Ch.1313. Childhood

# Slaughterer.

The word that instinctively came to mind when I saw Darbein. He was literally slaughtering people.

*Slash!*

With each swing of his longsword, a life was extinguished without fail. His movements were nimble, as if he alone existed in a different flow of time.

When Darbein’s shoulder twitched, a silver line traced through the air, followed immediately by a fountain of blood. Someone’s head floated up in its wake.

But that wasn’t the end. Darbein pulled his sword back in the opposite direction. Many hadn’t even registered their comrade’s death yet. And the moment they finally widened their eyes in realization, the blade swept across their necks.

After cutting down two people like lightning, Darbein flicked the blood from his blade. All this in a single breath. Belated screams erupted.

“Aaaahhhh!”

“How are we supposed to defeat this?!”

“R-run…”

People retreated in fear, then broke into a full sprint.

No matter their numerical advantage, once their hearts were seized by terror, they were defeated before the battle even began. Like sheep that scatter at the sight of a single wolf, their behavior now was exactly the same.

Rex squeezed his eyes shut as he watched people fleeing. Though equally frightened, he didn’t move, believing escape was futile anyway.

Darbein was so nimble that even Rex, enhanced by the power of the mark, momentarily lost sight of him.

With everyone scattering to save themselves when they should be joining forces? How foolish. They might as well be begging for a quick death.

As Rex predicted, Darbein lightly stomped his foot and leaped over people’s heads.

After spinning once in midair, he landed directly in front of the person who had started running first. *Thud, roll.* A head tumbled to the ground, the expression of shock still clearly visible on it.

People who had given themselves over to the impulse to survive froze when their path was blocked, unable to do anything. They should have fought back rather than die helplessly, but after witnessing Darbein’s skill, they had already given up.

“Hoan.”

Rex gripped his axe tightly and spoke. Hoan flinched in surprise, responding a beat late.

“…H-huh?”

“Take care of Anna and Mother. Protect them from behind.”

“What? You’re not going over there, are you? No way, right?”

“I have no one else to trust. I’m sorry.”

Hoan’s face turned pale. Seeing his clear disbelief, Rex added:

“If we do nothing, everyone will die. Someone has to do this.”

Total annihilation was just a matter of time. Even now, Darbein’s blade was indiscriminately sweeping through the villagers. The rate at which corpses accumulated was accelerating. Once he finished with them, they would clearly be next.

Something had to be done before that happened. Even if death awaited.

“…Alright. I’ll protect your sister and mother no matter what.”

“Good.”

Hoan looked at Rex with determined eyes. Though his fingertips still trembled with tension, that was enough.

Rex swallowed dryly and turned around. But Gert grabbed his shoulder. Though covered in wounds, Gert’s eyes remained clear.

“I’m coming too.”

“Father…”

“It’s fine.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Rex nodded. Having made the decision, all that remained was to act.

When the two arrived at the scene, several corpses were already strewn across the ground. A man was desperately trying to block Darbein’s sword. Rex recognized him.

“Tom!”

However his luck had held until now, it seemed to be running out. As Darbein pressed down hard with his sword, Tom finally lost his grip on his weapon.

Rex widened his eyes and raised his axe behind his head. Then he hurled it at Darbein, the momentum exploding from his feet through his joints.

*Whoosh!*

Just as he was about to strike Tom’s neck, Darbein suddenly stopped and stepped aside. The axe dug roughly into the innocent ground.

“R-Rex.”

“Can you fight?”

“…Yeah.”

Tom took Rex’s hand and stood up. He seemed to be in pain, likely wounded, but this was no time to worry about such details. Their opponent was a master whose strength they couldn’t even gauge. They couldn’t afford to be picky.

Tom picked up his fallen weapon. It was the two-handed sword Rex had seen at the village chief’s house. He must have taken it on his way back from the goblin cave.

After hesitating briefly, Tom handed the sword to Rex.

“If I’d known this would happen, I would have practiced with it. It’s too heavy for me to even hold properly. You take it.”

Even the most valuable item was useless if you didn’t know how to use it. Especially when death was imminent.

Rex silently took the greatsword. The iron felt cool in his hands.

“He’s coming.”

Gert said. The three stared at Darbein, who was approaching leisurely from a distance. He must have killed another person, as a corpse lay sprawled nearby.

Tom held the axe he’d exchanged for the sword, Gert aimed his crossbow, and Rex tried his best to adjust to the unfamiliar weight of the greatsword. He couldn’t afford to make mistakes at a crucial moment.

Darbein, who had been approaching slowly, suddenly kicked off the ground. Gert immediately fired his crossbow, but the arrow missed again.

Normally when people start running, they begin slowly and gradually accelerate, but Darbein accelerated abnormally fast, as if such laws didn’t apply to him. His form vanished from sight in an instant.

Rex’s pupils darted around before fixing on one spot. Darbein had somehow approached and was crouching low like a beast, thrusting his longsword forward. He was aiming at Tom.

*Clang!*

Rex quickly inserted the greatsword into the trajectory. A sharp metallic sound rang out as intense resistance pressed against his body.

At that moment, a familiar energy rose from his heart. The weight of the sword, which had felt like a mountain, became slightly lighter. Rex gritted his teeth and pushed back against the longsword.

“Oh?”

Darbein stepped back, an interested look crossing his face.

“Not bad.”

Darbein grinned and raised his longsword. He tilted the blade slightly downward beside his head—an unusual stance Rex had never seen before. The tip of the sword wavered like a snake eyeing its prey.

It was a sword technique extremely biased toward offense. His abdomen was completely exposed, and a mistimed counterattack could lead to a fatal wound. Yet Rex hesitated to attack. It felt like that was exactly what his opponent wanted.

*Swish!*

As Rex waited for his enemy to move first, he heard the sound of air being cut, followed by a burning pain across his cheek. Startled, he stepped back and touched his face, finding sticky blood.

“Oh. You dodged that too?”

Darbein remarked, flicking blood from his blade. Only then did Rex realize: I’ve been cut. When?

He hadn’t even seen the longsword move. His survival was pure luck. His survival instinct had reflexively jerked his head aside. If he hadn’t dodged, the blade would have pierced between his eyes. The realization sent chills down his spine.

“…Die!”

Tom, who had been slowly moving to the side, shouted and swung his axe down. Darbein spun around with a bored expression.

The axe missed, and Tom staggered from his own momentum. Immediately after, Darbein’s kick slammed into Tom’s abdomen. *Crack!* With the sound of breaking ribs, Tom rolled across the ground.

Though Rex had known his opponent was skilled, he found it increasingly difficult to ignore the anxiety rising in a corner of his mind.

Today alone, they had overcome many challenges—goblins, One-Eye, and bandits. But this time, he truly saw no answer. It had been barely two weeks since he received the giant’s blessing.

Both the skill and experience needed for combat were woefully inadequate compared to Darbein’s.

As negative thoughts began to flood in like waves, Gert spoke from beside him.

“Rex. Don’t give up.”

Despite the clearly unfavorable situation, Gert’s expression remained calm. No, his eyes were actually burning with determination.

Though his face was pale from severe blood loss, his will remained unbroken.

“We’ll strike together. I’ll give the signal.”

Rex stared blankly at his father. This wasn’t the look of someone who had resigned himself to defeat.

Suddenly, Rex felt ashamed. How am I any different from those who fled in panic earlier? With family behind me. I have to fight, even if I die, I must see this through.

Rex nodded. Though willpower shouldn’t be contagious, his eyes now burned with the same fierce heat as Gert’s.

“Pathetic fools who don’t know their place.”

Darbein dusted off his collar as if nothing had happened. Then he raised his longsword into the same stance as before. Rex swallowed dryly. Could he block it? He wasn’t sure.

“Boy, your talent is quite impressive, but you’ve met the wrong opponent. I’d like to take you as a disciple. If we’d met elsewhere, your future might have been different…”

Darbein muttered as if the outcome of the battle was already decided. Rex silently aimed his greatsword. Gert was pulling the trigger of his crossbow.

“Now!”

As the bolt was released, Gert shouted and swung his sickle. Simultaneously, Rex brought down the greatsword in a diagonal slash. The arrow targeted Darbein’s head, Gert aimed for his side, and Rex for his shoulder—a coordinated attack with perfect timing.

This attack seemed too much to ignore, as Darbein clicked his tongue and lowered his longsword. He lightly deflected the arrow with the flat of his blade and naturally blocked Rex’s greatsword.

As the crescent-shaped tip of the sickle aimed for his exposed abdomen, Darbein blocked this too.

He released one hand from his longsword and grabbed the sickle’s long handle. Rex, not missing this opening, pushed forward with his greatsword, but Darbein skillfully slid his longsword to deflect the greatsword’s trajectory.

Failure of their plan didn’t mean surrender. Rex and Gert continued to press Darbein, supporting each other. But Darbein blocked all their attacks like an iron wall.

“Haha!”

Darbein laughed mockingly and resumed his strange stance. They had tried to keep him engaged in close combat to prevent this, but Darbein’s ghostly sense didn’t miss even the briefest opening.

Rex desperately extended his greatsword forward, but Darbein’s technique was faster.

*Slash!*

Only after hearing the sound of tearing fabric did Rex realize he’d been cut. Strangely, he felt no particular pain. When injuries are severe enough, sensation often dies with them.

Rex unconsciously looked down. What? Is this me? Like something eaten by worms, a long wound started at his shoulder and ran diagonally down to his hip.

“Ugh!”

The pain arrived belatedly, making his mind hazy. Blood flowed out, staining the front of his pants bright red. What’s happening? Am I dying? Darbein raised his sword to finish him off, but Rex could only watch.

He should fight back, but his limbs had lost all strength and his vision was blurring. Finally, Rex collapsed helplessly to the ground.

“Son! No!”

Seeing this, Gert roared like a lion and threw himself forward, abandoning both his crossbow and sickle. Darbein was momentarily startled by the sudden burst of energy, but his blade was already advancing toward Rex’s heart.

*Thud!*

Gert’s body trembled. Rex opened his eyes at the warmth flowing over him, then froze.

“Father!”

“…Rex.”

Gert barely opened his mouth, his face exhausted. His breath was so faint it seemed his life could end at any moment. But what did that matter?

His body was already in tatters. One more wound made no difference now. He had a task to complete.

Until it was finished, he absolutely could not rest—a mission only he could fulfill. That was to protect his child as a father.

There’s a saying that people become truly strongest when they have someone to protect. That was Gert now. He painfully pulled a glass bottle from his breast pocket. Inside swirled a mysterious purple liquid.

“Rex… don’t die, don’t die… you must live…”

Without hesitation, Gert opened the cap and poured the liquid over Rex. Miraculously, new flesh began to grow over the wound covering Rex’s upper body. The glass bottle contained a potion widely known to revive even corpses if they hadn’t been dead long.

“…You mustn’t die, get up. Not yet. Later, much later… in a comfortable place…”

Rex tried to shout for his father to use the potion on himself instead, but blood filled his throat, producing only a choking sound.

“You damned bastards!”

Darbein’s face contorted with rage. He had unconsciously stepped back from Gert’s unexpected surge of energy.

He had been toying with them like insects, but now he felt fear toward an opponent he had underestimated. His composure shattered, replaced by boiling anger.

No more games. Darbein glared at Rex and Gert with murderous eyes.

“Run away. Take Anna and your mother, anywhere…”

Gert said these words and slumped down. His eyes didn’t open again. His faint breath was like a candle about to be extinguished.

“Father!”

Rex hurriedly examined Gert’s body. It was covered in wounds far worse than his own. Yet he had used the potion on his son rather than himself.

“Go. Hurry… run away.”

Gert’s lips barely moved. It almost sounded like sleep-talking.

But just as Gert had saved Rex, Rex couldn’t abandon Gert.

Rex stood up, gripping the greatsword. The potion’s effects were remarkable. His body felt light. And his head was hot—so hot it felt like it might cook.

Tears streamed down Rex’s cheeks. Darbein shouted in a mocking voice:

“You’re giving back the life you just extended!”

And then his technique began. The blade vibrated chaotically, disorienting Rex’s vision. It seemed to move with a life of its own, making its direction impossible to predict.

Where would it come from? Should he dodge or block? Was that even possible?

That’s when it happened. A golden flash extended from the mark that had been dormant all this time. Simultaneously, a voice that might not have been his own echoed in his mind.

─If you can’t dodge it, just destroy it.

Rex unconsciously asked back:

How?

─With overwhelming power.

*Boom!* A heavy, violent energy exploded in his heart. The energy raced madly through his blood vessels, enveloping his entire body. *Snap*, something broke, and a sense of liberation descended as if freed from long-worn shackles.

Rex instinctively knew what he needed to do now. All that remained was to surrender his body to his soul’s guidance.

*CRASH!*

A thunderous roar shook the earth. A moment later, a shockwave erupted.

Rex stood holding the greatsword horizontally with one hand, dazzling light pouring from his eyes like the sun. Behind the flashing trajectory of the sword, a red afterimage lingered before gradually fading.

“You… no way….”

Darbein stared at Rex with a face of astonishment. He had clearly intended to finish with his flowing sword technique, but suddenly there was a flash, and his longsword was broken in half. It was impossible to even see when Rex had swung the greatsword.

Then suddenly, through the torn upper garment, he noticed the mark glowing in the center of Rex’s chest. This is, why him of all people? No, it can’t be… His thoughts were cut short.

*Slice.*

Darbein’s waist was completely severed, separating his upper and lower body. No blood or organs spilled out. The cut surface was charred black as if burned.

And so Darbein died. A lonely death in a remote village far from his homeland, unmourned by anyone. His words about meeting the wrong opponent had come back to haunt him.

“Father!”

Rex threw down the greatsword and approached Gert. Kneeling, he placed a finger under Gert’s nose and felt a faint breath.

“It’s over. Please open your eyes, please…”

As if his desperate plea was heard, Gert painfully opened his eyes. Rex was about to speak urgently but closed his mouth when Gert raised his hand.

Gert’s rough, coarse hand caressed Rex’s face.

“Rex.”

“D-Dad…”

Rex responded as if he had returned to his childhood. When was the last time he had called him Dad? He missed that moment so much it tore at his heart.

“You need to get up. W-we just need to go home now. Right? It’s just a short walk…”

“…Yes. That’s right. But I don’t think I can go. I’m sorry.”

Rex’s expression went blank at those words. Then, struck by a sudden thought, he frantically blurted out:

“What? What are you saying! T-that’s right. Potion! If there’s any potion left…”

“There isn’t.”

“…There isn’t?”

“I only had one. I got it just in case, and it turned out to be needed after all. That’s good.”

Then it’s all my fault that father ended up like this.

An unbearable impulse rose within him. He wanted to bash his head against a rock. Truly.

Rex clenched his fist tightly. But only for a moment, as Gert coughed up blood.

“I’m dying.”

That was an unavoidable reality. A truth Rex had been desperately avoiding.

“Rex! Listen carefully. These are my last words to you.”

Gert stared at Rex with wide eyes. Meeting that gaze, Rex could do nothing.

His eyes were remarkably clear for someone on the brink of death. Perhaps they were all the more intense because death was approaching.

“You have family behind you who depend on you. Protect them, and if they stray from the right path, guide them back. As a man, never lose courage no matter how difficult things get. Don’t act against your conscience, and make good friends.”

“…”

“Remember these four things.”

Rex nodded. Again and again.

“…I swear. Until the day I die.”

“Actually, you can break them.”

“…What?”

“The most important thing is your life itself. It’s okay to be afraid. It’s okay to run away. As long as you’re alive, you can always make things right someday.”

Gert looked at his son with a playful smile. A face reddened as if about to burst into tears. Over it, images of the past overlapped.

When did he grow up to be so fine? Despite having done so little as a father. He must have had a hard time with such a gruff father.

Consciousness gradually faded. Gert slowly closed his eyes and said:

“Don’t blame yourself too much.”

“…Yes.”

“I’m sleepy. I need to rest now.”

“…Thank you, Father.”

“…”

Rex silently looked down at Gert. Sleeping with his head on Rex’s knee. At home, Gert always slept like this.

But this time, he would not wake up for a very long time.

Still, it was fortunate. Judging by his peaceful expression, at least it wasn’t a nightmare.

Perhaps he was even having a happy dream. Surely he was.

What is a father? Is one simply a father by having a child? Surely not.

Only through dedication and love for one’s child could one truly become a father. Even if that manifested in twisted ways, it was still valid.

Though children might not realize it, a father is always the one being in the world willing to sacrifice his own life for his child.

In that sense, Gert was a devoted father. In the past, and in the future. He would always be remembered as such.

One man fell asleep preserving his dream, and someone who had been a boy inherited his father’s dream.

Far away, dawn was breaking. It had been an exceptionally long night.

Prologue – Childhood (End).