◆ Kingdom of Kashiram, Outskirts of the Village ◆
“I won’t take off this mask until I kill you.”
What is this obsession? What have I done? And who exactly is this guy? There’s something about his physique and voice that feels familiar, but I just can’t place it. If he doesn’t want to kill me, he could just take it off. The ones I defeated back when I fought Jack also wore black masks that covered their noses, and just looking at them made me feel suffocated.
The Masked Giant doesn’t carry any weapons. That means he intends to fight barehanded, but I wonder if he also uses Custom Magic.
“Kurinka, do we know that Masked Giant over there?”
“I wouldn’t know if it was before I met Lua-chan… but there is one thing that comes to mind.”
“What is it?”
“When I was in the Kingdom of Avangarde, there was a notice on the Guild’s bulletin board about an Adventurer who went missing.”
“Oh, really? I didn’t know that.”
“Well, Lua-chan doesn’t usually pay attention to those things.”
I’ll make sure to check from now on. It’s not that I was avoiding it out of laziness; I just can’t read perfectly yet. I should properly train and prepare before tackling such matters. I remember Kurinka easily dismissing that notion, saying I was just running away, which made me feel a bit down.
“Since it was posted on the bulletin board, that Adventurer must have been quite significant. Shortly after the Combat Tournament ended, that person completely vanished after canceling their Adventurer registration. There were rumors circulating, but it wasn’t that there were no sightings at all. They said he had fallen in with a band of thieves. Everyone must have thought, how could a former A-Rank top-tier Adventurer become a thief?”
Listening to Kurinka’s story, I finally began to understand who the giant in front of me was. His sticky gaze that never leaves me, the murderous intent. The memory of my fist smashing into his face during the Combat Tournament, fueled by rage. Everything connected.
“Do you really want to take revenge on Lua-chan… Hecaton?”
A former A-Rank top-tier, Crusher Hecaton. The cruel man who utterly crushed Nikka in the tournament. The sensation of that punch is resurfacing now.
“Lua, you gave me an indelible humiliation. Ever since I was known as Crusher, I’ve been miserable. I’ve been mocked even by low-level Adventurers. Even if I crush them, it doesn’t lift my spirits at all. No matter how many I crush, all that remains is blood and flesh. But… thanks to the Comet Wolf Brigade, I’ve changed.”
Changed? That can’t be true; he hasn’t changed at all. He remains a cruel, violent person who looks down on others. The whole situation in the Combat Tournament was his fault for excessively hurting Nikka. He’s been living off his grudge against me, completely insane.
The absence of that massive hammer suggests that Hecaton’s so-called new power is indeed Custom Magic.
“I’ll kill you, and then I’ll take off this mask and laugh. Even if I’ve lost my white teeth, I’ll laugh proudly while stepping on your corpse.”
“…Running wild as a thief. That’s not what adults do.”
“Don’t get cocky, brat! Custom Magic, Judgment Thor!”
Lightning struck down from the sky, hitting the Masked Giant Hecaton. The roar echoed all the way to the Royal Capital of Kashiram. Hecaton, now transformed into a being of pure lightning, looked less human than ever.
No, he may not have been human from the moment he became a thief. The silhouette of white and yellow, resembling a beast walking on two legs, had completely abandoned its humanity. Kurinka could transform into a Dragon, but this guy’s heart had become just like that.
“I summon lightning, disregarding all laws, and it becomes my power! My anger and hatred amplify that energy! I don’t control lightning; I am lightning itself! I have become a natural calamity to kill you! Can a sword cut lightning? Can you keep up with lightning’s speed?! Gishishishi!”
He was incredibly fast. Lord Daigami’s Divine Thunder was as fast as real lightning, and I was no slouch either. The claim of becoming lightning wasn’t just a joke; it was the truth. Fighting as lightning—was that the Custom Magic Hecaton had mastered, desperately learned for the sake of revenge?
Thinking only of revenge. When I think about it, I’m not so different from him. I gained power in the Abyss Cave to take revenge on the One-Winged Demon. Wait, am I really that similar to Hecaton?
“Lua-chan, I want to help too!”
“This is my problem, so Kurinka, just stay back. You don’t need to get involved in this.”
“Is that really okay…?”
“Y-you dodged?!”
It seemed surprising to him that I easily sidestepped Hecaton’s charge while chatting with Kurinka. When I think about how he and I are the same, it makes me hesitate to attack. If I were to meet that demon, would I rage like Hecaton? If that’s the case, I wouldn’t be able to laugh at him.
“I was actually planning to hurt the people around here before confronting you! We did our homework on you! We know you’re sensitive and cowardly when it comes to the lives of others! So if even one person here dies, your mind will waver! That’s why you can’t kill me!”
Hecaton kept shaking me with his high-speed charges and discharges. I caught glimpses of Okina fighting the King and Weiss, and I thought a little about my own weakness. When Weiss easily killed a thief, I almost lost myself to anger, and I realized that I’ve been like this for the past ten years.
I resist killing, even if my opponent is a villain. It’s not just because of what happened to the village; it’s simply my nature. But those thieves have no qualms about taking lives. If they come after me in the future, or if someone like Hecaton continues his atrocities, will I still refrain from killing? Can I really defeat the One-Winged Demon like this?
“…A demon is still a demon. I should be fine.”
“What are you mumbling about, you little brat?! Acting all cool, damn it! Damn you!”
Hecaton was getting frustrated, unable to even graze me with his lightning speed. The power he acquired by becoming a thief was utterly ineffective against me. The same could be said for me; the One-Winged Demon isn’t guaranteed to win against me. I felt disgusted at myself for seeing my reflection in someone like him.
“I’m nothing like you…”
“Oh yeah?! Try to cut me if you can!”
“Sure.”
Hecaton thinks he can’t be cut because he’s lightning, but I’ve faced enemies like him ten years ago. Before reaching the 20th floor of the Abyss Cave, I encountered plenty of monsters made of smoke or fire. I haven’t met any since coming to the surface, but I wonder if they exist. Sure, I struggled at first, but they weren’t smoke or fire itself. They were similar in nature but different entities. So, while it’s not quite a skill, if I understand the trick just a little…
“Giiiiiieeeeeee?!”
As I slashed at what seemed to be his right side, that part began to shift from lightning to human skin. Ripples spread like raindrops falling into a puddle, and the lightning that composed his body gradually unraveled. Unable to halt his momentum, he passed by me, his massive body sliding across the ground.
“Uuuaaaahhh… H-Hey! Tenmei! What about your Custom Magic?! My blood… it won’t stop…”
“I’m a bit busy over here too, Hecaton. Maintaining that level of Custom Magic against these two is draining my mana.”
I quickly understood what he meant. It was clear as day when I saw Tenmei’s wounds healing rapidly, and that Custom Magic wasn’t extending to Hecaton. In other words, Tenmei was doing it on purpose. He easily discarded Hecaton, who was supposed to be his ally. That’s the nature of thieves. That’s the Comet Wolf Brigade. I was astonished by their ruthlessness, and I felt pity for Hecaton, who had fallen into such a group.
The result of gaining power is this. No one trusts me, I’ve been abandoned and laughed at. Yes, that Tenmei was sneering at me. It’s not that he’s relaxed; for some reason, Hecaton has been forsaken. If that Custom Magic had worked on Hecaton, I would have struggled too. After all, he can recover from injuries in no time, and when that happens, the only way to stop him is to kill him.
“Damn it, that brat! He completely disregarded my terrain manipulation! He dodged it as if it were nothing!”
“Even if you trip him, I don’t think we can take him down, so focus on this instead, Zukko… it’s getting tough.”
“He’s wide open! Take this!”
“Watch out…! Zukko, be my shield!”
“Ugh… ahh!”
The King’s axe, kicked from behind by Tenmei, sank into Zukko’s head, cleaving him in two. The two halves of Zukko fell to the ground, grotesque and lifeless, without even a death cry.
“Th-those people, they were comrades…”
It wasn’t just Kurinka who was horrified. Abandoning Hecaton and using Zukko as a shield, it became clear how these people had survived until now. It truly made me sick, just like Seigel. That Tenmei, who could carry out such actions without a change in expression, and Okina, who seemed to enjoy it, were both despicable in my eyes.
“Those aren’t humans, not at all.”
I thought it so deeply that it slipped out of my mouth. A battle between humans was happening right here, right now. I don’t know much about war, but perhaps this is what it’s like.
“Hehehe, Hecaton is quite the pathetic sight. Tell me, Rua, how does it feel to bring a human down to such a state? He has gained power solely to take revenge on you, and look at him now. It’s so pitiful that even I feel a bit sorry for him… Hecaton must be thinking right now: if only you weren’t here. It’s your fault; you crushed him. Hehehe!”
Normally, I would have retorted, but for once, I couldn’t bring myself to respond to Okina. I shouldn’t be the one at fault, so why did it feel this way?
“That was close. I’m glad even someone like Zukko was useful.”
“Hmph, as expected of a thief. Utterly despicable, which makes it all the more satisfying to kill. So, let’s finish this… Hmph!”
The King tightened his grip on the axe, crossing his arms. Okina, never one to miss an opportunity, slithered around behind the King like a snake. But whether there was an opening or not, the outcome had already been decided.
He opened his crossed arms, unleashing a gust of wind. Soldiers were blown away by its force, and Weiss barely managed to hold his ground. Kurinka held onto the hem of her robe, not taking her eyes off the King. If the gust was an attack, the surrounding damage would be catastrophic by now. The fact that it wasn’t meant that the wind was merely a result of his skill. It spoke volumes about its power, as the vacuum blade sliced through Tenmei and Okina. Their heads exploded, and blood gushed from their necks like a fountain. It was as if a field of blood flowers was blooming. Of course, what lay there were the corpses of two thieves, but the sheer sight left my mind utterly blank.
“I remember naming that technique ‘Great War Axe Wind.’ The reason I prefer using an axe is simply that its weight delivers high power. I have no other particular attachment.”
The King laughed nonchalantly, drenched in blood, while Weiss followed closely behind. Weiss, who looked as if he might bow and say ‘thank you for your hard work,’ immediately began issuing commands to the surrounding soldiers. Investigating the village that had become a hideout for thieves, checking the belongings of the deceased thieves—just moments after killing someone, this was merely part of their job. I could only stand there, dumbfounded.
“Your Majesty! We found stairs leading underground in this house!”
“Alright! Charge in immediately! They must have packed in stolen goods or worthless items meant for sale!”
To avoid getting in the way of the bustling soldiers, we had no choice but to retreat to a corner. And when Weiss found Hecaton, who was writhing in pain, he had only one thing to say.
“Why didn’t you finish him off?”
“I can’t just… kill him.”
“You’re too soft. I can’t believe you’ve survived this long with that mindset. Without it, you would have likely become a far greater warrior.”
“Just because he’s a thief doesn’t mean it’s okay to kill him easily! Right, Kurinka?”
“I… I also can’t accept that kind of thing.”
With a sigh that seemed to express utter disbelief, Weiss shook his head. He gripped Grand Run tightly, spinning it in one hand before pointing the blade at the fallen Hecaton.
“Let me ask you this… If you leave him alive and someone else becomes a victim, will you still preach non-killing?”
“Th-that is… that is…”
“There are countless people in this world who aren’t worth keeping alive. Because of them, innocent and good people are killed. What you call kindness is nothing but hypocrisy.”
“H-hypocrisy…”
It wasn’t Grand Run that pierced me, but Weiss’s words themselves. It hurt; my heart ached so much.
“I hear that puppet over there has some connection to you. I don’t know the details, but I feel a bit of sympathy for him. You merely forced him to live in shame.”
I couldn’t sort out my feelings; all I could do was remain silent.
◆ Shin Report ◆
Finally, has the conclusion been reached?
The overwhelming spectacle has made me feel a bit dizzy.
But just a bit!
After all, I am the esteemed servant of the Demon Lord!
Rua, caught up in the squabbles between humans, is feeling down.
They say powerless justice is futile, but that guy has power.
In other words, I can simply ignore the handsome man’s nonsense.
Because he has the power to resolve everything without killing.
But why am I following such a person?
It’s not because I was saved or anything like that.
Absolutely not!