Chapter 38 – Carpeng Subjugation (5)

After my sister died, I became a reckless savage. I lived like a beast. I chose that path willingly.

To grow stronger, I honed my skills, increased my strength, and gained experience. But it was never enough.

So, I started by killing myself.

I threw away my pride and bowed my head at the feet of nobles, becoming a dog for a corrupt aristocrat.

Next, I killed beasts. On my master’s orders, I slaughtered every animal belonging to the commoners, reducing them to nothing. Without their livestock, they became slaves to the nobles.

Then, I killed people. On the orders of Erden, I killed the noble who had commanded me to slaughter those beasts. I killed my master. The noble’s only child, left behind, became a follower of Erden.

Then I killed innocent people. It was also by Erden’s command. A commoner, supposedly carrying the seed of corruption, had to be eliminated. I killed someone who had not yet committed any sin. His entire family was branded heretics and executed.

Lastly, I killed monsters—monstrous beasts of a new kind. They had taken human forms, or perhaps they had stolen human bodies. Regardless, I killed them.

They screamed in a way no human ever could. I severed their arms. They shed tears that resembled those of a human. I tore off their legs. Human blood sprayed everywhere. I gutted them. They cried out for their families. I decapitated them.

It was my master’s command. It was the only path to strength. They were beasts. So I killed them.

In return, I earned Erden’s approval. I was allowed to take the promotion trial at Erden’s temple. Under the blessing of the holy goddess, the trial began.

And there, in the depths of my mind, the past Hablon was recreated. The peaceful village of Hablon. The village where my sister had lived.

The condition for passing the trial was simple. I had to massacre the villagers. With my own hands. With the sword my sister had given me as a gift. I had to kill everyone—including my sister.

But I couldn’t stop. I had to grow stronger. I had to take revenge.

I caressed my right eye and carried on.

First, I killed the village gatekeeper—the man who had first offered me bread. Next, I killed the man who had given me my first job. I killed the village adventurer, the one who had taught me how to fight. I killed the village chief, the one who had accepted me. I killed the elderly woman who always made me warm soup.

One by one, I killed them all.

And in the end, I killed my sister. With my own hands. In a single strike, ensuring she felt no pain. I cut off her head.

No tears came. I didn’t feel guilty. I wasn’t in pain.

The trial ended. I was showered with recognition, cheers, and applause. I became a platinum-ranked adventurer. I awakened my unique ability: the power to cut through anything I could see. A rather ironic power, given that I was missing an eye.

But I was happy. For the first time since my sister’s death, I smiled.

I lived, basking in the recognition of others, making my name known across the continent.

And then, I learned the truth about Erden. I glimpsed fragments of the truth about this world. Everything I had relied on betrayed me.

I abandoned my humanity. I abandoned my past. I abandoned my heart.

And where I ended up was the bottomless abyss. A place without light. A place without salvation.

I fell into despair. The path I had walked was invalidated. Everything crumbled around me.

Having lost everything, I filled the emptiness in my heart with a burning desire for revenge. Against Carpeng. Against Erden. Against this world.

But I was small and powerless. Erden was an untouchable force. The world was beyond my reach, beyond comprehension. There was no way to put it into words.

I lived in despair, waiting for death to approach.

And then, I met Heinzel. I met Hermilla. They shared a past similar to mine. They had walked the same path. They had faced the same fate.

A small but precious flicker of hope began to burn.

The platinum adventurers, betrayed by Erden and exposed to the fragments of the truth, gathered in Alrba.

And it was there that I met a little girl who reminded me of my sister. She was blind. She had no magic. Her body, her personality—none of it suited that of an adventurer. The only thing that could identify her as an adventurer was the oversized greatsword she dragged around. It was even larger than she was.

I couldn’t help but laugh. I knew what the adventurer’s path entailed. I thought she wouldn’t last long.

I followed her, so I could save her when something unexpected happened.

But the girl was strong. She cut down countless monsters all by herself. She didn’t care about the minor injuries she suffered, her sole focus on taking the lives of the beasts.

She didn’t mind being drenched in blood. For half a day, she slaughtered monsters. She didn’t drink a drop of water. She showed no emotion. And she continued hunting.

After a long time had passed, the hunt ended, and she finally noticed me. I was far beyond her sight and out of reach of her perception. Yet, she still sensed me.

But the girl simply continued walking. Perhaps she knew I meant her no harm. Or maybe she was confident she could defeat me, even if I attacked.

Of course, I believed it was the former. Until yesterday, that’s what I thought. And now, my thoughts had changed.

Through my senses, I watched the girl stand against Carpeng. Perhaps, without her unique ability… She might have lost. I focused my senses on her and burned the sight of her into my mind. I watched her hunt Carpeng.

Then, with a sickening sound, blood splattered across my face.

“Keugh… Argh…”

Rubia’s voice, drenched in pain, reached my ears. I expanded my senses.

Multiple arrows had pierced Rubia’s body. They were all aimed at me. While healing me, holding off Carpeng, and protecting me, she had taken the arrows for me.

I had to get up. I had to pick up my sword. But my pitiful body refused to obey.

I pushed aside the feelings of self-loathing and focused on what I could do right now. Find the source.

I forcefully expanded my senses. A searing pain exploded in my head. My entire body trembled. Grinding my teeth, I endured it.

And then, I found her. A woman cloaked in robes. She wasn’t using magic but something else entirely to manipulate the wind.

Arrows were shot. From her hands. From beside her. From above. From all directions. They were all aimed at me, targeting my vital points.

But Rubia took the hits. She took the arrows in my place. Seventeen arrows pierced her body. Blood gushed from the holes in her stomach. It wasn’t enough for her to bleed from the wounds—now blood poured from her mouth and nose.

I forced my body to move. I filled the numbness with rage. I forgot the pain with thoughts of revenge.

I gathered my power and sent it to my heart. I pushed my blood to flow faster. I heated my body. My fingers started to move.

At that moment, the woman in the robe pulled out something familiar. A horn. The Berserk Horn that had destroyed Hablon. The same horn that had threatened Roholon.

She raised the horn to her lips. My body moved, slowly at first, but steadily gaining strength.

A sound like the sky ripping apart echoed. Carpeng let out a savage roar.

I pushed myself forward. Carpeng’s claws pierced the girl’s stomach. I pulled a sword from the ground. Blood energy erupted, ready to tear the girl apart.

I expanded my senses. I could see it. And if I could see it, I could cut it.

I swung my sword. The blood energy scattered. Blood gushed from the girl’s mouth. The sword shattered.

Arrows rained down from all directions, targeting me. Targeting the girl, targeting Heinzel.

I swung the broken sword again. I deflected the arrows. I blocked Carpeng’s claws. The blood energy. The arrows. The rubble. The deadly aura. The droplets of blood. My own life.

I swung at all of it. I cut through it.

Carpeng’s arm swung again. Too close. I swung the sword and barely deflected it. The trailing blood energy slammed into my body.

I tumbled across the ground, battered and broken. But I forced myself up and swung again. I deflected the arrows and protected the girl. I swung again and shielded Heinzel.

The sword shattered. It crumbled to dust, even the hilt disintegrating in my hands.

Carpeng’s attack. The hail of arrows. Death itself descended upon me.

But at the same time, a warm energy enveloped me, shielding me from everything. It was Rubia.

Despite being riddled with arrows. Despite her broken body. She ignored her own pain and surrounded me, the girl, and Heinzel with her divine power.

Arrows pierced her legs. Her stomach. Her back. Her arms. Her entire body was riddled with holes. Yet, she maintained her protective barrier around us.

The girl staggered, forcing herself up. She poured a potion over the wound in her abdomen. Gripping the greatsword tightly, she charged toward the robed woman.

In a flash, the woman’s head flew through the air. The girl didn’t stop there. She pulverized the woman’s body, crushing and tearing it apart.

But Carpeng’s attack was aimed at me. Its blood energy shot toward Rubia.

And the girl… She intercepted it, rushing toward Carpeng and blocking the attack.

Even as her flesh was torn apart. Even as her bones broke. She stood up again and faced Carpeng.

Her fingers were too shattered to properly grip the greatsword, but she slammed her hand against the ground, forcing her fingers to bend. She gripped the greatsword once more.

She was knocked down, thrown around, and trampled. But she stood up. Again and again, she kept fighting. She screamed out in agony, but her determination never wavered.

She walked forward with grim resolve.

But the battle didn’t last much longer. Her body, already broken, couldn’t hold up any longer. She collapsed to the ground, rolling as Carpeng’s blows pummeled her.

And still, she stood back up. She rose, throwing herself in front of Rubia to block another attack.

She stood to protect. She kept fighting not for revenge. But because she wanted to protect them. She stood for the sake of protecting others.

Not for vengeance.

For the first time, I remembered why I wanted to become strong. I had forgotten, drowned in my nightmares and hatred.

I wanted power for one reason. To protect.

As I watched the girl fight under Carpeng’s looming shadow, I remembered Lux.

I remembered why I fought. I wanted to protect. My home. Hablon. The world I had lived in. The warm spring days. My little sister.

That was why I sought strength. That was why I wanted power.

“Hah… hahah…”

I reached the end, and only now did I understand. If Lux had seen me now, she would’ve laughed at me for hours.

At my waist hung an old, simple sword. A sword I hadn’t drawn since I became a platinum-ranked adventurer.

I had killed beasts. Killed people. Killed the villagers. Killed my sister. In the end, I had even killed myself.

But once, this sword had been my guide. It had been the light on the path of my journey as an adventurer. It was the sword my sister had given me, smiling brightly when she handed it to me.

I drew the blade. And with it, I redefined my world. My past. Everything.