Link stood on the high ground above the village, observing everything coldly.
It turned out that what he had sensed just moments ago wasn’t chimney smoke, but the fires of war.
A battle instigated by demons was breaking out in the village—a completely one-sided fight for the demons, and an absolute massacre for the humans.
No cries or wails could be heard from the village anymore; the battle was over, or rather, it had ended long ago.
For a village without stationed soldiers, heroes, or mages to protect it, this was always the outcome when facing demons.
Apart from a few on the outer perimeter, the remaining demon soldiers were gathering under the command of a demon general, closing in toward the village center to begin the final purge.
The task Chris entrusted to me…
can no longer be fulfilled.
That was the sole thought in Link’s mind at this moment.
He had believed his enemy was time—those invisible, intangible forces that silently took something away in exchange every time they granted him a new ability.
It gave Link a sense of utter powerlessness.
It wasn’t even the frustration of throwing a full-force punch into cotton, but rather a punch that hit nothing at all.
Now, things were different.
His enemy had taken a concrete form.
A surge of rage replaced that powerlessness, and a thunderous roar erupted from Link’s mouth.
“You bastards… how dare you?!”
In the next instant, Link’s body cleaved into the battlefield like a razor blade.
He didn’t slow down as he passed the few demon soldiers on the outer edge, charging straight toward the center of the village.
Hearing the roar, the demon general had barely turned around before Link grabbed him, reducing him to a blood mist in an instant.
Without a struggle, a scream, or even time to react, the demon general vanished into a cloud of mana dust on the spot, scattering in the wind.
The remaining demon soldiers froze for a second before they could react.
Link had already walked toward them, completely surrounding them.
It was another one-sided battle, except this time, the demons were the ones being slaughtered.
In the center of the village, black remains were scattered all over the ground.
Drenched in blood, Link stood amidst the carnage, steeped in the scent of demons.
At this moment, he looked more like a monster than any demon on the battlefield.
It was once said that a person in a state of extreme rage could slide-kick and kill a tiger.
And Link, in his extreme rage, needed to bury a demon army to vent his fury.
With all the demons in his line of sight annihilated, his rage subsided considerably, and that familiar sense of powerlessness returned.
Link ran through the village, searching for survivors, desperate to save someone.
Even if I can save just one person.
As long as he saved someone, it would be enough for him to uphold his promise to Chris.
He climbed over collapsed courtyard walls and bypassed tree trunks burned to black charcoal.
The original houses had turned to rubble, and everything around him was reduced to ash.
Just as Link was about to give up searching this area, he suddenly noticed something move in the ruins ahead.
He stepped forward quickly.
Beneath a fallen roof beam, a small shadow cowered.
It was a human girl.
She was covered in dust, her face so dirty her original features were unrecognizable.
Her long red hair resembled a small flicker of flame that had yet to be extinguished.
And there was a pair of clean eyes, wide open, staring right at Link.
In the young girl’s eyes, a man appeared—a man who looked as if he were on the verge of tears, yet felt a heartfelt joy at finally finding a living person.
He seemed so glad.
It almost made her think that the person who had been saved wasn’t her, but the man himself.
As if expressing gratitude to someone, he said, “Thank you,” in a tone so full of emotion that even a dying person like her felt envious.
“It’s so good to have found you.”
Link reached out a hand to the girl.
A tiny hand reached out from the rubble in response, gripping his fingers tightly.
“What’s your name?”
Link leaned down, bringing his gaze to eye level with this human child.
It had been a long time since he had looked at anyone on equal footing.
“My name is… Flamme.”
“Very good, Flamme,” he nodded.
“I am Link.”
“I promise you that you will suffer no more hardship in this life, and that you will be happy forever.”
A faint blue light ignited around the hand Link held, quickly spreading across Flamme’s entire body.
Flamme felt as if warm water were flowing over her.
In an instant, the stains on her skin and clothing peeled away, leaving her whole body as clean as if she had just been rinsed in a clear stream.
Link lowered his hand and noticed Flamme staring at him with wide, green eyes full of curiosity.
He tried to make his tone sound as gentle as possible, softening his voice: “Don’t be afraid, okay? This is Cleaning Magic.”
He suddenly recalled that many years ago, someone else had worn a similar expression when seeing this magic for the first time.
That person had possessed green eyes like these, too.
Link pulled his thoughts back and softened his voice even further.
“It’s very simple. I’ll teach you later.”
The girl nodded in hazy understanding.
“Hey, long-tailed guy, what do you think you’re doing?”
Link frowned slightly.
He turned his head toward the voice and saw three scouts dressed in demon attire looking at him warily.
He had wondered which short-lived fools had seen through his painstakingly crafted disguise so easily, only to realize it was three scouts patrolling the outer perimeter of the village.
Link looked at the remaining three demons, his tone so flat it was almost devoid of inflection.
“Oh? Are you calling me?”
“I just killed all the demons in the village. Do you three want to die as well?”
With just a single glance at Link, the three demons begged for mercy at lightning speed.
“My lord, please spare us!”
“We’ve never killed anyone before!”
Link looked at the demons kneeling on the ground and begging for mercy, his expression unchanged.
Demons could make human sounds and mimic all kinds of tones convincingly, but fundamentally, it was all used to deceive.
Of course, Link wasn’t human either.
Still, now wasn’t the right time to make a move.
Link waved a hand at the three scouts, exuding a regal presence, though his tone remained emotionless.
“Go on, then. I don’t kill the weak.”
The three demons froze, not expecting that they would actually be allowed to leave alive.
Scrambling hastily to their feet, they fled toward the edge of the village without looking back.
Link didn’t watch them run away.
Turning around, he gently placed his hand over Flamme’s eyes.
Humans were still too fragile; he couldn’t let such gruesome scenes leave a trauma on Flamme.
Yet Flamme didn’t yield to his cover.
She struggled forcefully, widening her eyes as she stared at the perpetrators who had killed her parents and destroyed her entire village.
As if afraid of missing something, a dull, simmering rage surfaced in her eyes.
Rage didn’t make a person brave, but it made them temporarily forget what they were afraid of.
The young girl wanted to engrave this hatred into her eyes so she would never forget.
Evidently, Link understood the look in Flamme’s eyes.
Reassured, he removed his hand from her eyes.
“Watch carefully, Flamme. This is how magic is used.”
Leaving behind that single sentence, Link vanished from his spot in the next instant.
When he reappeared, he was already standing behind the three demons.
He reached out both hands simultaneously, grabbing one demon with each hand.
A ring of pale blue light flared up, stripping the flesh and skin off the two scouts in an instant, leaving them as clean as if they had just been dipped in a hot pot.
The third demon froze in place before it could even turn around.
“You said you’d let us go…” Its voice squeaked out from its throat, carrying a trembling tone meant to imitate a human.
“You lied to us…”
Link reached his hand toward the last demon, his tone as matter-of-fact as if he were stating the most mundane thing in the world.
“I occasionally like to tell little lies, too.”
Without screams or wails, the final demon was cleansed by Cleaning Magic as well.
Link returned to Flamme’s side.
“Come with me. We can’t stay here anymore.”
Flamme clutched the corner of his cloak tightly and followed him forward.
“That magic you just mentioned… are you still willing to teach it to me?”
“Of course. It’s not like I lie all the time.”