“GRAAAAGH!”
CRASH—!
The Dark Wolves swung their claws and bared their fangs at me, but they could not strike my swiftly moving body.
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
Every swing of my sword severed another Dark Wolf’s head.
“My body’s moving especially well today.”
I smiled as I swung my sword.
Because I had learned the mana cultivation method before even reaching adulthood, my body had been reconstructed into something completely different from what it had been in my previous life.
Even the slightest movement of mana made it rotate with absurdly high output, filling my entire body with vitality.
I actually had to suppress it to keep the mana from circulating too quickly.
Along with the surging mana, my senses expanded and sharpened.
I had spent over ten years on battlefields, yet never once had my body responded perfectly to my will.
“To think this is what I can do after forming only one Mana Chain. Just what kind of monster was the Founding Emperor……?!”
[Do not attempt to understand a genius through the eyes of an ordinary man. Talent as radiant as the sun will burn those who challenge it.]
“No.”
The smile never left my face.
“Only those with the courage to burn can behold the sun’s radiance.”
Even if my talent fell short of the Sword Saint’s,
once I had drawn my sword, I should at least cut a radish.
At that moment, my sharpened senses detected several Dark Wolves fleeing so desperately that their tails might fall off.
Five of them were charging toward Hans and the soldiers.
They must have decided the soldiers were easier prey than I was.
I turned toward them.
“That won’t happen.”
That was when—
“Please stop, Young Master!”
Hans’s shout halted me.
“Why?”
“We are the Demonic Beast Subjugation Unit! We cannot simply stand here and watch without doing anything!”
“Huh?”
“We shall prove that we are not so weak that we need only your protection! Everyone, prepare to attack!”
“Hah!”
THUD—!
A resonant battle cry and the sound of stamping feet shook the forest.
“Everyone, attack!”
“WAAAAAAAAAH!”
The soldiers shouted fiercely, yet moved with blade-like precision.
The Dark Wolves howled as they charged toward them, but Hans was also a knight trained in House Fenrir’s mana cultivation method.
His raw physical strength surpassed that of anyone else present.
Whenever Hans struck a Dark Wolf with his sword, ten soldiers surrounded that one beast.
No one could withstand being ganged up on.
The Dark Wolves had already lost their momentum after receiving Hans’s heavy blows.
The soldiers began eliminating them one at a time.
‘They’re certainly experienced.’
I had watched vigilantly in case anyone was killed or injured, but I let out an impressed whistle.
“AWOOOOOO!”
THWACK—! CRUNCH—!
Before long, the remaining Dark Wolves lost their lives and collapsed.
I approached Hans.
“Third Young Master! Are you all right?! Were you injured anywhere?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I didn’t even get a scratch.”
“Thank goodness. In the future, please tell us before you rush out like that.”
“Right, right. None of the soldiers died or got hurt, did they?”
“No! They did not!”
Hans answered with pride filling his voice.
I might have been the commander in name, but Hans had issued the actual combat orders.
He seemed pleased with himself as well.
“Good. I like how decisive you are. Then let’s use this momentum to clear out the Demonic Beasts in the area.”
“Yes, understood!”
We quickly reorganized and advanced deeper into the Forest of Demonic Beasts.
The filthy beasts were waiting for our blades.
***
That evening.
After thoroughly tearing through the Forest of Demonic Beasts,
we returned to the encampment before darkness swallowed it.
On one side, soldiers skinned the Demonic Beasts and excitedly discussed how much money they would earn from the expedition.
On the other, they threw their supplies into a pot and busied themselves cooking stew.
“This is an incredible achievement, Third Young Master.”
Hans approached me with a pleased smile.
“Enough. This isn’t anything worth making a fuss over.”
“That is not true, Young Master! I can say this confidently with my ten years of service in the Demonic Beast Subjugation Unit on the line. An accomplishment like this is extraordinarily rare even in the unit’s history.”
His gaze turned toward the mountain of Demonic Beast corpses.
“Really? You aren’t exaggerating just to flatter me?”
“It is true! I swear there is not the slightest falsehood in my words!”
“All right. I understand. Calm down.”
I laughed and raised both hands.
Then I patted the space beside me.
“Do you know why I joined the Demonic Beast Subjugation Unit?”
Hans sat beside me and silently stared into the campfire for a long while before speaking.
“……I heard you lost your mother to a Demonic Beast?”
When I answered after a brief hesitation, he stared at me in surprise.
“You knew?”
“I did. Besides, isn’t that true for most people who join the Demonic Beast Subjugation Unit? Everyone loses someone precious and throws themselves into revenge.”
“……That is true.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Please do.”
“After taking revenge, did your heart feel any lighter?”
Hans opened his mouth to speak, but soon closed it again.
The only sounds reaching my ears were the campfire devouring the wood and the soldiers talking noisily among themselves.
Before long, Hans broke the silence.
“To be honest, I do not know. I have not taken my revenge yet.”
“Really?”
“Yes. The creature that killed Mother is probably still alive somewhere in that forest.”
“You haven’t mistaken another one for it after killing so many Demonic Beasts?”
“……I do not believe so. It was a mutant. It was clearly a Golem, but it was a hideous creature with two heads. I could never forget it.”
“I see.”
As someone who shared the same grief, I had wanted to hear how he felt after completing his revenge.
Yet the two men sitting before the campfire were merely fools still chained to the past.
That was when it happened.
THUD—!
The footsteps of something enormous came from deep within the forest.
“Demonic Beast!”
The sentry’s shout cut across the encampment.
The soldiers dropped their ladles and spoons as though throwing them aside, then hurriedly grabbed their spears and shields.
THUD—! THUD—!
As the footsteps drew closer, Hans drew his sword.
THUD—! THUD—!
I also stepped forward, leaving the soldiers to establish a defensive formation behind me.
“Those footsteps are unusual.”
“Yeah. It doesn’t sound like an ordinary beast.”
Footsteps from something that large meant it was at least a high-grade Demonic Beast.
“UOOOOOOH.”
The Demonic Beast revealed itself as it knocked down the dense trees.
It stood at least four meters tall, with a body larger than two adult men combined.
Its body consisted of stone and boulders covered in moss.
Corrupted mana extended from its chest, connecting one rock to another.
It was a giant high-grade Demonic Beast that ruled deep within the Forest of Demonic Beasts.
A Golem.
“That creature!”
Hans, who had remained calm throughout the entire hunt, could not conceal his shock.
Two heads rested upon the Golem’s shoulders.
This was the creature that had killed Hans’s mother.
“You bastard! I have finally found you!”
“Wait! Hans, come back!”
Having lost his reason, Hans charged toward the Golem.
The blessing of mana was added to a body trained over ten years.
Hans unleashed a ferocity unlike anything he had shown before.
“Die!”
WHOOSH—!
His rage-filled blade swung toward the Golem’s heart.
THUD—!
“Th-this cannot be!”
Hans’s attack, delivered with desperate strength, was blocked by the Golem’s solid forearm.
CRASH—!
“Ghah!”
“Move!”
The Golem casually kicked Hans, sending him crashing among the soldiers.
KRA-KABOOM—!
“Sir Hans! Are you all right?!”
“Young Master, Sir Hans has lost consciousness! The soldiers he struck when he landed are also in poor condition!”
I gripped my sword with both hands and looked back.
“You.”
“Yes, Third Young Master!”
“As commander of this Demonic Beast Hunt, I order you to take the wounded and retreat immediately!”
At my grave command, the veteran soldier who reported the situation turned pale.
“Forgive my impertinence, but what do you intend to do, Young Master?”
“I’ll lure that thing away and buy you time. Retreat to the rear while you have the chance!”
The moment I finished speaking, fierce objections erupted.
“We cannot do that, Third Young Master!”
“That is right. Let us fight together!”
“We shall protect you with our lives!”
I glared at them sharply.
“This is an order from your commander! Do you intend to disobey?!”
The soldiers swallowed their protests at my resolute attitude.
“We shall evacuate the wounded and return immediately. Please endure until then!”
“Understood.”
I drew up my mana.
CRACKLE.
“Then I’ll see you later.”
CRASH—!
“Good grief. You look even uglier up close.”
THUD—! THUD—! THUD—!
I avoided the creature’s grasp and thrust into the gaps in its body as though performing acrobatics.
The Golem’s gaze turned toward me.
“Hey. Let’s play a game of tag.”
I turned and ran in the opposite direction from the soldiers.
“GRAAAAGH!”
Furious beyond reason, the Golem roared and began chasing me.
“Yeah. Keep following.”
With swift steps, I ran deeper into the Forest of Demonic Beasts.
I continued until the dense trees completely hid the soldiers from view.
“Good. This should be far enough.”
Once I believed we had gone far enough, I stopped fleeing and turned to face it.
Perhaps imagining how full it would become after devouring me, the Golem repeatedly slammed its jaws together.
“Bastard. You think you’re lucky, don’t you?”
RIPPLE.
Ripples spread across the shadow beneath my feet.
“From where I’m standing, you look terribly unlucky.”
RUSTLE.
The Demonic Sword rose from the surging darkness.
[Have you finally decided to use me?! Hurry and offer me that soul steeped in darkness!]
Her alluring voice tickled my ear.
“What are you talking about? You devoured every last soul from the Demonic Beasts we hunted.”
[It does not feel the same! The experience matters! Between a fish you catch yourself and one purchased at a market, is it not obvious which will taste better?]
“Yes, yes. Of course.”
SHING.
I drew the sword and aimed it at the two-headed Golem.
The mindless creature showed no intention of retreating, even before the dark energy radiating from Fafnir.
[To think a spirit that once wandered the world more freely than any other is now trapped inside such a lump of stone and dragged around.]
As though enraged by her words, the Golem released a thunderous roar and swung its fist.
FLASH.
The mana surrounding my sword turned black.
The Golem’s fist rushed toward me.
The Demonic Sword swung toward that fist.
The result was obvious.
SWISH—!
THUD.
The severed fist fell to the ground, corrupted mana leaking endlessly from it.
The moment it witnessed its helpless state, both of the Golem’s heads began spinning violently.
As though they had broken.
“GRAAAAGH!”
The Golem roared loudly.
“Can Golems feel pain?”
[Indeed. Despite its appearance, it is still a living creature.]
“Ah, I see.”
They say the body forgets every pain except the worst one.
I’ll help you forget.
The sharp Demonic Sword began its dance toward the Golem.