Chapter 3

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Lucy slipped out of the house through the window and headed straight for the forest.

The forest, shrouded in darkness, felt completely different from how it had during the day.

The shadows of the trees looked like giant monsters, and the distant howls of wolves echoed eerily.

Yet, Lucy wasn’t scared at all.

In fact, her face was filled with anticipation.

After all, she had died a thousand times trying to survive the bandits.

Thinking that this tiresome fight was finally coming to an end, she couldn’t help but feel excited.

Lucy stopped walking and stretched out her hand.

A black light spread from her fingertips, forming a magic circle on the ground.

Hummm—!

Black smoke swirled from the magic circle, and Amon’s massive body began to take shape.

Amon opened his mouth.

“Phew, I thought you’d never summon me again!”

“I said I’d summon you again when night fell…”

“I don’t trust the words of a human”

“What about a demon’s?”

“I trust a demon’s words even less.”

“…”

Lucy stared at Amon for a moment.

It wasn’t for any particular reason. She just thought this demon was a bit shameless.

“So, where are the bandits?”

Amon asked.

“I’m eager to taste some human heads.”

“They should be heading toward the village by now.”

“Where’s the village?”

“It’s about three kilometers from here.”

Lucy pointed in the direction of the village, and Amon nodded as he looked in that direction.

“Good, let’s go.”

Amon suddenly picked Lucy up, tucked her under his arm, and began sprinting through the forest.

“!”

Lucy’s eyes widened at Amon’s sudden action.

Her body, held by Amon, swayed like a doll.

Whoosh!

Amon’s speed was incredibly fast.

In no time, they arrived at the village entrance, and Amon set Lucy down, asking,

“Is this the place?”

“…Yeah.”

Lucy, now on the ground, staggered slightly from dizziness. Her head was spinning.

“…Come this way.”

Lucy led Amon away from the village entrance.

She planned to deal with the bandits as quietly as possible. If the villagers found out, it would only cause unnecessary commotion.

As they walked toward the forest, Lucy stopped in a densely wooded area.

This was the perfect spot to handle the bandits without the villagers noticing.

“Let’s wait here.”

Lucy leaned against a tree and stood still. She still felt a bit dizzy.

“The bandits will be here soon.”

“Kehehe, I’m looking forward to it.”

Thud. Thud.

The sound of footsteps began to echo from a distance.

Faint voices, as if they were conversing, could also be heard.

Lucy tensed up.

Amon’s red eyes glowed brightly in the darkness.

“…Listen carefully, Amon.”

Lucy whispered softly.

“Don’t let a single one escape.”

Amon nodded.

Though he had no expression, Lucy thought she could see a smile forming on his face.

Soon, the bandits came into view, and Lucy began walking toward them.

Under the faint moonlight in the dark forest.

Thirty men walked in a line.

They were the bandits who had been pillaging helpless villages in the area.

One of the bandits spoke up.

“I hope this village has some decent liquor.”

Another bandit walking beside him nodded.

“Yeah. Last village didn’t even have a proper bottle. It was disappointing.”

“…I’d rather have the women be young and pretty.”

“Kehehe, that’s even better.”

A sinister laugh spread among the bandits.

They talked about liquor, women, and the pleasures they would enjoy after raiding the village.

They weren’t on guard at all, walking confidently as if they owned the forest.

“Don’t get too far ahead.”

Finally, the bandit leader warned them.

“Stay close and move together.”

Still, the bandits remained carefree.

“Ah, boss, don’t worry. What kind of threat could there be in a rural village like this?”

“That’s right. This is just a place full of sheep. We’re the predators hunting them.”

“Pfft, you shouldn’t say that. You got knocked out by an old man with a stick last time.”

“That was because I let my guard down! Who would’ve thought that old man would suddenly swing a stick?”

“If it had been an axe instead of a stick, you’d be buried with the sheep by now.”

Laughter erupted among the bandits.

Then, the bandit leader stopped walking and said,

“Someone’s coming up ahead.”

The bandits quickly crouched down. Everyone’s gaze turned forward.

A small silhouette was approaching from the front.

“…?”

The silhouette turned out to be a child.

A girl with white hair and red eyes.

The bandits tilted their heads as they looked at her.

“Hey, kid.”

The bandit leader asked.

“What are you doing alone in the forest at night?”

The bandits all looked menacing.

Moreover, each of them was armed, so anyone encountering them in the forest would have been terrified.

But the girl showed no reaction to the bandits.

She wasn’t scared or startled.

She just stared at them silently.

The leader asked again,

“Are you lost?”

A greedy smile spread across the leader’s face.

“Kehehe, well, this works out. Come here. I’ll help you find your mom.”

As the distance between the leader and the girl closed, his grin grew wider.

“You’re quite pretty. I’ll take good care of you…”

Suddenly, the leader stopped talking and his eyes widened.

“Gasp!”

Not just the leader, but all the bandits gasped in shock.

“W-What is that…?”

A massive black figure slowly revealed itself behind the girl.

Glowing red eyes.

It wasn’t human.

Its presence was far too ominous to be human.

The girl spoke quietly.

“Don’t let a single one escape, Amon.”

“Hehe, got it. I’ll devour them all!”

Whoosh!

The black figure lunged toward the bandits.

“Eek!”

The bandits tried to flee in terror, but the leader quickly shouted.

“A-Attack! If we all rush at once, we can win!”

At the leader’s cry, the bandits steadied themselves and raised their weapons.

But—

Crunch!

—the leader’s head disappeared entirely, and the bandits immediately lost their will to fight.

The leader, now headless, collapsed to the ground, and the bandits began screaming and running away.

“S-Save me!”

What followed was a one-sided massacre.

Just as Lucy had instructed, Amon didn’t let a single one escape.

He devoured the heads of all thirty bandits.

As a result, the forest was now filled with headless corpses.

It was a rather gruesome sight.

Yet, Lucy’s expression remained indifferent. She didn’t feel particularly shaken by the situation.

She simply thought, ‘It’s finally over.’

“Hehe, that was amazing.”

Amon let out a satisfied laugh.

“Human heads are always delicious, no matter how many times I eat them.”

“…”

Lucy looked up at Amon.

Amon’s combat abilities exceeded her expectations.

He had subdued thirty bandits in an instant.

Occasionally, a bandit would swing a weapon at him, but it didn’t leave a single scratch on Amon’s body.

Amon’s body seemed to be made of steel, effortlessly deflecting the weapons.

“What are you going to do with these corpses?”

At Amon’s question, Lucy pondered.

She couldn’t just leave the corpses lying around.

The villagers would panic if they saw them.

After some thought, Lucy stretched out her hand toward the corpses.

Late at night, something strange was happening in the forest.

Headless corpses were staggering through the woods.

Leading them was a girl with white hair and red eyes.

It was Lucy.

Lucy was currently sitting on Amon’s shoulder.

Sitting on Amon’s shoulder like this allowed her to move through the forest while patting his head.

“Here.”

At Lucy’s words, Amon stopped walking and set her down on the ground.

Lucy looked up at the abandoned building in front of her.

A building located deep in the forest.

It was said to have been a temple in the distant past.

Now, the villagers called it the Cursed Temple and avoided approaching it out of fear.

No one would come here.

Lucy led the corpses into the temple.

The interior of the long-abandoned temple had a rather eerie atmosphere.

Still, Lucy’s expression remained unfazed.

After all, someone who was dragging headless corpses around wouldn’t be affected by something like a decrepit building.

After a while, Lucy arrived at what seemed to be the temple’s hall.

It was a spacious area, large enough to accommodate at least a hundred people.

There was a glass section in the ceiling, and moonlight streamed through it.

Lucy first gathered the corpses in one place.

At her gesture, the thirty corpses lay down on the ground in an orderly manner.

Lucy nodded with a satisfied expression.

The skill to control corpses, Revive, was more convenient than she had expected.

All she had to do was convey her will, and the corpses moved accordingly.

Lucy stretched out her hand toward the neatly arranged corpses.

Now it was time to cremate them.

“Dark Flame.”

As she uttered the skill’s name, black flames rose from her fingertips.

The black flames stretched forward and engulfed the corpses.

Whoosh!

The heat of the Dark Flame was far stronger than that of ordinary fire.

According to the skill description, it could even burn bones to ash in an instant.

“…”

Lucy quietly watched as the corpses were incinerated.

The black flames reflected in her eyes danced and flickered.

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
Well the overpowered is labelled there for a reason.