Ch.455I Won’t Tell You

Lübitz, sprawled out after losing all his power.

What followed was, quite literally, a festival of screams upon screams.

“AAAAARGH! GAAACK! GRAAAAGH!”

“You bastard, you bastard. What was it you said to me? Something like ‘Behold the wisdom of the dark mana’? Why don’t you say it again?”

I gripped Durandal in reverse and laughed as I repeatedly stabbed various parts of Lübitz’s body.

With each thrust and withdrawal of the blade, Lübitz spurted blood and flopped around like a fish on a cutting board.

“You end up like this, yet you were so full of yourself?”

“GEEEEEK…! G-Grimnir, my lord! Why, AAAACK! WHYYYYY!”

“Maybe because your Grimnir is just that much of an idiot? ‘God of Dark Mana’—sounds like an evil god from the start. No wonder you ended up like this, believing in such a minor deity. Forget him and believe in Elpinel. They say if you believe in her, your pain will heal and everything you do will go smoothly.”

Though I don’t believe it myself.

This was bordering on blasphemy and not something I should say in front of other religious people, but to me, this Grimnir he believed in seemed extremely suspicious.

Just look at the fact that he keeps a madman who drains negative mana as a cardinal.

Anyway, I continued to thoroughly poke at Lübitz’s body for a while.

Enjoying the sight of him screaming in agony each time I thrust and pulled out the long, hard object.

Of course, I wasn’t engaging in this brutality just to relieve stress.

Though I did feel my anger subsiding with each stab, that was merely a secondary effect—I had another purpose.

“AAAAARGH! You, you biiitch!”

“Yes, keep screaming. Being stabbed by a true silver sword means you can’t use magic, and even healing miracles can only keep you barely alive. What will you do now? No way to resist? Got any solutions from that great wisdom of yours?”

For a warrior, losing limbs would mean complete incapacitation, but he was both a priest and a mage.

If he had even a little strength left, he could make one final desperate move even with just his torso remaining.

“AAAAARGH!”

“Guess not. That ‘wisdom of dark mana’ isn’t much after all.”

So I was eliminating even the chance for a last-ditch effort.

“Anyway, I have quite a few things I want to ask you, but this is rather inconvenient. Someone with your skill could probably still use magic or miracles once you recover your strength, even if I cut off your arms and pull out your tongue. Plus, it seems you’ve sent people after my companions, so I need to check on them too.”

Though I doubt they’d be defeated with Lacy, Agnes, Millia, and Demian there… but I should still go see.

“So, I’ll just ask one thing.”

With the blade still buried in Lübitz’s abdomen, I twisted it, leaned in close to his face, looked him in the eyes, and asked:

“Why did you attack me?”

The one question I couldn’t figure out until the end.

“I really don’t understand. Why did you try so hard to kill me? To cover up the dirty work you’ve been doing? To weaken the Church of Elpinel? Or simply because you didn’t like me? In the name of Elpinel, I’m willing to make this painless if you answer honestly.”

“Kuhek…! Keuuk…! So… that’s what you’re so curious about…?”

Lübitz spat blood from his contorted face, then tremblingly pulled up the corners of his mouth into a grin.

…He’s smiling in this situation?

“Then remain curious forever.”

Those were his last words.

With a splat, Lübitz’s head burst in all directions.

So thoroughly that not even ten Lacys could restore it. A suicide that happened before I could do anything.

“Ah, seriously. This bastard, until the very end…!”

I stuck my face in and got hit by this disaster for nothing.

It was completely unexpected. Who would have thought he’d commit suicide by blowing up his own head?

He was determined to screw me over until his final moment.

I wiped the brain fragments stuck to my face and roughly kicked his body.

The headless, hole-riddled corpse exploded, scattering entrails everywhere.

—-

After turning Lübitz into pieces of meat, I sat on a fragment of the altar, wiped my blood-covered face, and caught my breath.

Though I wanted to go find my companions immediately, my exhausted body was begging for even a moment’s rest.

“Phew….”

I won in the end, but… it wasn’t an easy fight.

My left arm was twisted, both legs were trembling, and my entire body was covered in lacerations and bruises.

I could taste blood in the cigarette smoke I inhaled.

It had been a fierce battle where every magic I knew seemed to have been deployed.

The underground prayer room, once filled with both ominous and sacred presences, was now completely destroyed like the aftermath of a nuclear war, with unidentifiable chunks of meat stuck to the walls, hanging limply.

One misstep and I would have ended up like that too.

Without Asha’s armor, I wouldn’t have lasted.

I stroked the gradually regenerating fur, grateful to Asha and Rurik for creating such a magnificent armor.

An armor that repairs itself automatically even when torn.

For someone like me who destroys armor in every battle, nothing could be more convenient.

The black iron scales, now thicker and sturdier than before, had cracked in a few places but none had completely shattered.

At this level, its defensive capabilities must rival a hero’s sacred armor.

“Oh, are you finished…? As expected of Lord Haschal! I knew you would win easily!”

As I was smoking and thinking, Hush emerged from the corridor behind the prayer room, covered in blood from head to toe, waving her hand.

Come to think of it, I won thanks to her.

She didn’t call for reinforcements as I ordered, but instead found and destroyed the source of Lübitz’s mana.

“It wasn’t an easy win… but yes, I won. So, what exactly did you do to come from that direction? And what happened to the others?”

“Ah, well, you see….”

Hush approached me and explained what had happened.

“…So those bastards were extracting life force from the poor and using it as mana?”

“Probably. I’m not sure exactly how, but they would carve these tattoos on their foreheads and extract something invisible.”

Hush drew three triangles with her finger.

…That’s a soul-splitting rune.

So that’s how these bastards were producing mana like water—they were using the souls of the poor as fuel…!

I really think I killed him too mercifully now.

These crazy bastards. Doing something like this while talking about the “wisdom of dark mana”?

But more importantly.

“So, what about the poor people?”

“Well… um… unfortunately, they all died. Even before having their life force extracted, their consciousness was already broken. They were just breathing corpses.”

Hush slightly bowed her head as she delivered the news of their deaths.

…Judging by her hesitation, I could guess what had happened.

“Haaa… so they’re all dead, is that it?”

I exhaled cigarette smoke mixed with a sigh and lowered my head.

So, she turned living corpses into actual corpses.

I could roughly guess what happened.

Considering how Lübitz had panicked about the “Eternal Spring” being broken, there was probably quite some time left before the souls of the poor would be completely consumed.

I would have likely been exhausted first.

But because Hush killed all the poor who were still breathing…

The power that had no more souls to extract automatically broke. That’s how I won.

“Haaa….”

I sighed again.

…I don’t know whether to scold her or praise her.

It certainly wasn’t the right thing to do.

It meant that she had mercilessly taken hundreds of lives, at the very least, for my victory.

But.

Though it certainly wasn’t right…

If Hush hadn’t killed them, I would have fallen to Lübitz’s magic.

After defeating me, Lübitz would have killed the rest of my companions too.

No matter how I looked at it, there was no way those poor people could have survived. Not from the beginning.

They were doomed to die no matter what.

And they were doomed to die by having their souls extracted.

Should I scold her for killing them a little earlier, and somewhat more peacefully?

It was truly an ambiguous issue.

From the situation, Hush killing them seemed unavoidable.

Unavoidable…

Yes. It’s always like that. Always full of unavoidable things. Damn it.

I roughly tapped off my cigarette ash and organized my thoughts.

It certainly couldn’t be called a good deed… but at least, it wasn’t something I should interrogate her about, since I owed her my life.

Killing the poor was probably what she considered the most certain method.

Having lived her entire life in the underworld, her way of thinking was bound to be different. It was an issue that could be corrected over time.

She would change eventually.

So… let’s let it go this time. That’s what I decided.

Of course, I should still give her some advice.

This kind of approach couldn’t continue.

“Haaa… you shouldn’t kill people so carelessly. Even if they were ‘living corpses,’ whether they were truly beyond hope or not—that’s not something you can judge.”

“Oh, um… well….”

Hush’s face turned a bit pale.

Did she think I was scolding her?

I chuckled, stamped out my finished cigarette, and patted the head of the nervous girl.

“Well… thanks to you, I survived. Thank you.”

“Eek…! Ah, um. Y-yes! I’ll be more careful in the future!”

Hush, who had been trembling while looking at my hand, finally nodded vigorously and relaxed.

Did she think I was going to hit her? Anyone watching would think I was an abusive slave owner.

“Good. That’s all I need. You’re not badly hurt, are you? Then let’s head to the hideout right away. I don’t think they’ll lose, but just in case.”

“Yes!”

“…Shake the blood off your clothes before we go.”

I shrugged, got up, and headed toward the corridor Hush had emerged from.

The entrance we originally came through had long since collapsed.

—-

“Um… by the way, Lord Haschal. May I ask you one thing?”

“What is it?”

“Well… you said you won thanks to me. You even thanked me. So, is there, you know, some kind of reward? Though it’s hard to call it a success, but as promised, maybe releasing me from my slave status…?”

Ah, I did make such a promise.

Ha. Really. Back then, I couldn’t have imagined things would get so complicated.

“Well… I’ll see how you do from now on.”

“Aaaah, no way…!”

Hush gaped in shock.

Though I was tired and heavy-hearted, I couldn’t help but laugh at her expression.

“I’m joking. I can’t set you completely free, but I can remove the slave mark. I’ll even pay you a salary if you want. Be satisfied with that for now.”

“Yes! Thank you!”

Hush bowed deeply.

Is she that happy to be freed from what was essentially slavery in name only?

If she had a tail, it would be wagging furiously.

And so, we left the cathedral and headed to the clothing store where our companions were waiting.

Planning to lend a hand if they were still fighting.

—-

-CRACK!

There was no battle as expected.

What greeted us at the hideout was the sight of the last remaining paladin being cut in half by Demian’s greatsword.