Ch.181Report on the Downfall of Charity (23)

# Leonardo’s guards rushed in.

They too were affected by the asas, but unlike Kain who struggled while forcibly gripping the rose vines, they seemed to have developed a tolerance from being intoxicated by the poison for so long—just like Shajar al-Durr, the mother of Arianne of Humility.

But in the next moment, Kain vanished from before them.

Smoke and stench. Fumes and shadows. Leonardo’s subordinates drew their weapons and looked around with bloodshot eyes. Leonardo himself did the same.

“Who goes there!”

The answer came from an unexpected place.

“Ah, aaaahh! My leg, my leg!”

One subordinate collapsed, clutching his leg. Blood spurted from his leg, which had been cut somehow. Kain, who had appeared out of nowhere, struck the man’s shoulder with his staff. He drove his fist into the stomach of a resisting subordinate—a fist wrapped in thorny rose vines.

“Ah, aah, aaaaargh!”

Kain threw aside the convulsing subordinate. Adjusting his grip on his sword, he glared at his adversaries and the Hero of Charity.

“You put Giuseppe Conlone in the Ship of Fools. You used prisoners to process the asas plant, and shared it with Hans of Diligence and Roberta of Kindness. All to strengthen the Black Phoenix Faith.”

“Catch him!”

The command came, but it was too late. Instead of retreating, Kain sprang forward like a coiled spring. He stabbed his staff into the belly of an attacker and deflected an incoming sword aimed at his head with his own blade.

More smoke poured in through the window, obscuring Kain from view. The mercenaries looked around nervously, their teeth chattering.

“The three of you nurtured the Black Phoenix Faith, which throws people into an abyss of hatred. A festering faith that endlessly creates and recreates hatred and anger.”

One man collapsed with a groan. It was impossible to tell where or how he had been hit, as only the silhouette in the smoke-filled room was visible.

“I asked who you are!” Leonardo shouted again with force. Someone else screamed and swung their sword. There was a clang, clang as they exchanged a couple of blows, then a single scream followed by a thud as they collapsed.

The view ahead was still obscured. The subordinates trembled, barely managing to hold their weapons. The sinister voice grew louder.

“When you heard that Roberta of Kindness and Hans of Diligence had fallen, you secured the asas first.

You spread false rumors about retiring and moving to the countryside, but what you really wanted was something else. To get this city in your grasp.

You loaded all the asas you’d gathered onto the Ship of Fools, then burned the entire ship to spread it throughout the city.

The people here don’t know much about asas.

People scream in fear, confront the terror filling their hearts, and take up weapons to flee and deny it.

According to your plan…”

The voice trailed off as the smoke cleared slightly. But only the subordinates were revealed outside the smoke. They exchanged glances.

“Aaaah!”

Someone was pulled into the smoke. The mercenaries raised their weapons in unison and charged into the smoke. The sounds of fighting, screams, groans, weapons tearing flesh, and blunt objects crushing bones were vivid.

But they soon fell silent. Only the writhing smoke remained. From within it, Kain rose.

“According to your plan, people would have killed each other. Neighbors killing neighbors, family killing family, not to mention lovers and friends.

But you don’t have enough asas. You can plunge the city into momentary chaos, but not as much as you hoped. Soon the seasonal winds will blow, and this city will be cleansed.

So you took hostages and attacked the Duce. You tried to frighten people by exploiting their ignorance about asas.

Claiming that only the ‘Hero of Charity’ could lift this shadow. But when the Duce wouldn’t give in easily, you changed your plan.

You were going to claim that the Duce himself was the source of all this trouble, and that you had ‘no choice’ but to eliminate him.”

No subordinates remained standing. Only Leonardo was left.

“Tell me, what exactly are you!”

The Hero of Charity took his stance. His empty left arm extended forward, while his right arm, gripping a cutlass, was pulled back toward his body.

Kain readjusted his grip on his staff and sword. He also tightened the rose thorns that were slipping. Blood dripped from his right hand onto the floor, but he paid no attention to it.

Due to the influence of asas, Leonardo’s face no longer looked human. He resembled a lizard standing on two legs—like the fire-breathing dragon figures commonly seen in fountains.

But Kain didn’t trust his eyes. Or rather, he didn’t take them at face value. The only thing that kept him “here and now,” the only thing he could believe in or rely on, was pain.

That’s why Kain showed no fear, no terror, no intimidation. Only cold contempt.

“Is this the best script your meager mind could come up with? Hiding in the corners of the world, making drugs that drive people insane, then burning everything when you’re about to be exposed?

You ask who I am? Tell me yourself. Ask yourself! Are you truly the ‘Hero of Charity’? Or are you just a pretender who throws tantrums and destroys everything when you can’t get what you want?”

Words no longer had any effect. Leonardo charged with a monstrous cry. A dragon that had lost its reason spewed fire from its mouth, tore the ground with its claws, and roared with bared teeth.

“How, how dare you, how dare someone like you pretend to know anything!”

Leonardo swung his sword wildly and stepped back. He took out a small pouch from his pocket and tore the packaging with his teeth. It was powdered asas, refined and solidified. He tore about half of it and threw it.

The subordinates who had fallen but remained conscious, along with the hostages including the Duce, let out piercing screams. A nightmare more vivid than reality engulfed them. Terrible things they couldn’t even imagine appeared before them.

Leonardo was certain of victory.

The Fifth Crusade. A drug that had awakened even those who were already little more than beasts in the deepest territory of the Demon King. The crusaders whose minds had collapsed were closer to beasts in human form. They could only be controlled with drugs.

But ridiculously easily, the sword was knocked away with a thud. It stuck in the floor, quivering tensely.

“How…”

Leonardo clutched his numbed right hand. Kain pulled back his staff and pointed his left arm’s cutlass at Leonardo.

“How… how are you still standing? A human, a human can’t do that. No one can stand so stiffly on two legs like that! Demon, you’re a de-demon!”

“No.”

The sword disappeared. Then a fist flew in—a fist with rose thorns protruding from it. With a single scream, Leonardo was knocked down. He screamed with thorns embedded in his face.

The Hero of Charity saw it.

A wolf standing on two legs, covered in smoke and shadow, looking down at him. Its eyes blazed with flame, and cursed blood dripped from its right hand. Each time the blood touched the floor, it burned with a sizzle.

Instead of a mane, it had black fire. Instead of arms, it had massive claws. The creature opened its terrifying maw and spoke.

“I am your punisher.”

* * * * *

‘It’s a dream. A bad dream.’

Lost in hallucinations, Francesco trembled. He slowly recalled how he had ended up in this situation.

He had been on his way to his workshop as usual. On the way, men who identified themselves as Leonardo’s subordinates had respectfully escorted him, saying there was somewhere he needed to go.

Without much suspicion, he followed them to a place where his apprentice Bella and the families of wealthy and powerful people were gathered.

When he began to sense something was wrong, a dark shadow suddenly enveloped him from somewhere. At that moment, the world he knew was erased.

He struggled and tried to escape, but something gripping his neck tightly—possibly a human hand or a beast’s maw—left him trembling.

When he opened his eyes, he was here. Someone had groaned softly, “Your Excellency the Duce.” Indeed, the Duce was sitting in a chair, trembling, while Leonardo of Charity was pointing a sword at him, claiming the Demon King had arrived.

The Duce refused. Leonardo declared that the Duce himself had fallen to the Demon King. He claimed that the Duce was the one who had brought them all here, that they had been kidnapped by those who had sold out his name.

And now he declared that he would rectify all this chaos, proclaiming himself to be the light.

‘I want to escape.’

This place is terrible. Former colleagues burned at the stake. Bella beside him, alternating between groans and screams. The Duce, whose elderly mask had crumbled away, revealing a strange true form.

The only hope lies in the light. In the darkness, shadows, and smoke, only those children of light stand proud.

Something unbelievable is happening. That beast, that wolf-like evil spirit, that monster who falsely claims the name of the Supreme Council, is taking down the children of light one by one.

The hero’s companions boldly drew their swords, and priests shimmering with golden light bestowed blessings and recited prayers. Surrounded by radiance, they seem fearless.

But they were no match for the evil spirit.

For every one swing of the light warriors’ swords, it swung twice. It responded to thrusts with thrusts, to slashes with slashes. But it was much faster and more precise than the children of light.

When the warriors on the defensive tried to block with their weapons, it wildly swung its staff and sword. It seemed intent not on cutting people but on shattering the weapons themselves.

Even to Francesco, who had neither talent nor eye for combat, the situation looked utterly bleak. The evil spirit hunched its body, flowing fluidly to the sides of the warriors. Each time it swung its staff, a beast’s maw rose up. Each time it brought down its raised sword, a monster’s forepaw struck down.

And each time, it was the children of light who fell, clutching severed arms and cut legs. Now even the light warrior had fallen. The beast standing on two legs looked down at the warrior, growling.

* * * * *

“Punishment? You say punishment?”

Leonardo growled, looking up at the beast.

“Who, who dares to punish me! Who dares to punish me?”

“I know what you did in that wasteland.”

Leonardo’s body stiffened at the beast’s words.

“I know what your comrade did to that girl. What you did to that boy. I know that the boy who returned from death is taking your lives. You claimed to have defeated the Demon King, but you were more evil than the Demon King.”

“You know nothing.”

Leonardo trembled.

“You don’t know what we saw there!”

“Was there actually something to see?”

The beast asked. Leonardo’s entire body shook.

“Was there really a Demon King? Tell me. What did you see in the heart of that wasteland? I’ve already met countless people. They all said the same thing. That the Demon King cannot be killed. So you claim that instead of killing the Demon King, you sealed him and buried him in the ground. But now even that claim is doubtful.”

“Yes. It was there.”

Leonardo answered through gritted teeth. Meanwhile, he surreptitiously moved his hand toward his waist. The dagger he had carried with him since becoming a pirate. It was time to draw out his final ace, which had taken countless lives in situations like this. Fortunately, the evil spirit didn’t seem to have noticed yet.

“The Demon King was everywhere we looked. If someone shouted it was there, it was there, and if they shouted it was here, it was here.

Even its appearance varied! It appeared to each of us in the form we feared most! We had to fight our own Demon Kings day and night.

I don’t know how much time we spent, how much we wandered. I don’t even remember. Then we accidentally realized.”

“What?”

“That the cause and effect were reversed.”

The beast closed its mouth. Leonardo pretended to think while slightly turning his body. Just a little more reach, and he could easily draw his knife.

“That the Demon King didn’t ‘appear’ and then the crusade was launched, but rather the crusade was launched and only then was the Demon King ‘created’!”

At last. Leonardo gripped the dagger.