Chapter 44

Don’t make me laugh.

With malice gathered, I rose.

I picked up the fallen longsword.

An intense impulse surged from my fingertips, pounding against my heart.

“Did you say it was to survive? Yeah, I guess I could survive! Devouring everything around me, standing alone!”

“You know nothing, you brat!”

I gripped the sword and charged.

Blood trickled down my back.

“I don’t understand. No, I don’t even want to understand! The reasons of a madman who slaughtered three thousand people?!”

“Shut up and fight!”

I smashed down the incoming spear of power with pure rage.

The vortex shattered, leaving a long scar on my face.

The scattered winds tore through the open ground.

“While listening to their screams, what were you thinking?! While watching their deaths, did you even savor the joy of being alive?!”

“I told you to shut up!”

My sword strike was blocked by an axe. Doesn’t matter, I’ll break through.

Until that mouth is shut.

My left hand smashed down, shattering the axe blade.

The spear that had been thrown returned to Knut’s outstretched hand.

The spearhead pierced my shoulder. Doesn’t matter.

I headbutted Knut’s face.

One of Knut’s eyes burst out.

Blood poured from my head.

“Gaaaaah!”

Tears of blood streaming, Knut bit off my ear.

“I… will never forgive you, Ka`har! I swore to the god of warriors, in the name of my father, mother, and sister. I vowed to kill all of you!”

“Spouting nonsense, and in the end, it’s just revenge?!”

I grabbed the spear shaft with my left hand and swung the sword in my right.

A method I learned from Milia.

Knut’s left arm was severed. A fountain of blood gushed, soaking the ground.

The next strike aimed for his neck.

“Dieee!”

“Bølbergggg!”

A storm erupted from the spear piercing my shoulder.

Unable to hold on, I was flung back, tumbling across the ground.

A red trail stretched across the ruined dirt.

“The resentment of the innocent you slaughtered! The wails of those who lost their families and were sold into slavery! If they were nothing but fodder for your survival, then die here, crushed under their weight! Finally, the judgment of the god of warriors will be carried out! Ka`har’s whore, Ha-shal-leur Ai-shan Gi-or!”

From Knut’s battered body, a gray light flared up like a wildfire.

It was the power drawn from burning away his own life force.

I drew the Ice Blade.

—-

A man-eating monster, you say?

Do you think I wanted to do such things?

I’m doing this now so I *don’t* have to do those things!

Injustice surged within me.

Yeah, it would’ve been easier to turn a blind eye and live among the Ka`har.

Adapting to them, letting go of my heart. Like Hersela, I could’ve become their queen!

The threats from my brothers? Just kill them first!

The doubts of my subordinates? Crush them all with force!

A bad ending? How could I not avoid what I already knew?

It was all a lie.

Just excuses to leave that place!

To escape from those monsters who gleefully slaughtered people.

Because I couldn’t bear their cruelty, I came here.

Countless eyes filled with hatred, resentment, and suspicion toward me.

Lying to myself that none of it mattered.

Even if I had to endure it for the rest of my life, it was to live as a human!

Baring my teeth to endure the pain, adorning myself with thorns, and finally taking that first step!

I’ll have to fight, fight, and fight again. That’s how I’ll survive!

– Right.

I know.

If I don’t fight, everyone here will die too!

Knowing that, how could I just stand by?

– That’s right. You have to do it.

If I die, what happens to them?

Who will stop the coming enemies, save those destined to die?

– Save them. By any means necessary.

How many people will die before Damien saves the world? Do you even know, Knut?!

So I’ll kill you. After killing you, I’ll regret it.

But I can’t die here!

I gritted my teeth and stood up.

I can endure you spewing hatred at me.

But I can’t endure being called a monster.

“I came this far to *not* become a monster!”

I threw off the tattered gauntlet and extended my left arm to the silver claws.

A chilling cold seeped through my arm into my heart.

– Finally…!

Someone’s cheer echoed.

My vision turned red.

—-

A sense of liberation, like falling, gripped me.

My body was freezing cold.

My thoughts wouldn’t connect.

The final fang I drew was a curse itself.

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaah!”

I vomited blood and screamed.

Running on all fours like a beast, toward someone…

…Who was it?

I charged toward someone I couldn’t remember.

The karma of slaughter embedded in my entire being took form, wrapping around me.

A bloody crimson energy tangled around my left arm.

The gray enemy threw a spear.

Vermin.

I thrust my left hand forward.

The vortex shattered, and the spear split vertically.

“What is this…?!”

I lunged at the horrified prey.

A short fang drawn from my waist, gripped in my right hand.

Flying toward…

He grabs the right leg and tears it apart.

“Kuh… haah…!”

He throws the leg, now just a chunk of meat.

The prey, now missing a leg, supports itself with a gray aura.

The prey pulls out something embedded in its body and swings it down.

He grabs it with his left hand and crushes it.

Shards of metal fall between his fingers.

The energy gathered in the prey’s left arm pierces his right arm.

His right arm no longer moves.

Annoying.

Even without limbs, if it resists, I’ll just cut off its breath.

He stabs the abdomen with his left arm.

“Keuh…!”

The prey vomits a pool of blood.

Torn entrails tangle around his fingers.

He grabs and pulls them out.

“Ahhhh!”

The chunk of meat screams.

The stomach bursts, and a fountain of blood stains his face.

He licks the blood off his lips.

“Ah… Ishan, Giooooorrrr!”

A gray wave bursts forth.

Unable to withstand it, he falls backward.

His left leg twists.

He reaches out and twists it back into place.

“Kyahaa…!”

Blood surges up his throat.

It’s over now anyway.

Baring his teeth, he sneers and watches the chunk of meat in front of him.

With only one arm and one leg left, the prey’s belly skin tears, spilling entrails as it writhes.

The blood pooling beneath his feet is enough to form a lake.

Even if left alone, it would die in an instant.

Just in case, he gathers a bit of strength, then lunges with his right leg to bite through its neck. That should end it.

I’m hungry.

Drooling, he crouches, ready to pounce.

Something brushes against his fingertips.

He turns his head and looks down at his fingertips.

A long claw tinged with blue.

Something is… inscribed on it…

This is…

A golden emblem catches his eye.

**[One of the Twelve Swords that Protect Humanity. Median]**

Ah.

What… was I just doing…?

It felt like cold water had been poured over him, and his consciousness returned.

A chilling cold, as if his blood had frozen, swept through his body, making him shiver uncontrollably.

The pain he hadn’t realized was there surged like a wildfire.

Cold, hot, and unbearably painful.

I immediately threw off the Ice Blade.

My exposed left arm was stained a pale purple.

What… is this weapon?

At some point, it felt like I was no longer myself.

Something inhuman was forcibly twisting my mind.

It felt like blood filled my brain, and all I could see was a deep red. Only one scent remained in my nostrils.

Hersela… fought with this thing in the future…?

No wonder she became a deranged mass murderer.

I picked up the discarded Ice Blade and put it back in its case.

Since my left leg and right arm wouldn’t move, I used the remaining limbs.

“Your aura… has changed… Have you… come to your senses…?”

At the faint voice, I finally turned my attention to Knut.

He too was lying face down on the ground.

Half-sunken in a pool of his own blood.

“Knut…”

He was barely recognizable as human.

His injuries were so severe it was a miracle he was still breathing.

I didn’t have the strength left to finish him off.

Nor did I need to.

Unless a saint appeared, there was no way he could survive in that state.

“You said you wouldn’t become a monster…? Look at yourself now… How can you still say that…?”

His voice gradually faded.

I had no response.

I never imagined the Ice Blade could be such a vicious weapon.

It literally turns people into monsters.

“I… despise you… Fighting just to survive… devouring others… fighting only for yourself… That’s not what humans should do.”

“…I’m trying to survive to protect others.”

Yes. That’s why.

“More… nonsense…”

Knut let out a weak laugh.

A laugh reminiscent of a dying man.

I felt the forest stir with activity.

Of course. After such a loud battle, someone would come to investigate.

I had to erase the evidence and leave this place.

My longsword and dagger fragments, Ai-mel-ra’s sword, and the torn pieces of armor.

Staggering to my feet, I used Ai-mel-ra’s sword as a crutch and painfully gathered the remnants.

The daggers I had thrown at Knut were shattered into dust by the earlier gray storm.

“…Leaving…? Fine, I’ll watch your struggles from the Celestial Palace…”

Leaving Knut’s muttering behind, I stumbled toward where my comrades were.

My knees gave out, and I ended up crawling on the ground.

“Astrid…”

From behind, a faint mutter reached my ears.