episode_0062

The man swung his sword. The sight of flames flickering along the sword’s trajectory along with the eerie sword light seemed to show off the man’s high magical power.

Another man, who had been unable to withstand the momentum and kept stepping back, eventually allowed the attack to happen. His neck flew into the air, and the flames that followed burned his body.

“Kill all the dirty cult members!”

The man with the beheaded head, Jerdin Darbywise, shouted. The man’s eyes were burning with anger and hostility, and they were scattering red glowing confetti like his magic.

‘I was half in doubt when I first heard from Karsten, but… I never thought this would happen…!’

The scars from the previous war with the Shinigami cult still remain deep throughout the continent. Before they can even heal, these guys are appearing again!

However, fortunately, the information and knowledge gained from that fight helped to significantly reduce the damage. Most of the damage suffered in that war was concentrated in the early stages of the war. The characteristics of the Reaper Cultists… their evil act of absorbing the magical power of corpses and using it as their own power.

Before we can judge the right and wrong of their actions, the cultists who had become so strong displayed powers that were far from common sense. Even ignorant worms who knew nothing about swords were often strong enough to easily tear apart mid-level nobles, so the damage suffered by the knights and nobles who went out without knowing this fact was indescribable.

Afterwards, it was discovered that the high magical power of the superiors or royalty could be used to pierce through their power and kill them, and only a small number of strong men whose loyalty was recognized knew of this fact, and Jerdin was one of them.

However, not all cult members had such powers. I don’t know if there was some standard or if such powerful powers could not be granted to everyone, but the number of cult members who wielded such powerful powers was quite limited.

‘..If only all the disciples had that kind of power..’

Jerdin imagined such a terrible thing. The result? Of course, the continent would be stained with blood. No matter how high-ranking nobles and royalty could handle it… It would be difficult to find and kill them one by one as they ran wild all over the continent. In addition, unlike nobles who had to fight using the limited fuel of their own magical power, the Shinigami Cultists had no limits, so it would have been even more dangerous.

What on earth are these crazy guys up to?

Violence, blood, murder… There are many expressions, but if it is not limited to an individual and the purpose of leading a group is to do so, it is quite questionable. Being a member of a group and working is to gain some kind of benefit for oneself, and if you think so, does that mean that the Sashin Church has doctrines that can provide some benefit to its followers?

To those crazy people who go around shouting that death and despair are the highest values? Well…

Even excluding the religion of the Four Guardian Gods, there are many religions on this continent. While there are religions that worship real gods, there are also religions that were created for the material glory of the swindlers who call themselves the leaders.

The goals of such groups have always been similar. Wealth and honor… longevity and health… universal values that people living in the present desire. These are ordinary values that can be enjoyed by the common people at the bottom of the system that makes up this society, as well as the upper-class nobles and royalty at the top.

You can criticize the foolish act of being deceived by a cult leader and paying a bribe, but isn’t that the nature of humans? To yearn for an unattainable ideal and act foolishly.

So in the end… what is the purpose of the Shinigami religion? As Jerdin was pondering his thoughts in disarray, something entered his senses.

A man was walking towards him, his wild red hair blowing in the wind, and he had a scarf around his neck despite the hot weather. The sight of him walking across the battlefield without armor and carrying only a sword in his hand gave Jerdin the conviction that he was a cultist.

Jerdin drew his sword and ran towards the man.

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If I were to describe Reditus in one word, it would probably be genius.

When he was young, there lived a mercenary in his village. He used to swing a wooden sword around to play with the children, but Reditus always watched from afar and never played with them.

Reditus, a son of an ordinary farmer, had never held a sword before, but somehow he felt that he could easily defeat the mercenary.

It was a feeling that he had neither the confidence nor the reason to explain to others. Even if you just looked at the trajectory of the sword he swung playfully at the children… you could tell how skilled he was if he really swung it, and it didn’t seem that difficult to kill such a mercenary.

But what would it change if I knew that? The fact that the mercenary was kind-hearted was evident just from the fact that he always played with countless kids without receiving a single penny. It might seem a bit strange that a mercenary who killed quite a few people would be kind-hearted, but that’s how it was.

Sometimes, mercenaries or children would suggest to Reditus, who was just sitting there watching, that he play with them, but Reditus would refuse, making the excuse that he was tired from farming. Everyone knew that farming was hard work, so no one found it strange or asked him to do it again.

Years passed and Reditus became old enough to be called a young man. Now that he was old enough to swing his sword himself, the mercenary watched with a happy smile as the children of Reditus’ age played with him as their leader.

Because it was a quiet countryside, there were few places where children could gather and play, so the girls would often swing their swords or sit nearby and watch. That day, there was a girl sitting next to Reditus. Her name was Mari.

“Lady, why are you always just watching?”

“..I’m just tired. It doesn’t really suit my personality.”

Reditus answered with the same answer as always. Marie said, stroking Reditus’ arm, which was hardened by years of farming.

“In my opinion, Reddy is the strongest here. She has so much muscle.”

The most popular saying in the village was one that all the men there listened to with rapt attention. One of the leaders in teaching the children, a young man, got angry and shouted as soon as he heard it.

“Marie! What did you just say? That I’m weaker than that weakling?”

“Who said she was weak? If you just look at her from the outside, Lady looks stronger.”

Sanchi, a young man who had been interested in Mari, became even angrier at those words. He didn’t like the fact that Mari called Reditus by the nickname “Lady,” and the fact that Reditus didn’t seem to care about Mari also played a role.

Sanchi snatched a wooden sword from the boy next to him and threw it at Reditus. Reditus caught the flying wooden sword in surprise.

“Let’s have a go!”

“No, Sanchi. I don’t think so..”

Marie, who was next to her, forcibly lifted Reditus up and pushed her back. Of course, since she was a weak woman, Reditus could have resisted as much as she wanted. However, Reditus was pushed forward helplessly.

As soon as Sanchi saw that, he swung his wooden sword. It was an attack that was too vicious for an opponent who had never held a sword before. It wouldn’t kill him, but it was powerful enough to easily break his bones.

However, Reditus naturally moved the wooden sword he had held for the first time in his life and placed it in the path of the attack, easily deflected it, and then placed the sword on Sanchi’s neck. It was a very short battle, but it was clear who would win. Sanchi’s face turned bright red, and the children around him cheered.

Sanchi turned his back and left, and it seemed like the incident would end there. However, that night… Reditus had to face Sanchi, who had come to him with a real sword.

He swung his real sword without saying anything. It was clearly his intention to kill Reditus. Even though Reditus was bare-handed, he felt no fear at all in his attack. Reditus easily dodged his attack and twisted Sanchi’s hand in a motion that he himself did not know how to move, and snatched the sword. And bang. That was the end.

The blade pierced Sanchi’s heart exactly. Sanchi staggered back after being stabbed by the sword. Blood mixed with blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, and he fell backwards with eyes filled with disbelief. Reditus pulled his sword out from Sanchi’s still moving corpse.

At that moment, Reditus came to a complete realization. The feeling of using a real sword, the pleasure of cutting and breaking human bones and flesh… The fact that he could never go back to being an ordinary farmer’s son. That was the realization he had to make.

Reditus quietly left the village. As a wanderer, the only thing he could do was to be a mercenary. Rather than seeking money and compensation, Reditus wandered to find someone stronger than himself. Reditus’s skills grew stronger day by day as a mercenary, and it seemed that no one could stop him.

Then Reditus met a man. Fides, the man who made Reditus think for the first time in his life that he could not defeat. He was a boy with emerald hair that reached his shoulders. He was not sure of his exact age, but he thought he was probably around the same age as himself. But did he have that much strength?

Reditus attacked Fides as it was. He didn’t even care about the request. All that mattered was that he could fight the strong man in front of him. It was the first time in Reditus’ life that he had swung his sword so many times. There were many cases where he died without being able to block Reditus’ first sword.

It was so much fun to properly fight someone with a sword! Reditus, who was excited by the new experience, saw his opponent’s expressionless face and the eerie sword light flying towards his neck in contrast to the joy he felt─

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“Is this a dud too? This guy was pretty strong too, but…”

Reditus, muttering to himself, held Jerdin’s neck in his hands. His eyes were wide open, and it was obvious that he had not believed his own death until the very moment he died.

The troops commanded by Jerdin fled as soon as they saw Jerdin’s death, but Reditus didn’t seem particularly interested in that. Only a few surviving cultists were moving around, keeping an eye on Reditus.