Ch.28Interlude

The fairies were huddled together in front of a screen created by the Queen’s magic. Khan, who had been moving to confront the forest intruders to protect them, soon encountered these trespassers.

The intruders who narrowly avoided his first attack couldn’t properly counter Khan’s overwhelming presence and focused solely on evasion.

“Wow!!! Your Majesty! The bull is winning!”

“That’s right! They said the black bull would do a good job, and it seems to be true!”

Among the excited chattering fairies, only the Queen and Mary had troubled expressions. The Queen looked as though she was witnessing something she shouldn’t see, while Mary appeared worried to death.

“Your Majesty… Khan is sad. He’s furious about what happened… I keep feeling like we shouldn’t just leave things as they are…”

“Mary, my poor child… All we can do now is watch. But as you said, his condition is very concerning.”

Perhaps we should prepare for the worst.

At the Queen’s calm words, Mary finally burst into tears. She wept for those who had fallen to protect them, and for her friend who was now raging to defend them.

And she was disappointed in herself for only being able to watch.

Eventually, Mary’s worries became reality.

When the human male removed his clothes, a skeleton was revealed underneath. Inside its bones was only a core engulfed in green flames.

And then… the one who had thrown off his clothes began waving a conductor’s baton made of ribs, like a music director leading an orchestra.

Following his direction, skeletons engulfed in green flames rose into the air, clacking their jaws as if singing in chorus, and the green flaming carriage wheels did the same.

Khan rushed to stop him, but suddenly a red-haired minotaur appeared from the side and blocked his path.

The minotaur, identical to Khan except for its long red hair, sent Khan flying.

Then it charged at Khan, pummeling him with punches and using its horns—a minotaur’s most powerful weapon—to corner him.

“No! Why is that bull bullying our black bull?!”

“Be careful, black bull!”

“Dodge! You can’t just keep taking hits like that!”

As Mary wept watching Khan being beaten, she noticed something strange. The red minotaur and Khan should have been the same size, but somehow Khan now appeared larger.

The red minotaur swung its arms, but suddenly those arms were being blocked by Khan’s shoulders rather than hitting his face. When it charged with its horns, they were stabbing into Khan’s body rather than clashing with his horns.

As they began to notice Khan’s gradually increasing size, something happened.

When the skeleton choir finished their song and the skeleton with only facial skin shouted something…

The sky tore open.

A black line appeared, and grabbing that line to tear open the sky was a black skeleton. This skeleton had a halo on its head, and after charging light in its mouth, it fired at Khan.

“No!!!!”

“Watch out! Dodge, bull!”

The gathered fairies screamed and shouted for him to dodge quickly, but their voices couldn’t reach Khan’s ears from here.

Still, the fairies begged the screen, telling him to dodge quickly so he could survive. Despite their desperate pleas, Khan couldn’t escape the light until it disappeared.

The scene revealed after the light vanished was shocking. The ground and trees had turned gray. And… the enormously grown Khan appeared on the screen.

With a massive body reminiscent of the World Tree—mother of elves and a deity—and four horns instead of two.

Wrapped in green flames, standing on the gray earth with flashing red eyes, he looked like a Demon King descended upon the mortal realm.

Transformed into something like a Demon King.

He crushed thousands of skeletons using only his tail and legs, and shot down all the flying carriage wheels with lightning emanating from his body.

But then, the anomaly that Mary and the Queen had been worried about occurred.

While the surrounding fairies cheered and shouted “Win, black bull!” at the screen, there was an ominous ripping sound as Khan’s left arm began to tear bit by bit.

As if paying the price for wielding power beyond his capacity, his arm tore more severely with each movement until it was barely hanging from his shoulder.

“No———!!!!”

Mary finally screamed at the horrific sight, and the other fairies were too shocked to speak.

The rupturing that started in his arm soon spread throughout his entire body.

His tail snapped in the middle, and his horns—a minotaur’s pride—began developing holes like cheese gnawed by mice.

Chunks of flesh fell from his body, but despite his condition, he continued pursuing the fleeing intruders.

With each step through the forest, pieces of flesh fell from his body leaving traces everywhere, and his left arm dangled precariously, seemingly about to detach at any moment.

Dragging his broken body, he finally found the intruders he was chasing… but one had already escaped, while the other committed suicide by bursting her own heart.

After witnessing this scene, Khan let out a victorious roar… but could this really be called victory with his body in such a state?

Kuuuung———!!!!!!!

As if the pain he’d forgotten came rushing back now that the battle was over, Khan finally lost consciousness and collapsed.

“All fairies must help our benefactor! Gather together so we can bring our benefactor here!”

The fairies began leaving Fairy Tail to save Khan.

* * * * *

Darkness.

Literally nothing could be seen.

I was certainly… fighting against the red-haired one and the clergy party. Though consumed by rage and unable to control my body, I remembered everything clearly.

I withstood the cleric’s finishing move and tore off the arm of the red-haired one who had transformed to look exactly like me.

I shattered thousands of undead soldiers in just a few minutes, then pursued those who had used the army as a decoy to escape.

But… perhaps knowing I was tracking them with the lightning I’d left on the red-haired one, the man disappeared and the woman committed suicide by ripping out and bursting her own heart.

Then I let out a victorious roar and…

-ding…

-participant… mi… defeat… move…

I heard the system saying something and then passed out.

My body’s condition at the end was extremely serious. My left arm was about to break off, and my proud horns were riddled with holes, looking as hideous as cheese.

Chunks of flesh had fallen off, exposing my ribs, and though my tail had grown longer as my body enlarged, half of it had been severed.

Even if I were to wake up, I thought I had no chance of survival.

Then I began to wonder about this space. If I clearly remembered my final appearance, why was I in this space?

I had collapsed on the ground, so what was this space and why was I here? As my questions multiplied, I decided to open my status window.

『Race: Minotaurosor

Status: Critical Condition

Abilities: Strength – S

Agility – A

Endurance – A

Intelligence – B

Wisdom – B

Unique Trait: Predator Ratel

Traits: Beast’s Senses

Elements[Thunder]

Monstrous Strength

Indomitable

Sloth 「Greatly Weakened」

Basic Elements Manipulation

Magic Resistance (Small)

Rage ⇦ New!!』

Even in this empty space, the status window worked, allowing me to check my condition.

My status, which usually showed “Healthy,” now read “Critical Condition,” and I could see I had gained a new trait called “Rage.”

When I decided to check it, a detailed explanation of the trait 【Rage】 appeared before my eyes.

= = = = = = = = = = =

【Rage】: One of the powerful emotions known as the Seven Deadly Sins to humans. Just as anger raises body temperature, quickens breathing, and accelerates heartbeat, this trait works similarly.

Whenever you feel rage, your body will become increasingly powerful. Your fighting instincts become more active, and your body transforms to become more suitable for combat.

There is no limit to rage, and this trait, which strengthens you whenever you feel the emotion of anger, will grant you tremendous power. However, it is a double-edged sword that can harm your own body.

Remember. Rage will bring destruction to your enemies, but it does not discriminate.

Be careful not to be consumed by rage.

= = = = = = = = = = =

If I had read this earlier, I might have fought better. I might not have let one escape and could have killed them both.

Crack——

As I was thinking this, cracks began to form in the black space. Once a crack appeared, it quickly spread throughout the entire black space…

Crash——!

Bright light filled my eyes, and with the sensation of being pulled up to the surface, I escaped from this space.

* * * * *

“Khan!”

When I regained consciousness, I saw Mary crying in front of me.

She must have been crying the whole time I was unconscious, as her clear eyes were so swollen they could barely be seen.

I tried to lift my arm to wipe away her tears, but…

“Moo…”

I couldn’t move my arm. No, I couldn’t move my entire body, and when a sharp pain shot through me, I let out a pained groan.

“Don’t move! We’ve just barely managed to reattach your arm! The parts where your flesh fell off have only just started to heal, so don’t move.”

“Mooo…”

When I indicated I understood, Mary finally smiled. I wanted to tell her that if you laugh after crying, you’ll grow horns on your bottom, but the extreme pain made it difficult to speak.

“It’s best if you rest for now. Sleep well. When you wake up next time, everything will be fine.”

As the Queen approached and spoke kindly to me, Mary moved aside, and with the roulette that had been hidden behind her as my last sight…

My consciousness sank back into the abyss…

* * * * *

Inside a cathedral with elaborate interior decorations, a woman was kneeling.

Wearing a pure white veil, she was kneeling devoutly before a divine statue in prayer. Behind her, hundreds and thousands of people were watching her pray.

As everyone held their breath watching the woman in white’s prayer…

She opened her eyes, finishing her prayer.

“A divine revelation has descended.”

And the words from her mouth caused tremendous ripples.

A divine revelation after decades. At the fact that their god had finally responded, people inside the cathedral began to cheer.

Wooaaaaaah———!!!

Those who were cheering so loudly the cathedral might lift off quieted at the woman’s gesture.

“The divine revelation is this: In the deep forest to the west. The rage that has arisen there will burn the world. Rage takes the form of a bull, with four horns and lightning surging from its tail. Its body is like a massive mountain, and its fists are like giant boulders. Its horns are harder and sharper than anything else in the world, and the lightning spewing from its mouth cannot be opposed by anything. Beware, my children. If Rage continues to grow, the war of myths may be reenacted once more.”

The woman’s shocking words. That an evil being that would bring about the end of the world had been born again in this world. Before they could recover from the shock, the Saintess spoke again.

“The second divine revelation: In the deep cave to the northwest. The envy that has arisen there will cover the world with the undead. Envy is an undead that desecrates the dead, and will threaten you by wielding green flames that annihilate living beings. Envy will defile the dead with its green flames and cover the world with the undead to create a paradise for the dead. Beware, my children. If Envy continues to grow, the living will not be able to survive in this world.”

The shocking second revelation. The appearance of Envy, an undead that desecrates the dead. With the sudden appearance of two beings that would bring about the end, people in the cathedral began to murmur, eventually reaching one conclusion.

“It’s a holy war…”

Someone’s murmur spread like a plague. When one person spoke, the person next to them, and the person next to them…

Eventually, everyone in the cathedral called for a holy war.

Thump— Thump— Thump—

“It’s a holy war——!!”

“Holy war——!!”

“Absolutely a holy war——!!!”

The cathedral shook as they stomped their feet and called for holy war. Soon, their individual calls for holy war became one voice.

“Absolutely a holy war——!!!”

At that moment, the woman who had been quiet raised her hand to stop them. As they immediately fell silent before her…

“Saintess Aura declares.”

“This is a holy war.”

Waaaaaaaaaaa———!!!!