Ch.61Rush

I cut through.

The sword I swing is heavier than ever before.

My vision turns crimson red.

With each exhale, my thoughts fragment and break.

Is this rising emotion anger or guilt?

Even my judgment slowly fades, leaving only my shoulders unbearably heavy.

With each step I take, I face my sins.

With each beast I cut down, the corpses mock me.

Yes, I know. This is all my fault.

Thinking there was enough time left? There’s a limit to such complacency!

I couldn’t deny it.

This catastrophe was my responsibility.

I know, I know.

I understand perfectly well without you telling me.

So—

Just shut up, you damn sword!

…….

…What did I just say?

I think I shouted something… but I can’t remember.

Perhaps I’ve inhaled too much smoke. My mind is in chaos.

Let’s not worry about it.

I lift my head to look at the blackened sky, breathing in the scorching air filled with flames.

Acrid smoke fills my lungs.

—-

How many more have I cut down?

I don’t know. Where am I? Why was I doing this again?

My consciousness grows dizzy, my vision spinning and flipping repeatedly.

I no longer hear human screams or the werebeasts’ roars.

Only laughter echoes, pounding inside my boiling mind.

Everyone is doubled over with laughter.

Giggling, as if going mad. With empty eyes.

The beasts approach.

Or am I approaching them? I can’t tell. My head feels dizzy and numb, perhaps from inhaling too much smoke.

I swing my sword toward them.

A monstrous howl erupts.

The beasts are torn to pieces amid a whirlwind of blood.

Piece by piece.

Piece by piece.

Dozens of limbs tumble across the dirt, mixing together amicably.

Are they human limbs or beast limbs?

They shouldn’t mix, but once cut, I can no longer tell them apart.

So I keep cutting.

“You… monster bastard…!”

A werebeast charges at me with a roar.

With fur-covered arms and raised sharp claws.

Not just a rampaging inferior species, but a half-breed warrior of moderate strength.

A Millichia.

The source of all this.

The beast whose face is pierced by my left hand screams like a pig.

Are you perhaps a pig werebeast?

No answer came.

What a shame. I was a bit curious.

I see that a face with a hole, even with a mouth remaining, is useless.

I kick the beast away and pull out my hand.

Crushed brain and medulla oblongata come out stuck to my fingertips.

How disgusting.

I shake off the creature’s remains onto the ground, repulsed by the rotten, fishy smell.

The stench was so strong it made me dizzy.

Or was I dizzy even before smelling it?

I stagger forward.

—-

The world was filled with nothing but corpses.

Corpses I created. Corpses I will create.

They all gather together and stare at me.

Human eyes are blue, beast eyes are yellow.

Countless gazes roll across the ground.

Glaring at me accusingly.

Stop. Don’t look at me like that. Please.

Why? Laughter bursts out instead of screams.

When I laugh, they laugh too.

Everyone laughs joyfully.

Yes, laugh like that instead.

Don’t glare at me. Don’t interrogate me.

I’m not bad.

I’m not bad, I tell you.

How could I have known this would happen!

It’s my fault.

No, it’s not my fault! It’s not!

Then whose fault is it!

“Imperial bastaaaaard!”

In my tilted vision.

A large beast charges at me with a fierce roar.

Enemy.

Instinct raises its claws.

Guilt and self-loathing fade away, replaced by hatred.

Ah, yes. There it is!

The beast lunges with its blood-soaked muzzle wide open.

Between its sharp teeth, human flesh glistens.

Boundless rage ignites like wildfire.

See, these creatures are the evil ones.

The longsword in my grip trembles with killing intent.

These are the ones who deserve to die!!

A blue radiance slashes through the air.

Chunks of meat rain down like a downpour.

—-

I’m thirsty.

I catch the streaming blood and drink it.

There’s no water here anyway.

Only flickering flames remain.

With a gulp, I swallow the fishy liquid filling my mouth.

The lukewarm fluid passes down my throat.

Something so sweet it becomes horrifying.

My body absorbs the moisture and regains vitality.

Like tempering heated steel, my melting brain slowly cools.

And so, sadly, my consciousness returns.

“Keh! Keheck! Kuhurk…!”

My lungs, filled with ash and smoke, cough up black phlegm.

How much time has passed?

Surely, I was running to find Demian, then fighting again.

Running again, fighting.

Then gradually, my consciousness blurred from the heat and smoke…

And now I’m in this state.

This is not the appearance of a human. Not even the appearance of a beast.

Like blood and entrails gathered together and molded into human shape.

That was my appearance.

Did I run through the city looking like this?

It’s a miracle I wasn’t mistaken for a monster and attacked.

Is the duration of the blessings wearing off? The holy light within me flickers like a dying firefly.

I try to wipe my face but give up. This blood won’t be cleaned by hands.

It would be like rubbing blood with blood.

I only shake off the entrails stuck to my body like ropes. The smell was terrible.

Even the sword in my hand is covered in all sorts of things, making it sticky.

I swing it through the air to shake off the blood and fat clinging to it.

A cold blue light flashes again.

Yes. At least I’ve regained my senses, which is fortunate.

This is no time to rampage—I need to find Demian first.

The city was still burning.

Though the flames seemed somewhat weaker than before.

The screams had subsided too. Were they saved? Or all dead?

I couldn’t tell. I didn’t want to know either.

—-

I ran through the city again.

My sense of smell was useless. The smell of burning was overwhelming everywhere.

I had to rely solely on intuition to find them.

“Kyaaaah!”

A scream.

My footsteps halt. My body spins around and sprints toward the source of the scream.

Several buildings flash by in an instant.

Blood trails behind me, unable to keep up with my speed, spraying through the air.

Like a comet with a red tail.

Found them.

Five people. Two wearing uniforms. Two students and three civilians?

There were survivors.

The cowardice I felt in my relief was truly disgusting.

…This is no time for self-reproach.

I turn my eyes to identify the enemy.

Two werebeasts. Half-breeds. Warriors. Millichia.

Two beasts pointing their claws at the people huddled on the ground.

These damn beasts.

I kick off the ground and charge with all my might.

The ground forms concentric ripples before shattering like glass.

“Kyaaaaaaaa!”

Everything in my retina stretches into lines.

The air hammers against my body.

The enemy appears right before me.

The startled werebeast raises a thick greatsword like a shield.

It doesn’t matter.

I will pierce through. No matter what stands in my way.

I shoot out my clenched left fist.

With firm intent, as if in prayer.

Something flows into my outstretched fist.

Something… indescribable.

–

There was no sound.

The werebeast’s upper body exploded like a blizzard.

—-

No one could speak.

What happened before their eyes was impossible to comprehend.

In fact, even I couldn’t.

The werebeast beside me stares blankly at the remains of what was its comrade moments ago, with eyes widened to the point of tearing.

A pale flash grazes the beast’s waist.

The werebeast’s upper body slides off, bidding farewell to its lower half.

The fountain of blood extinguishes the fire behind it.

The holy light of blessing completely fades away.

My knees buckle from the exhaustion, as if all my strength has been squeezed out.

“Kuuugh…!”

I force myself to endure.

This is nothing.

Just a little weakness, that’s all.

“Uh, ah? Uhhh…?”

The people who turned to look could barely speak.

They seemed half out of their minds.

“First year, Magic Department? Right! Snap out of it!”

I gently shake one student’s shoulder.

If I slapped his face to wake him up, his head might come off.

“Ah, uh, what, um… Ka’har?”

Fortunately, he recognized me.

The boy stood up shakily, trembling.

Now I see he was the young mage I had sparred with before.

His youthful face was pale with terror.

“Have you seen Demian and Millia?”

“Demian…? Ah, the Swordsmanship Department… if it’s them, that way…!”

The boy pointed somewhere with his trembling hand.

Northeast, perhaps. When I focused, I could sense numerous presences.

The presences of werebeasts and students.

Were they all still fighting over there?

That would be fortunate.

At that moment, a rumbling sound echoed from that direction.

The startled boy hunched his shoulders.

Beyond there, a building was collapsing with a crash.

Demian.

Millia.

Anxiety stirred my heart.

This wasn’t destruction an ordinary warrior could cause.

There must be a Champion over there.

Those whom even Nigel could barely match.

The blood drains from my face as if being pulled underground.

I needed to hurry.

“Take these people back to the academy!”

“What? What about you!”

There’s no time to answer. I turn and run.

I had to protect the protagonist of this world.

I had to protect my friends.

Demian, Millia. Just hold on, please just hold on a little longer. I’m coming right now…!

Don’t die.

—-

Just a few kilometers.

Yet the distance felt so vast.

Enemies endlessly blocked my path.

I couldn’t ignore them and run.

Passing them by meant leaving the students beside them to die.

So I swing my sword as I advance. Simply cutting down all the werebeasts in sight.

Protecting all the people I see.

A sweet smell emanated from my mouth. My arms trembled. My legs felt heavy as if shackled.

My strength was running out. My overexerted body screamed in protest.

But the sword doesn’t stop.

With each pale arc drawn through the air, werebeasts fall, spewing blood.

No one who stood before me withstood more than two attacks.

It was strange.

While my body grew increasingly tired, my slashes became sharper.

Both the beasts’ tough flesh and solid steel weapons were all cut through like paper.

Axes, greatswords, spears—I cut through them all.

A faint golden light mixes with the blue afterimage.

The inscription on the blade was gradually beginning to shine.

How many beasts had I cut down? How many people had I saved?

After the count exceeded fifty, I stopped counting.

Wasting mental energy on such things was pointless.

I empty my mind and think of only two things.

Kill the werebeasts.

Move forward.

Only that.

Finally, I could see the end.

—-

An open space turned to ruins, filled with broken debris.

A leopard werebeast was coldly looking down at a kneeling boy.

Holding a longsword raised above her head, ready to strike down at any moment.

The boy, leaning on a broken greatsword, glared back at her while breathing heavily.

His staggering body was in a miserable state, covered with tears and cuts everywhere.

And beside the boy.

A girl with green hair lay fallen.

Clutching a bow broken in half.

Motionless, on a pool of blood.

Something snapped, and my mind burst into flames.

“You beast bastaaaaaaaard!”

I’ll kill you.

I charged at the enemy and struck with my sword like lightning.

– Clang!

My full-force strike is blocked.

The two longswords spark fiercely as they scrape against each other.

The leopard werebeast, who had been looking at me with puzzled eyes, soon showed a surprised expression.

“Ah, it’s that woman. Priority target. The Ka’har female.”

“Yes! I am Haschal Aishan-Gioro!”

My second sword strike is blocked again. Again. And again.

A series of explosive sounds ring out.

Not the sound of flesh being cut, but only the sound of metal clashing.

All my attacks are blocked and deflected.

In both strength and speed, the enemy had the advantage.

Had gained the advantage.

“Kuk…!”

“Your spirit is impressive. But you seem quite exhausted?”

The leopard werebeast smiled, baring her teeth.