episode_0005

Many things had happened. There were difficult moments, and moments when I wanted to give up. The first time I wanted to give up was when my mother passed away. The guilt that she died because of me tormented me long after her passing.

Roland was severely injured. After entering the royal palace to find a secret passage, the charring on his right foot spread severely. Since then, Roland had been unable to walk properly.

Kara contracted a plague. She was infected with a powerful plague that cast a dark shadow over the city, claiming countless lives, and Kara was on the verge of death twice. After that, Kara’s body became extremely weak.

This wasn’t all. These were just the biggest of our individual wounds; living in this harsh city, we had suffered far more injuries. But at the same time, looking back, we had also created many memories that could make us smile at least once.

Pop- pop pop-! “Happy birthday, Agapé!”

It was the first time someone had wished me a happy birthday since my mother passed away.

“What’s this?” “It’s a staff Kara and I made together.” “I pestered him to make it together!”

Roland’s mobility-aiding staff broke, so we made him a new one together with Kara.

“Here! A gift!” “What is it?” “It’s a muffler! You worked so hard to help me get better. So I made it little by little!”

As a token of gratitude, I had also received a red muffler as a gift from Kara.

Misfortunes were overflowing. Difficulties were overflowing too. But in contrast, there were also many memories. And as the number of memories grew, so did the amount of happiness.

Yes. Even though only one person was added out of two. Even though only one woman, Kara, was added to Roland and me. The presence of that one person was far greater than the two of us combined.

Kara was always in the memories we made. Her presence in my heart grew as the number of memories created increased. Growing, swelling, solidifying, strengthening. As memories were built one by one, and I realized she was always by my side. At some point, my heart began to turn towards Kara.

Yes. I had fallen in love for the first time.

When I realized that feeling, seven years had already passed since Kara arrived. I, Kara, and Roland. In the blink of an eye, everyone in our group had become adults.

7 Years Later

I still hadn’t found the entrance to the catacombs. Though I had been busy searching while procuring food, finding secret passages amidst the collapsed ruins of this vast city was no easy task.

“Does it really exist?” Strolling alone through the city center, I quietly murmured. Blood droplets collected and dripped from the tip of my sword, showing traces of the killing I had just carried out.

Drip- drip- With every step, blood droplets stained the ground. But apart from that, this heirloom, said to have been used by my father, a knight, still shined with its unique silver light.

It was a gladius.

‘It’s about time I cleaned this.’ No matter how good a sword, if it’s swung with brute force without swordsmanship, the blade is bound to be damaged. Of course, it was such a good sword that its blade had never been damaged until now, but I didn’t want to mistreat an heirloom passed down by my parents, so I decided to entrust Roland with its repair once I returned home.

‘He’s so smart, he has knowledge in these areas and is good with his hands.’

I arrived at the cabin before I knew it. But then.

Stop. A metallic scent of blood filled the air. Not from the tip of my sword, but from inside the cabin.

“……” I slowly entered the yard and stood before the door. And as I slowly opened the cabin door, along with the chaotic mess of the room inside.

“Haa… haa… haa……” Roland’s figure, breathing heavily, came into view.

“Roland!” I rushed to Roland, and his condition looked serious. There was a lot of blood pooled around him from severe bleeding, and he had a serious stab wound in his side. At this rate, he would die.

Rattle- Clink- First, I took out the superior potion I had hidden in the drawer for times like this and gave it to Roland. Then, his breathing gradually returned to normal, and the wound slowly began to heal. Matching the wound’s healing speed, I slowly pulled out the sword embedded in Roland’s abdomen to minimize bleeding.

“Groan…!!!!!!” “Bear with the pain a little. The bleeding is too severe; if you lose any more blood, it’ll be serious.” And once the sword was fully removed, new flesh grew over the remaining wound, and the injury healed. Though his internal injuries still had a long way to go, the immediate danger was averted.

“What happened?” “……” Roland said nothing. Instead, he just looked at me with eyes full of guilt.

It was then. That a sense of unease, enough to drain the color from my face, began to creep over me.

“Where’s Kara?” “……I’m sorry.” As soon as I heard those words, I rushed outside.

***

“Kara! Kara, answer me!” I searched thoroughly, but Kara was nowhere to be seen. It was an impossible task to begin with. Trying to find a single person in Fallen, a metropolis that had once been home to millions.

Still, I didn’t give up. Giving up wasn’t even an option I considered.

‘Footprints…!’ Somehow, I found several footprints. In the damp mud, Kara’s shoeprints were also visible. It looked like fresh footprints, made just moments ago.

I ran frantically, following the footprints. And once again, I cried out for Kara.

“Kara!” When I called her name, I sensed a presence from over there. ‘Kara!’ Certain it was Kara, I ran towards the location.

“Hah, hah, hah!” Creak- I opened the door to the mansion where I felt the presence. As I opened the door, gasping for breath, I saw dozens of burly men surrounding Kara.

“Kara, are you alright…” But Kara’s condition was strange.

“Haa, haa, haa, haa…” Her face was deathly pale, and she was slumped against the wall. ‘Why is she like that?’

Only then did a sword catch my eye. A sword dripping with blood, with chunks of flesh stuck to its rusted blade. Kara was clutching that sword tightly in both hands. Before her lay a person who was already a cold corpse. Overwhelmed by the guilt of having killed someone, she couldn’t even breathe properly. Seeing that, I gnashed my teeth and looked at the men.

Looking at each of their faces, there were quite a few familiar ones.

“Do you recognize them by their faces?” These were the guys who had suffered at my hands until now. Their organizations destroyed by me, crippled in some way— Or guys who suffered great losses from having their food stolen.

“These people here, they all have a grudge against you.” The Orc at the front approached me.

Shing- I drew my gladius. And as I pointed the tip of the sword at him, the Orc’s steps halted. He was sweating nervously while looking at me, yet he wore a sinister smile.

“You shouldn’t act so recklessly this time, should you?”

“What do you want?” “Nothing. At least not from you.”

“What?” The Orc’s gaze shifted to Kara.

“We just need that bitch.”

“What are you—” Instead of answering, he moved his gaze to Kara. Then the human standing right in front of Kara approached her and grabbed her by the hair, pulling it.

“Gasp…!” Watching Kara, whose body was stiff and unable to even scream properly, the man sent her a greedy look. Not just the human, but everyone around him. At that point, I understood why they were doing this.

“So this is how you plan to get revenge.” “Yes.” They intended to get revenge on me. They knew that assaulting, violating, and killing Kara instead of me would be the ultimate revenge. Rage surged, threatening to burst through the top of my head, but I exerted superhuman patience and spoke to the Orc.

“I’ll give you all the food I have. So let her go.”

“Food?” Snicker- “What for?”

At the Orc’s refusal to accept food, the most precious commodity in Fallen, Agapé was quite taken aback.

“What?” Instead of answering, they grabbed Kara by the hair and shook her body around. “The best food is right here.”

At the Orc’s words, the men around Kara licked their lips.

“She’s a young girl, and a female, so she won’t have much muscle. And you fed her diligently, so she’s plumped up nicely. And—”

Grin- “Her face and body are pretty decent too, so the sex will be amazing.” At those words, the armed thugs cackled.

“……This is your last warning.” Let go.

At those words, goosebumps broke out on everyone’s bodies. For a moment, they felt as if a knife was pressed against their throats. ‘Damn, what kind of murderous intent is this from a kid who just became an adult—’

Tremble tremble tremble tremble- A chilling fear gripped them, and they recalled the trauma they had suffered at Agapé’s hands in the past. The day he stabbed his own eye with a rusty rebar.

The Orc, recalling that day, trembled in even more extreme fear from the trauma, yet he gnashed his teeth at the fact that he was still afraid of Agapé and shouted loudly. “Don’t mess around, you bastard! Don’t you see all the people gathered here? There are 30 of us! It’s 30 against 1!”

“……” Agapé said nothing. He simply maintained the same expressionless face as before, staring at him.

The Orc, seeing that, was convinced Agapé was hesitating. Because no matter how monstrous his sword skills were, it would be impossible to face 30 armed men.

‘Even he must be afraid of death.’ Fear. The Orc, feeling exhilarated that Agapé was experiencing such an emotion against them, smiled grotesquely and provoked Agapé even further.

“Your mother, I hear she was sold as a slave, wasn’t she?” Parents. It was Agapé’s dragon’s inverted scale [an idiom for a fatal weakness or a point of extreme sensitivity].

“Hey, you, that—” At those words, some showed expressions of concern, but the Orc restrained them with his arm.

“I hear a slave merchant tried to sell her as a sex slave because of her decent looks, it’s so long ago that my memory is hazy, but I heard she was quite famous in that regard, you know?” “A dirty whore who even spread her legs for a bastard dog for the sake of her son, they said.”

“What a shame.” Not stopping there, the Orc mocked Agapé even further. “I heard there was no whore like her in the red-light district, but she died too early, didn’t she? Ah, but perhaps there’s no need to be too sad?”

Slap- “Gasp…!” The Orc snatched Kara’s hair and licked her cheek with his tongue. “Even if she’s not as good as that bitch, this one isn’t bad for use either. And if she dies, we get to taste her meat too, so much better! Khh-hahahahahahahaha!!” At those words, those around were incited by the Orc and began to snicker. And looking at Agapé, who was silently watching without a word. The faint laughter gradually grew louder, mixed with mocking jeers.

It was then. “The talk—” Agapé spoke for the first time.

“Is the talk, over?” “What?”

Thump────! “Gasp…?!” A sword was embedded in his abdomen. Agapé, who had approached unnoticed, was pressing the sword deeper into the abdomen.

‘W-when did he…?’ The Orc’s eyes, filled with shock, turned towards Agapé. Agapé, who had slightly raised his bowed head, had whites of his eyes stained black.

And— Swirl─── Black mist began to rise from his body. A black mist, like an aura.

‘F-fuck…!’ W-what the hell is that— Slice─!

The Orc’s thoughts ended there. The sword, drawn at some point, sliced the Orc’s neck at an invisible speed. Thud- thud-thud- Thump-! The Orc’s head, still bearing an expression of shock as if he hadn’t realized he was dead, fell right off. And at the same time, the Orc’s massive body collapsed limply.

Shing-! Shing-! “F-fuck…” “W-what the hell did I just see?” As the strongest Orc fell, thirty armed men simultaneously drew their weapons. Amidst those filled with fear at how instantly it had happened, the Elf, who was second in rank to the Orc, shouted.

“Don’t panic! Stick to the plan we prepared!” “Y-yes! Everyone move according to the plan!” At those words, everyone moved in unison, activating the devices they had prepared inside the old mansion.

Grind- Numerous arrowheads pointed towards Agapé, and floor devices pulled furniture to block escape routes. Inside the dark mansion. Relying on a few candles, the thirty armed men had perfectly completed their preparations to kill Agapé.

‘Come.’ The Elf glared at Agapé. No matter how monstrous he was, he wouldn’t be able to defeat them, who had prepared numerous weapons and magic scrolls in a mansion full of traps. Thinking that, he waited for Agapé’s reaction, who still wore a cold expression.

But. Flicker─ Flicker─ “W-what is it?” One by one, the candles began to go out. No, rather than going out—

“Why, why are they losing their light?!” The candles were burning, but their light was disappearing. Like thin threads, it was heading towards one place. Towards Agapé.

“H-Heeek!” Everyone who saw it looked at Agapé as if he were a monster.

“Light, light them! Quickly light them again! Light the candles or burn your underwear, just make some light!” As the Elf shouted urgently, everyone frantically tried to light sources again. But—

Flicker. The last candle died out, and the gently lit interior of the building was enveloped in complete darkness.

“……” “……” “……”

A thick silence descended. The Elf, along with the others, gulped in tension.

It was then. Tap tap tap- A knocking sound came from beyond the barricade.

‘K-knocking sound?’ A small knocking sound from beyond the wooden table barricading the wall. It didn’t take long to realize what it was.

Smash-! With a powerful impact, the barricade shattered.

Slice-! Something sharp cut a neck. Thud- Just like the Orc, the Elf’s head also fell limply.

And only just before death, a faint point of light entered the Elf’s eyes. Flicker- In the center of the pupils, which were stained black. Agapé’s eyes, shaped like pupils, which had absorbed the light.

It was as if his eyes were saying: The massacre, has only just begun.