episode_0018

As soon as Sword Saint Zeruel’s Heavenly Chain Slash was blocked, Martial Monk Jin charged at the man’s flank and took his stance.

.

A martial art technique unleashed through the harmony and principles of yin and yang, using ki, the special energy that monk-class practitioners can wield. A super-fast striking technique said to unleash a thousand palm strikes in a single blow.

Palm strikes, too swift for the eye to follow, raged forth. Under the ceaseless barrage of palm strikes, the man’s barrier finally shattered with a clang, crumbling like glass. Now. Right now.

The broken barrier transformed into magical particles, and as the vortex of ki obstructed his vision in the aftermath of the endless strikes, he saw the path he had to take.

So he advanced. The ki, condensed from a masterful palm strike, surged forward along the path before him.

.

The best, greatest, and strongest blow Jin could unleash at this moment. The vortex of ki, swirling as if to explode, struck downwards. It connected. It hit. A direct hit!

Right into the leader of The Black Serpent!

—The undeniable impact resonated through Jin’s palm. That hot sensation was soft, ecstatic, and lovely, like caressing the skin of a woman he had only ever admired from afar in his life.

All sorts of pleasure-inducing neurotransmitters flooded out from within Martial Monk Jin’s brain like a deluge.

And now, he was swimming naked atop that flood of pleasure.

Even Jin, who had maintained his virginity as a monk his entire life, could be certain. This was the ultimate pleasure, incomparable to the climax of any union in the world.

“Cough!”

Just as he was about to savor the lingering aftertaste, the man’s subsequent spitting blood and painful groans.

He realized the groans emerging from the blood he had caused him to spit were eerily familiar.

With that, the golden vortex of ki that had obstructed the surrounding area subsided. After it subsided, he realized.

“Jin-ssi…… why……?”

Because the wizard in the conical hat, who should have been fighting alongside him, was kneeling, his abdomen pierced by Jin’s fist.

It wasn’t even the size of a fist.

His entire abdomen was pierced as if struck directly by a cannonball, and it had completely burned away, leaving no intestines to spill out. Literally, there was nothing there.

A comrade who had joined the Knights Order and shared hardships with him looked at Jin with disbelieving eyes.

“N-no, no, it’s not……”

What did those eyes try to convey? What did they want to say? He would never hear the answer.

“I, I……”

Again, there was endless emptiness.

“Hahahaha!”

A girl, clutching her belly like a child, burst into laughter at the sight.

“Boo-hoo, Captain, that’s mean! You’re having all the fun by yourself! Alice wants to play toooo!”

“Be patient, Alice.”

Beyond the ring of azure flames, he could hear their conversation.

It was the voice of a childish girl whining about wanting to play together and the voice of a lady comforting her.

Hearing that conversation, only a hollow laugh escaped him.

It was the first time his highly refined physical senses, honed as a martial monk, felt so cursed.

For them, this was merely a game.

He could feel it to his very bones from the tone, composure, breathing, and attitude in their voices.

His own manipulation by the man before him was proof.

This battle, which they were facing with a resolution and determination that defied even death, was nothing more than a game to them, not even worth confronting seriously.

“It’s not…… my fault.”

“Snap out of it, Jin!”

“I, I…… didn’t do anything wrong……”

That is why they were being humiliated.

It wasn’t that his life was precious now. But the fact that their resolution and pride, enough to discard their very lives, was nothing more than a ‘fun game’ in the eyes of their opponents—.

“Jin, Jin!”

The voices of the Sword Saint and Sword Princess desperately calling out to him seemed distant. As they faded, Jin thought.

What meaning could there be in this act of being trampled upon, reduced to their ridiculous playthings?

None. This was not the noble and valuable sacrifice he had hoped for.

As the man said, it was merely a dog’s death.

‘I don’t want to die.’

At least not like that.

‘I don’t want to die like this. I don’t want to die.’

He didn’t want to end up like the comrade who had lost his life by his own hand. He didn’t want to end his life as a villain’s plaything.

Once again, the fear and dread of death surged within the martial monk’s heart.

So—he fled.

He turned his back, squeezing out ki and wrapping himself in a defensive art called , then tried to break through the ring of ice flames and escape.

“Oh, he’s running away! Idiot!”

At the sight, Alice pointed and giggled. The lady of the black sword also scoffed coldly.

Before the martial monk who was attempting to break through the surrounding ice flames, they merely watched as if it were none of their business, without even thinking of stopping or blocking him.

“Ah, truly a despicable and foolish sight until the very end.”

Similarly, the voices of the Sword Saint and Sword Princess, trying to restrain him, were heard, but they didn’t reach Jin’s ears.

He ran with the sole thought that he couldn’t die like this.

When Jin, clad in the defensive art , threw himself beyond the paradoxically cold-burning flames.

What unfolded there was not a paradox, but the logical consequence of reasonable principles.

Because black, burnt ashes were trapped within the ice.

“Two.”

The man said calmly. Without even glancing at the burnt and frozen corpse, he took out another cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth.

The crystal fractal structured barrier, believed to be broken, had somehow self-repaired its unique recursive structure and was now enveloping the man’s entire body.

It wasn’t even in the form of a shield anymore.

Like a custom-fitted suit of armor, it manifested as a covering along his body, scattering an odd blue radiance.

The barrier of blades and curtain of ice flames that were somehow orbiting him. Even that was probably only a tiny fraction of the man’s full power.

“……”

Nothing would change.

Zeruel, the swordsman bearing the name of Sword Saint, silently re-gripped his hilt. Sword Princess Alina did the same.

The Saint of Swords and the Princess of Swords. The two of them re-gripped their swords together, reaffirmed their resolve, and calmly chanted.

““ .””

*

“Only we are left.”

“Yes.”

“I got everyone involved.”

The two swordsmen, backs pressed together, spoke.

“It’s not your fault, Zeruel.”

Sword Princess Alina shook her head and replied.

“Zeruel, you simply tried to do what was right. There’s nothing to blame yourself for, nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Do you not regret it, ending up like this?”

“No, I don’t regret anything. Nothing at all.”

The Sword Princess replied.

“Because in my life, following you, there are no regrets.”

“—Thank you.”

That was the last reply.

The two people’s backs, pressed against each other, separated, and at the same time, blood and entrails intertwined beneath their feet, dropping with a thud.

Furthermore, there was no one left there to mock their defeat, or anyone to remember their end and express respect or admiration.

—Until the man in military uniform appeared.

*

“Extra! Extra!”

A boy in a newsboy cap, carrying bundles overflowing in both arms, ran through the streets, shouting.

“Breaking news: The Platinum-ranked adventurer party, Knights Order, has been annihilated by The Black Serpent! Furthermore, the party’s sole female member, the Sword Princess, is reported missing─”

The news echoed across the square. No small amount of murmuring arose from various places.

“See? I told you so! Just as I said, the Knights Order was no match for the Serpent!”

“Right, the only ones who can fight The Black Serpent are still ──.”

“Heh, how could a mere adventurer party possibly be a match from the start! At the very least, it would have to be the Bretona Empire’s !”

“Red Coats, my foot! Right now, intelligence agents are dying at the ‘Serpent’s’ hands in the Imperial Capital!”

Before the names of the powerful that followed, gossips who loved to chatter and compare raised their voices.

“Anyway, people were even saying that the Knights Order was struggling just to maintain their Platinum rank.”

“They probably got blinded by performance and brought death upon themselves, not knowing their place! What do you think, sir, don’t you agree?”

“……About what?”

I looked up at the voice that suddenly addressed me.

“The Knights Order, who dared to challenge The Black Serpent and got utterly wiped out, that’s what I mean! I knew that would happen!”

Then a gentleman who looked short and stout like a dwarf continued to speak, spitting inconsiderately. The conversation didn’t end easily. It didn’t seem like it would end.

“Well,”

So I gave a noncommittal answer and stood up, just in time to board the streetcar whose stop was ending.

A little later.

“Hmph! What’s so important about those damn adventurers dying that he has to act so high and mighty?”

The stout man cursed and spat towards the streetcar.

Even after spitting, he continued to cough and choke, clutching his throat as if something was still bothering him, then suddenly clutched his chest and fell to his knees.

After that, he began to thrash around as if drowning in water.

As people around him panicked at the sight, keeping their distance—neither too far nor too close—and unsure what to do, the man thus sank into silence.