold back her curiosity to ask that question. ¡¸There¡¯s, at least for me.¡¹ Tetle replied with a lonely look on his face. ¡¸Is that human your acquaintance?¡¹ ¡¸¡­ Oh, they¡¯re moving again.¡¹ When Ramiel asked in a small voice, Tetle ignored her and started to follow the blonde hair. After seeing the blonde enter the arena, Tetle¡¯s gait came to a halt, ¡¸The trial is about to begin huh¡­ Shall we wait a bit more?¡¹ And suddenly muttered those words as he looked up. ¡¸No, thank you for your consideration, Asta-sama.¡¹ After nodding at the empty space before him, Tetle¡¯s face instantly formed a frown, he grits his teeth as if wanting to crush them but, ¡¸You should leave this place immediately!¡¹ He suddenly turned around and said those words to Ramiel. ¡¸Hah? Are you telling me to turn around and run from the likes of monster? Like hell I¡¯m going to do that!¡¹ Don¡¯t mess with me. This is a direct order from Ares-sama. I¡¯ll complete this duty at all cost. You might be wanted to hoard the achievement for yourself but sorry, I won¡¯t do as you say. ¡¸You might regret it you know?¡¹ Though she flinched as Tetle looked at her with cold piercing gaze, ¡¸Is that a threat so that you can move by yourself? I¡¯ll make sure to report this to Ares-sama later. ¡¹ Tetle clicked his tongue and then entered the arena. The arena was filled with feverish atmosphere. One-eyed giant and an ogre was fighting on the round stone arena in the middle of the building. Such low-level combat. Even a nameless soldier of Ares army was more than enough to handle them. Guess it proven that the god of fly overpowering Ares-sama is a mere coincidence. ¡¸Such low-level combat. I guess it just Ares-sama overestimation.¡¹ The moment she muttered those words, he line of sight met with the blonde-haired human. Ramiel once again felt extremely ashamed to realize that her blunder had caused her observation target to notice her existence. And just as expected, the blonde-haired human was about to stand from his seat and walking toward their direction. That moment¨D¨D The loud toll of bell disturbed everything, ¡ºALERT! ALERT! IT¡¯S THE RAID OF THE DEMON KING ARMY IS COMING!¡» It then followed by warning voice akin to scream from horn-like tool. Ramiel realized that horn-like tool was a magic tool. Human race aside, it wasn¡¯t something that supposed to be exist in the city of monster. No, wait a minute, doesn¡¯t they say just now that the demon king army has come to raid this place? Meaning that I¡¯m just got caught in the conflict between the monster and the demon race of this world. ¡¸Until that far huh¡­¡¹ Tetle muttered so, moving his gaze from the blonde-haired human and carrying Ramiel under his armpit. Once they left the arena, jumped off to the roof of the building only then did he let go off Ramiel. He clutched her shoulders. His clutch awakened Ramiel from her stupor, only to be shaken again upon seeing the grim look on Tetle¡¯s face¡­ ¡¸I have no time to explain the situation. I say this for your own good. Leave this place immediately. You who have nothing to do with this trial should be sa¨D¨D¡¹ But Tetle didn¡¯t finish his words as his figure had suddenly vanished. Is that teleport magic? Well, I have no idea about the trial he was talking about but, the assailant should be the demon king army. They¡¯re just humans with a different colours. No matter how powerful they become, they¡¯re nothing more than a slightly noisy fly for me. £¨In short, I won¡¯t let you to hoard the glory!£© After seeing that blonde-haired human and this demon king army¡¯s raid, Ramiel could tell that something had been disturbing Tetle¡¯s mind, meaning that it must¡¯ve something to do with the god of fly. She was afraid that she would turn into laughing stock later on if she returned to Ares Palace without finging anything during her investigation. One wrong step might be resulting in her disappointing her master, and demotion. £¨It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s just lowly demon race after all, there¡¯s nothing to fear.£© She did consider the possibility of the demon race receiving the power from the god of fly. But, as high-rank angel, Ramiel didn¡¯t feel like she would lost against mere demon race. They were nothing more than bug on the side of the road to be trampled upon after all. That fact wouldn¡¯t change even if the entire demon race army ganging on her. £¨If the god of fly is truly residing in this city¡­£© She would return to the god realm immediately to report this matter to her master so that the heavenly army would move immediately to subjugate the god of fly, that way she could make her master happy. £¨The problem is how to escape once I find the god of fly, but¡­£© In this regard, Ramiel had ring of repatriation on her finger. The ring allowed her to return to Ares Palace with a single thought, and she could use ¡¾Invisible Cloak¡¿ just to be safe. The current Ares Palace had been protected by powerful barrier from heavenly army, that barrier prevent anyone without her master¡¯s permission from entering the palace. Thus, her safety was guaranteed even if she got found out. Thus, she had nothing to fear and decided to watch over the situation in this city. £¨Wait for me, Ares-sama! I¡¯ll definitely bring back good news for you!£© Ramiel stayed in the 1st block that turned into hell on earth as she vowed to her master. Volume 5 - CH 75 Act 5-75: Infiltration 3(Side: Ramiel) £¨Are you kidding me! What kind of monster is that!?£© Currently, Ramiel did her best trying to escape from the city that turned into a living hell. Yes, the demon race really did invade this city. Everything up until that point was according to Ramiel¡¯s hypothesis but she made a few huge mistakes. One of them was the fact that the repulsive thing that raided the city was none other than the demon race, much much stronger than the demon race that Ramiel familiar with. All the monsters who got captured by the demon race ended up becoming the latter¡¯s meal. The demon race that she knew wasn¡¯t the kind that eats the other race. That was clearly another being. She felt the presence race chasing after her from behind. That moment, a demon race jumped down from the roof of the building. ¡¸Dammit!¡¹ She beheaded that demon race with the sword in her left-hand, then another smaller demon race rushed from behind. £¨Dammit, snother one!£© She spun around and slashed upward. Another demon race came from behind the demon race that she had just bissected in half, thrusting their spear toward her. ¡¸HOW DARE THESE LOWLY DEMON RACE¨D¨D LOOKING DOWN ON ME!¡¹ She used her left hand to parry the spear, stepping into the range of that demon race, and beheaded them as they passed each other. Don¡¯t screw with me. Every single one of these demon races is clearly equal to Ares¡¯s army¡¯s holy knight class. Naturally, Ramiel was still stronger than them. But, that only applied if it was a one-on-one situation, in the case she had to face the swarm of them, she would be outnumbered by them. £¨Was this the reason why Tetle told me to leave!?£© Then comes her second miscalculation. She realized immediately that her ¡¾Invisible Cloak¡¿ was useless against them since the demon race see through it immediately. And even though she had already tried to activate her ring of repatriation, it didn¡¯t activate. £¨Does this mean the power of god is rendered useless? Like hell this is just a demon race!£© She had no doubt. The terrifying god of fly was in this city. And most probably the one who remodeled the demon race. But, being able to remodel a mere demon race to become as strong as Ares army¡¯s holy knight was already something beyond Ramiel¡¯s comprehension. Thus, she decided to prioritize her escape from this city. She had finally reached the front gate. £¨Finally! Now I just need to cross over the wall to escape!£© Ramiel¡¯s intuition had told her that there was a barrier surrounding the city which prevented teleportation. Thus she came to a conclusion that she should be able to teleport back to Ares Palace once she crossed the wall. But, Ramiel¡¯s expectation got crushed to bits by spherical matter that came down from in front of her. That matter bounce few times on the ground before pair of arms, feet, and a head unfolded from it, only to start bizzare wriggling dance which accompanied by equally bizarre song. ¡ºEscape is futile, ain¡¯t it? Escape is futile? But worry not? Yer final destination has already been decided? The premium goods will be given for sacrifice ritual? The waste goods will end in our belly? That¡¯s the frugal rule of our demon king army?¡» Suddenly, the spherical shaped demon race before her stopped moving and rushed at her. ¡¸£­£­?¡¹ She tried to dodge while trying her best to surpress her scream but she was too slow as the powerful impact hit her abdomen first. Inside her hazy consciousness, she saw the spherical shaped demon race approached her, each step causing a tremor on the ground. That¡¯s clearly not a demon race. She knew that fate worse than death would be waiting for her once they captured her. She felt as if cold water poured onto her head which accompanied with fear, ¡¸H¡­¡¹ She tried to shout, asking someone to save her but she vomited blood instead. £¨I should¡¯ve followed his advice obediently¡­£© Amidst such fear and regret, £¨My apologies, Ares-sama¡­£© Ramiel¡¯s consciousness faded as she apologized to her master. Volume 5 - CH 76 Act 5-76: Transformed Demon King I ran toward the meeting place in the center of Ket Nya killing every demon I met along the way. Death, Death, Death, Death¡­ The area around me turned into a zone of the dead. ¨D¨DThe cheerful lizardman in the fish market. ¨D¨DThe dexterous sheep cat girl who owned a clothing store. ¨D¨DThe determined ogre girl. All of them had already turned into breathless corpses. My tears flowed non-stop, disturbing my field of vision. I¡¯m sure that right now, it felt like my bond with everyone was trampled down. They were trampled down so mercilessly. I definitely wouldn¡¯t forgive the culprit of this incident. That¡¯s why¨D¨D £¨Please, please be safe!£© I prayed desperately in my heart as I ran toward the assembly hall. Such wish of mine was¨D¨D "" ¡¸¨D¨D¨D¨D!?¡¹ Crushed to pieces as I saw several mangled corpses on the ground in front of the assembly hall. There was the head¨D¨D Of Chigi, Cyclon, Crocodas, and the other upper echelon of this city piling up on top of each other like a pyramid. And then, a muscular man with a red beard held Tama by her temple with his right hand holding onto the black crystal, and the other demon race pinned Tama on the ground. The man with the red beard possessed a rough appearance and the black overcoat with pure white feather sewed. He might be the demon king Aldebaran. ¡¸You¡¯re incompatible too. As expected, ain¡¯t no match for us, demon race.¡¹ Aldebaran said as he raised his right hand, the demon raced behind Tama and then raised his sword. ¡¸NOOOOOOOOOO!¡¹ The moment Tama heard my voice, she looked at me, and despite the fear on her face, she¡­ ¡¸Gil, run¨D¨D¡¹ tried to warn me even in her last moments. (ED: Me in tears for now) At that moment, the demon race¡¯s sword swung down to behead Tama. ¡¸Aren¡¯t you the sham land deity?¡¹ Aldebaran¡¯s body swayed back and forth as his line of sight moved on me, and then asked that question. ¡¸YOU BASTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARD!¡¹ I reached my limit. I felt something akin to a typhoon filling my chest. I closed in at once toward that bastard, unsheathed my sword, and swung it down at that bastard¡¯s head. My sword, Flame, cut Aldebaran¡¯s head from above as if it were made from tofu. ¡¸This is the end.¡¹ I let go of the flame¡¯s handle and spun around in mid-air, unleashing a roundhouse kick with my left leg toward the other demon race, Gogiri. My kick ripped Aldebaran¡¯s head from his neck, his head then spun in the air, and fell face up on the ground. I retreated to take some distance from that bastard, keeping my vigilance as I lowered my stance. At this moment, I was already convinced of my victory. I mean, my sword had already split his head in half. That would spell a certain death. If he did still alive, it only meant that he was not a demon race anymore. But, my faint expectation was¨D¨D ¡¸Ouch, that¡¯s hurt.¡¹ "" Was crushed to pieces the moment Aldebaran¡¯s fallen head started talking again. ¡¸!?¡¹ Suddenly, his head floated back to its place as if the time was reminded, he then pulled Flame and struck Flame¡¯s sword blade with both hands. Moreover, Gogiri had also stood up again as if nothing happened. I saw smoke coming out from Aldebaran¡¯s head as he recovered. ¡¸YOU FOOL!¡¹ He wasn¡¯t a demon race anymore, he had already become another, completely different creature. Meaning that normal attack wouldn¡¯t work on him, I had to pulverize his body till there was not even a speck of dust left from him. Since that was the case¨D¨D And then, the moment I tried to come up with the most efficient way to defeat that bastard, ¡¸Bu~t, this isn¡¯t even enough for warm-up.¡¹ Suddenly, the muscle of his right arm swelled up, then his figure vanished from my field of vision. ¨D¨DThat moment, his rock-like right punch suddenly appeared right before my eyes, striking my face with a power akin to a giant boulder. His punch sent me flying straight backward, crashing into several buildings, and stopped just when my back planted into the rampart. My field of vision was dyed red, ¡¸GUH¡­¡¹ I tried to stand on my feet while vomiting blood. I would die for sure if I fall here. Once, I had to retreat withdraw from this place to recover¨D¨D ¡¸¨D¨D?¡¹ Suddenly, Aldebaran¡¯s face grazed right under my nose. It felt like a snake was crawling on my skin, I clenched my fist, trying to punch that annoying face. When my fist was about to connect, Aldebaran¡¯s face warped, and transformed into a crocodile¡¯s head, ¨D¨DCRUNCH! And bite my right fist. ¡¸GUH!¡¹ At that moment, it felt like my entire body was baked by scorched metal from the inside. ¡¸So weak.¡¹ Aldebaran grabbed me by my collar as he muttered those words in a scornful voice. And then¨D¨D ¡¸But, it seems you¡¯re compatible.¡¹ My consciousness descended into the darkness as a strong impact struck my abdomen. Volume 5 - CH 77 Act 5-77: I Will Kill You Mercily When I opened my heavy eyelids, the first thing I saw was a blood red floor spread before me. I felt nauseous as if my head got hit by a hammer, my body was enveloped in a cold, uncomfortable feeling, it felt like a huge rock was pressed on my mind. I moved my head, the only thing that I¡¯m capable off in my current condition, ¡ºHii!?¡» I unintentionally let out a scream. Which was only natural since my lower-half was buried inside muddy meat pillar. ¡ºHave you wokem up already~?¡» Standing in front of me was an abberation with head of fish, he pointed the tip of the wand in his right hand onto my throat. ¡ºB-Bho¡­ Arf you?¡» I somehow managed to squeeze those words from my parched throat. Hearing my question, the fish-headed aberration took a step back, placing his right hand on his chest as he bowed respectfully, ¡ºBonjour, sham land god! I¡¯m Forneus. The ceremony will start in a while but, it¡¯s pleasure to be your acquaintance.¡» He introduced himself with a pompous gesture. Aldebaran kneeled in front of the door behind Forneus with his head hung down then stood up, approached us before kneeling again. And then he returned to his original place after he offered something like a giant umbrella to Forneus. A woman with head of sea bream and a man with head of beardy blowfish who stood on both side of Forneus then started to strike a strange pose, ¡ºI¡¯m Urokonu! Remember that!¡» ¡ºI¡¯m Fuguo! Commit that in your memory!¡» And introduced themselves in a loud voice. ¡ºCerefmony!? Whatph happenh to ebheryone?¡¹ ¡ºEveryone~? Well, nothing special on everyone else except that angel girl and mountain demo~n¡» His wand pointed at a certain direction, and when I looked at that direction, ¡ºSHAR!?¡» I raised a scream. Over there, I saw Shar buried inside pillar of meat until just the area above her neck. Blood was trailing from both her closed eyelids, and judging from the pale color of her face, she was already dead. ¡ºEspecially that thing, our work progressed a lot thanks to he~r. Anyhow, we manage to summon two remaining general from the world boundary. And the~n¡» He started talking with thrilled face. He kept on and on to the point that I had no idea what he was talking about anymore. Well, Forneus¡¯ voice was nothing but buzzing noise for the current me. ¡ºRight! Right!¡» I knew that she had already died. And yet, I couldn¡¯t help but keep calling her name. ¡ºYou guys will become the sacrifice to summon the last two genera~l.¡» And then, jsut when Forneus pointing his wand to the ceiling and started chanting an aria, ¡ºGUGAGAAAAAAAAAAAAA¨D¨D??¡» The pain akin to a stump driven into my nerves assailed my entire body, turning my vision blood red. The pain, hatred, envy, sorrow, every kind of emotion jumbled in my mind. And then, my body started melting. £¨Shar! Shar! Why!? How can they do this to Shar!? What did Shar do to them to deserve this kind of end!£© My mouth had already melted, and amidst my blurry, crimson vision, I shouted those words in my mind. I shouted again, and again. ¨D¨DThat¡¯s something that you know very well, right? Standing before me was a blonde-haired pompous kid around eight years old with bob cut but then, he answered to my question with rather astonished face. For some reason, I felt a strange sense of rejection when I saw that kid. £¨I, know the answer!? Like hell I know!?£© ¨D¨DOh sure, you¡¯re more than familiar with it. Well, the trigger might be the caprice of that personage. But, You have already met the requirement a long time ago. In short, you¡¯ve fulfilled all the condition that personage has imposed to you. And yet, here you are, still with your lost memories. You¡¯re a coward, a coward of the coward, an irredemable, idiotic coward. £¨What do you mean!? What are you trying to say!£© Yup, I hate this kid after all. That was the one thing that I could understand. ¨D¨DDoesn¡¯t matter, time is running out and you¡¯re going to understand what I mean anyway due to the effect of your connection with that personage, you will be forced to understand even if you don¡¯t want to. Well, that method also has its¡¯ limit but¡­ £¨I¡¯ve told you I don¡¯t understand¨D¨D£© ¨D¨DLet me to give you one last gift. Your nightmarish journey will only end once you face your past properly. £¨Nightmarish journey!?£© ¨D¨DYes. This is only the beginning of you harsh and painful nightmare. As a fellow timid and cowardly human being, you choose the safe path by ignoring your past. Well, it¡¯s time. After sayign those words, the blonde-haired kid with bob cut kneeling respectfully toward the direction of the door, bowing his head. That moment, the door opened up slowly, revealing the figure of a youth with foreign sword with ominous looking blade in his right hand. £¨¨D¨D!!!?£© Someone whose name I didn¡¯t know, the figure of strongest existence in my heart. That black haired youth furrowed, he glared angrily at Forneus. ¡ºThere¡¯s a rat intruding this place huh? Quite a skillful concealment skill you got there.¡» In respond to Forneus haughty speech, the black haired youth, ¡¸Intruder? Concealment? That¡¯s a misunderstanding on your part. I simply erased my killing intent and walking straight from the front.¡¹ Spat those words. Forneus frowned upon hearing that answer, ¡ºAldebaran, kill this lowly tra~sh.¡» ¡¸As you wish.¡¹ Aldebaran stood on his feet, transforming his head into that of crocodile before rushing toward the black haired youth, swinging his rock-like fist. But, Aldebaran¡¯s log-like arm which should pulverize the black haired youth suddenly bent to the opposite direction. ¡ºUhm?¡» Seeing Aldebaran raised confused voice, the black haired youth clicking his tongue and nailed a casual kick on the former¡¯s abdomen. Aldebaran¡¯s abdomen exploded from seemingly casual kick, sending his upper body flying backward before he slammed into the rock wall. In the midst of the rain of blood and entrails, the aftermath of the crash shook the entire building. ¡ºThat guy is useless! Let me to handle this, Forneus-sama!¡» ¡ºNo, let me to do it¨D¨D¡» And that become ther last words. The next moment, numerous red lines appeared on the surface of Urokonu and Fuguo¡¯s body before they exploded to small pieces by the next second. ¡ºHnn!?¡» Forneus¡¯ eyes opened wide in shock, he retreated as he pointed the tip of his wand toward the black haired youth, alas the black haired youth was already behind Forneus. ¡¸I¡¯m tired of all your small fry rambling.¡¹ The black haired youth walking slowly and then whispered so at Forneus¡¯ ear. ¡ºY-Y-You are?¡» Seeing Forneus tried to wave his fish¡¯s arms, the black haired youth threw the thing he held in his left hand at Forneus, ¡¸These guys were the same as you, they keep rambling on how powerful they are, alas they couldn¡¯t even ract at all, don¡¯t you think that it a bit too boring?¡¹ Forneus was trembling non stop, he looked at the thing rolling before him, it was the head of three faced ogre.Face agaped due to shock, he couldn¡¯t help but calling the name of the head of ogre before him, ¡ºASURA-SAMA!¡» While drenched in sweat akin to waterfall. ¡¸Well I know that this disastrous, hell-like scene in Ket Nya is the result of you guys winning the war. But¡­ Why do I feel sadness instead?¡¹ The black haired youth pointed the tip of his foreign sword at Forneus, ¡ºUHIII!!¡» Forneus retreated in hurry as he raised such scream. ¡¸Well, honestly speaking, I¡¯m really pissed off to the point that I wanted you lot, small fry who are not even worth of my attention to suffer for eternity.¡¹ Black aura bursting forth from the foreign sword in the black haired youth¡¯s hand, filling the room as he spoke. ¡ºUGIIIIIIIIIII!¡» Forneus who lost his limbs as he tried to escape had already been losing his fighting spirit, and then, the black haired youth grabbed the head of that limbless body. ¡ºMer¡­ Cy¡­¡» Forneus begged for forgiveness, ¡¸I¡¯ve told you right? I¡¯m seriously pissed off right now. Don¡¯t worry, death will be least of your worries as I¡¯ll make sure that death is a luxury for you.¡¹ The black haired youth refused immediately, and then looking over his shoulder, ¡¸Oi, Beelze! Show this piece of shi*t who doesn¡¯t know his place true hell! Do not hold back and make sure he enjoys it thoroughly! Once you¡¯re done, destroy his soul to pieces!¡¹ ¡ºYour wish is my command-dechu.¡» The fly-headed monster sucking pacifier who appeared out of nowhere kneeled before the youth as they spoke. ¡ºB-B-BEELZEBU¨D¨DB!!¡» That moment, Forneus¡¯ face was filled with horror as he raised a scream, black mist then started to envelop his body, and then vanished as if he never there. The black haired youth then walked slowly until he arrived at my side. ¡¸My apologies, your condition already beyond saving.¡¹ ¡º¡­¡­¡» Honestly I don¡¯t care about living anymore, I didn¡¯t want to live in the world without Shar and everyone from monster city. The youth¡¯s face warped in frustration for the first time as he looked at me, ¡¸I thought that the current you can win this game. I guess it¡¯s my fault for overestimating your power. That¡¯s why¨D¨D¡¹ The black-haired youth raised the sword in his right hand overhead, ¡¸I will kill you painlessly.¡¹ Then swung down his sword as he spoke. Confirmed the physical death of Gilbert Loto Amelia. Activating the ¡¾Soul Travenger¡¿. ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨DSuccess! The soul of Gilbert Loto Amelia would be sent back from the present into a random point in the past at a fixed interval. (ED:So you have chosen time loop, author.)(TL: Yes)