Chapter 51

Chapter 51

Rage surged within me.

This wasn’t the influence of madness.

It was pure anger. I had sworn off trusting humans, and yet, because of some damn attachment, I had once again grown attached to someone.

Of course, it wasn’t like I had trusted my aunt a hundred percent. We were blood-related, sure, but in truth, she had always been a stranger I hadn’t even known until recently.

But over time, I had grown fond of her. I thought she was treating me like family. I liked the people in this village. I liked Grandpa, too. I liked the feeling that I had found the family I had lost.

But… but...

That woman ruined everything.

Even the small bit of affection I had left for humanity.

Even the villagers I had come to like.

She destroyed it all. My anger toward my mother? My jealousy? My hatred?

What am I supposed to do with that?

All of this because of something that petty?

Because of emotions like that?

She made this mess?

If that’s really the case—

Then that woman had been insane from the very beginning.

"You really make it hard to trust people."

"Maybe trusting people is just stupid."

"Since when have you been this far gone?"

"Since your mother was born into this world?"

I couldn’t help but laugh at those words.

"To feel that inferior to your own sibling… that’s honestly impressive."

"……."

"But I doubt my mother ever even thought about you. Oh, maybe she pitied you a little, thinking you were lacking. She might have felt a bit of sympathy."

"Shut up."

"Or maybe she didn’t think anything of you at all. After all, even if she realized someone else had to live in her shadow just because she existed, there was nothing she could have done about it. You know why? Because people born to shine—people who attract attention just by existing—people born as the sun—they don’t understand things like that. It’s like a fate decided from the start."

"Shut up. Shut up. Shut up."

"So instead of blaming my mother, Aunt, you should’ve blamed the world. You should’ve cursed your damn fate. Or better yet, blamed your own shortcomings."

Her eyes turned red, and the same word began pouring out of her mouth in a rapid, relentless stream.

"Shutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutup!"

Then she charged at me.

"SHUT UUUUUUUUUP!!!!"

I drew Behemoth without hesitation. Her fist, saturated with bloodthirst, came flying toward me at a terrifying speed, and instead of dodging, I chose to strike back.

As I activated aura, the blade of Behemoth turned a deep blue. The frost-covered tip of the sword collided with her fist.

Kwaaaang!

A massive blast echoed out, sending shockwaves in every direction.

"No. No. That’s not true! It’s not true!"

Muttering incomprehensible things, she kept swinging her fists wildly like a true madwoman.

But it wasn’t enough to be a threat to me.

Slash!

Behemoth, swung diagonally, cut through her right arm. I kicked the severed arm away from the ground and followed up with another strike.

Chwarururuk!

"No. No. It’s not my fault. It’s all her fault. My life was ruined the moment she was born. Everything is her fault. That’s why you have to die too. You’re her blood. You all have to die too! But why! Why! WHY! Why are you fine?! Why are you still okay?! Please, just die! DIE! JUST DIE ALREADY!"

Episode 51

Perhaps due to the influence of madness, the aura pouring out of her body grew more and more violent.

Realizing there was nothing to gain by dragging this out, I drew out even more power myself. Through enhancement magic, I strengthened my body.

Every time I swung my sword, the muscles throughout my body screamed. Even so, I didn’t stop.

Faster.

Stronger.

“Dad. Dad. Dad. Mom. Did you like her? Was it good? But why won’t Dad look at me? Why did Mom die? When did she die? Why did she die? Are you happy? Was it good? I’m asking if it was good. Why. Why. Why. Why don’t you see me as a woman. I am a woman. No, I’m also a daughter. Look at me as a daughter. No, just look at me as a person. Not my sister. Not Irunka. Look at me! Me!”

As time passed, her condition worsened even further. The blood vessels all over her body bulged grotesquely, and her eyes were completely dyed red. At times, she even crawled on all fours like a beast, wailing.

“I came to tear your eyes out, you know. But then I ate there. I wanted to fold paper. But they kept giving side dishes and never talked to me. I’m sleepy, you know. I’m so sleepy I want to die, but this world that keeps forcing me to kill people is so hateful so hateful so hateful so hateful so hateful so hateful so hateful so hateful so hateful so hateful so hateful so hateful so hateful so hateful so hateful so hateful so hateful? Huh? What is it that you hate so much? Ah, Irunka? Or Ran Winterbell?”

I cut into her right shoulder joint. But moments later, a mass of flesh began swelling there, and soon it returned to its original state.

“Now you can regenerate too?”

Whether it was due to the rampage or some other ability, her regenerative power had become incomparably stronger than before.

At this rate, the fight would drag on endlessly.

After making up my mind, I glanced around once and finally decided to use Makina.

The aura-infused blade pierced her body, cold invading her from within. Then a transparent greatsword formed of EtMaler fell from above her head.

Jjaaaak!

Arkina was split cleanly in two.

“……”

In case she might regenerate again, I kept my eyes on her, but fortunately, nothing of the sort happened.

I had killed a blood relative with my own hands, yet no particular emotion surfaced. I only felt pathetic for having let my guard down even a little.

“You crazy bastards, get a grip!”

Lin Winterbell’s voice rang out from somewhere.

When I turned toward the sound, I saw her surrounded by rampaging warriors of the Halla Clan.

Unexpectedly, she was struggling. It seemed that because bonds had formed over time, she was holding back, unwilling to take their lives.

“Lin Winterbell is showing that side of herself?”

[In the end, both you and that woman are human. What you humans should fear the most isn’t magical beasts, gods, or demons, but that attachment. Even knowing you’ll be betrayed in the end, you can’t cut off that damn affection, and so you meet ruin, don’t you?]

Because it was true, it irritated me even more.

So I approached the clan warriors surrounding Lin Winterbell and slaughtered them. Caught off guard by the sudden assault, the warriors fell one after another. Once they had gone berserk, there was no way to turn them back anyway.

“Phew.”

Lin Winterbell looked at me and shouted, almost as if crushing me with her voice.

“Hey. What the hell do you think you’re doing? Who asked you to butt in?”

“Big sis, what’s gotten into you? That’s not like you. Are you getting attached already just because you’ve slept with them a few times?”

“You son of a bitch, you just can’t shut up, can you?”

She looked ready to come at me any second, but I simply stared back at her with a look of disappointment.

“If you keep holding back your strength trying to save those who’ve gone berserk, we’re all going to die here. And this isn’t the time for us to be fighting each other. If you want to live, get your head on straight.”

Lin Winterbell glanced at the blood on my body, then turned her eyes toward where Arkina had been. When she spotted the corpse, split in two, she asked,

“Don’t tell me… you did that?”

“Yes.”

“…You cold bastard.”

“And you’re saying that now? I always thought you were the kind of person who could stab her own brother in the back at any moment… Was I wrong about you?”

“Cut the crap and lead the way.”

Together with Lin Winterbell, I headed toward the place where Grandpa had been. In the end, the true culprit behind all of this was the man playing the flute. Even if it was my aunt who brought him here, we had to kill the bastard driving the villagers into a frenzy to get past this crisis.

‘Since Grandpa went himself, maybe the fight’s already over.’

I cut down the berserk warriors charging at us and continued to push forward.

Before long, we came to a hill, and without hesitation, we climbed it.

The smell of blood was thick in the air.

And there, covered in blood from head to toe, stood Grandpa.

“Grandpa?”

“…Why did you come here?”

He looked utterly exhausted. Across from him stood the flute player and another man holding a sword. The latter had red hair and wielded a black sword, and from his entire body emanated an overwhelming aura.

“Aren’t you the Winterbell brats?”

“……”

I instinctively knew—those two were the ones who had done this to Grandpa.

If it were only the flute player, Grandpa wouldn’t have been pushed back. But the man next to him was dangerous. My instincts screamed it.

But it was already too late to run.

And I wasn’t the only one who realized that.

Lin Winterbell gripped her sword tightly, releasing a sharp killing intent. She had resolved to fight for real.

“So those bastards are the ones who turned the village into this mess, huh?”

“Yes.”

“You sons of bitches. I was having such a damn good time, and you dare interrupt my feast?”

“Big sis. As you can see, they’re monstrously powerful. These are people who managed to push Grandpa to this point.”

“I’ve got eyes too, you bastard. So what? They’re still people, aren’t they? Cut them with a sword, they bleed and their flesh tears, just like anyone else. You stab them, they die.”

Her bravado was admirable, at least.

But the situation wasn’t as optimistic as she made it sound.

If these two had pushed Grandpa this far, realistically, we had no chance of winning.

And Grandpa knew that too—that’s why he quietly spoke to us.

“Stop acting reckless and get out of here. Those bastards are far beyond what you can handle.”

At those words, Lin Winterbell shot back sharply.

“Old man, do you really have to keep acting all high and mighty even when you’re half-dead? Even if we run now, we’ll just get caught and killed soon enough. If that’s the case, it’s better to use you as a shield and fight right here.”

“…You foul-mouthed brat. Don’t you dare blame me if you die.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not pathetic enough to blame a dying old man.”

The red-haired man who had been watching us finally opened his mouth.

“Should I kill them? Or capture them?”

The man playing the flute responded.

“Kill them both. They’re worthless anyway. The Master will probably like that too.”

“…Understood.”

The red-haired man swung the black sword in his hand. From his blade, a strike burst forth at incredible speed, rushing toward us.