Ch.44Reason

Don’t make me laugh.

I rose, drawing in malice.

I picked up the fallen longsword.

An intense impulse surging from my fingertips pounded my heart.

“For survival, you said? Sure, you can survive! By devouring everything around you and standing alone!”

“You know nothing, bastard!”

I gripped the sword and charged.

Blood streamed down my back.

“I don’t know. No, I don’t want to know! The circumstances of a madman who massacred three thousand people for such reasons!”

“Shut up and fight!”

I simply crushed the spear of power that flew at me with rage.

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

Scattered winds tore through the clearing.

“What did you think while hearing their screams? Did you enjoy being alive while looking down at their deaths?”

“I told you to shut up!”

My sword strike was blocked by his axe. It doesn’t matter, I’ll break through.

Until that mouth is shut.

My left hand struck down, shattering the axe blade.

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

The spear tip pierced through my shoulder. It doesn’t matter.

I headbutted Knut’s face.

One of Knut’s eyes burst out.

Blood flowed from his head.

“Arghhhh!”

Crying tears of blood, Knut bit off my ear.

“I… will never forgive you, the Ka’har! In the name of my father, mother, and little sister, I vowed to the War God that I would kill all of you!”

“After all that high talk, it’s just revenge in the end!”

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

This is a technique I learned from Millia.

Knut’s left arm was severed. A fountain of blood soaked the ground.

The following sword strike aimed for his neck.

“Die!”

“Volberg!”

A storm erupted from the spear tip piercing my shoulder.

Unable to withstand it, I was thrown back and rolled across the ground.

A red trail stretched across the ruined dirt floor.

“The grudge of the innocent you slaughtered! The wails of those who lost their families and were sold into slavery! If they are merely food for your survival, then die here crushed under their weight! At last, the War God’s judgment shall be fulfilled! Ka’har whore, Haschal Aishan-Gioro!”

From Knut’s battered body, a gray holy light blazed like a forest fire.

It was power drawn by burning away all his life force.

I drew out Frosting.

—-

A monster that eats people?

Do you think I wanted to do such things?

I’m doing this now to avoid doing those very things!

Indignation welled up inside me.

Yes. It would have been easier if I had just turned a blind eye and lived among the Ka’har.

Adapting to them and letting go of my heart. I could have lived as their queen like Hersella!

My brothers’ threats? I could have killed them first!

My subordinates’ suspicions? I could have crushed them all with power!

Bad ending? How could I fail to avoid what I already knew?

It was all lies.

All just self-justification to leave that place!

To escape those monsters who joyfully slaughtered people.

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

Countless gazes that hate me, resent me, suspect me.

Lying to myself that none of it bothered me.

Even if I had to endure like this for a lifetime, I did it to live as a human!

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

I must fight, fight, and fight again. That’s how I survive!

– Yes.

Because I know.

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

Knowing that, how could I just stand by!

– That’s right. You must do it.

What will happen to them if I die?

Who else could stop the coming enemies and save the people destined to die?

– Save the people. By any means necessary.

Until Demian saves the world, do you even know how many people will die, Knut!

So I’m going to kill you. And afterward, I’ll regret it.

But I can’t die here!

I gritted my teeth and stood up.

I can tolerate you spewing hatred at me.

But I cannot tolerate being called a monster.

“I came all this way to avoid becoming a monster!”

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

A chilling cold crept up my arm and into my heart.

– Finally…!

I heard someone’s cheer.

My vision turned red.

—-

A sense of liberation like falling seized me.

My body was freezing cold.

My thoughts… disconnected.

The final fang I finally drew was an object that was a curse itself.

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!”

I howled, spitting blood.

Running on all fours like a beast, toward someone visible ahead…

…who was it?

I charge toward someone I can’t remember.

The karma of slaughter that had soaked my entire body takes form and envelops me.

Blood-red energy twisted around my left arm.

The gray enemy threw a spear.

Worm.

I thrust out my left hand.

The vortex shattered into pieces, and the spear split vertically.

“What is this…!”

I charge at the prey who stares in shock.

With the short fang drawn from my waist gripped in my right hand.

I grab his flying right leg and tear it apart.

“Kh…gack..!”

I throw away the leg that has turned into a lump of meat.

The prey who lost his leg supports himself with gray energy.

The prey pulls something embedded in his body and strikes down.

I grab it with my left hand and crush it.

The metal fragments fall between my fingers.

The energy concentrated on the prey’s left arm pierced through my right arm.

My right arm no longer moved.

How annoying.

If he still resists without limbs, I’ll just stop his breath.

I pierced his abdomen with my left arm.

“Kuhuk…!”

The prey coughed up blood.

Shredded intestines tangled around my fingertips.

I grabbed them and pulled them out.

“Aaaaargh!”

The lump of meat screamed.

A fountain of blood sprayed my face as his stomach burst open.

I licked what was on my lips.

“Ai…shan, Gio…rooooo!”

A gray wave erupted.

Unable to withstand it, I fell backward.

My left leg twisted.

I reached out and twisted it back.

“Kyahaa..!”

Blood rose up through my throat.

Anyway, it’s all over now.

Baring my teeth in a mocking smile, I observed the lump of meat before me.

With only one arm and one leg left, stomach torn open with intestines spilling out, what a sight.

The blood pooled at my feet was almost a lake.

He’ll die instantly if I leave him alone.

Just to be sure, I’ll gather some strength, then pounce with my right leg and tear out his throat to finish it.

I’m hungry.

Drooling, I crouched to prepare to jump.

Something bumped against my fingertips.

I turned my head and looked at my fingertips.

It was a long claw with a blue tint.

There’s something… written on it…

This is…

A golden inscription caught my eye.

[One of the twelve swords that protect humanity. Median]

Ah.

What… was I doing just now…?

My consciousness returned as if cold water had been poured over me.

As if my blood had frozen, a shivering cold circled my entire body, making me tremble.

Pain I hadn’t been aware of rushed in like a wildfire.

Cold and hot, it was maddening pain.

I immediately threw off Frosting.

My exposed left arm was tinged with a pale purple.

What on earth is this weapon?

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

Something inhuman was forcibly twisting my mind.

As if blood filled my brain, I could only see red before my eyes, and only one scent remained in my nostrils.

Hersella… fought with this thing in the future…?

No wonder she became a crazed mass murderer.

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

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

“Your demeanor… has changed… Your mind, kuhek…! Has your mind returned…?”

Only then did my consciousness turn to Knut at that broken voice.

He too was now lying face down on the ground.

Half-submerged in the pool of blood flowing from his body.

“Knut…”

He no longer looked human.

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

I had no strength left to approach and kill him.

There was no need either.

Unless a saint came, there was no way to survive in that state.

“You say you won’t become a monster…? Look at yourself now… and still say such things…?”

His voice gradually faded.

I had nothing to say.

I never imagined Frosting would be such a vicious object.

This was literally a weapon that turned people into monsters.

“I… despise you… For survival, you say… Devouring others… fighting only for yourself… People shouldn’t… be like that.”

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

Yes. That’s what it’s for.

“More… nonsensical sophistry…”

Knut let out a hollow laugh.

It was a weak laugh, similar to a dying patient’s last moments.

I could feel the forest stirring with movement.

Yes. After fighting with such noise, they would come to check what happened.

I needed to remove the evidence and flee.

My longsword and dagger fragments, Imelia’s sword and torn armor pieces too.

Staggering to my feet, I used Imelia’s sword in its sheath as a cane and painfully dragged my body to gather the traces.

The daggers I had thrown at Knut were already reduced to powder, perhaps destroyed in the gray storm earlier.

“…Are you leaving… Yes, I’ll watch your struggle… from the celestial palace…”

Leaving Knut’s murmurs behind, I staggered toward where my team members were.

My knees buckled and collapsed, forcing me to crawl on the ground.

“Astrid…”

From behind me, I heard a fading murmur.