23. You’ve come as prophesied, the great slaughterer!
-KWAAAAANG!!!
“Die!!! Demon!!!!”
As Fernandez sighed and pulled out an incense burner, a wall of the distant mausoleum exploded, and the remains of a walker—or what used to be a walker—flew into the sky.
“…Brother. It’s over.”
“Huh?! Where’s the bastard?!”
“I took him down.”
“Ohhh!!!!”
As the thick dust settled, a massive figure emerged. Diemonica Fabiano, drenched in blood, crushed the charging walkers with his fists.
“Justice has triumphed! Praise be!!!!”
“Ah, yes…”
Fernandez awkwardly put away the incense burner and made the sign of the cross, following Fabiano. Even now, Diemonica remained a monstrous organization and a breeding ground. No wonder the demon sects fled in terror whenever Diemonica showed up.
But now, they were on his side. Fernandez smiled inwardly, relieved. It was time to wrap things up.
*
Jereil and the Red Axe Gang were literally tearing through the horde of walkers, advancing slowly but surely.
The density of walkers increased as they went. This was actually a positive sign.
It meant they were nearing the government district, and that an enormous horde of walkers was gathered there.
“Sh-shit. Captain, what the hell are those things…?”
“Walkers?”
“They’re… cutting them down?”
“Fuck, guys, battle stations!”
It didn’t matter if they were mercenaries, survivors, or city guards. Jereil had decided to slaughter anything that moved in front of him.
Blood and silver. Those were the two things that drove Jereil. He grinned wickedly as he fiddled with his axe blade.
Until a walker, split vertically, charged at him.
“WAAAHHH!!! FUUUCK! What the hell is this?!”
A flying walker! Jereil screamed in terror and swung his axe. The halved walker was struck by the axe and rolled on the ground. The half-flying walker instantly became a quarter-flying walker.
Luckily, it wasn’t the terrifying, nightmare-inducing flying walker.
It was just, literally, a walker cut in half.
“…?”
It was cleanly bisected. Who the hell cuts a person vertically…? Jereil cautiously looked ahead.
“…The fuck?”
Walkers were flying through the air. Swish, swish, swish. Walkers missing at least one body part fluttered in the sky, a sight that was utterly surreal.
“What the hell is that, guys?”
“…Uh…”
A giant man and a young man were sending walkers flying into the sky! One was a muscular, ogre-like man, and the other was a slender youth about half his size.
They were slicing walkers—throwing them—and slicing them again, like garbage collectors tossing trash bags.
It was like a factory churning out halved walkers!
“Holy FUUUCK! What the hell are those guys?!!!!”
They were butchers! Jereil trembled as he watched the walker cleaners. The slender youth at least moved with a hint of rationality, dispatching walkers with swift swordsmanship.
But the giant next to him was tearing through walkers like an ogre devouring a deer! Not with an axe, but with a greatsword!
At Jereil’s scream, the butchers turned to look at him.
“Oh! Ohhh! Survivors! Splendid! Welcome! Come this way!”
“G-get the hell away from me!!!!”
Jereil’s plan to cut down everything that moved was shattered in the face of a giant who butchered everything that moved!
“Uh, Your Excellency?!”
At that moment, Kirhas, who was stabbing a walker rushing from the side, let out a choked scream. The giant and the youth turned their gaze to her.
“Ohh! Sister!”
“Uh… uh… Brother. It’s good to see you…”
Kirhas shrank back at the giant’s booming voice but soon perked up her ears and greeted him cheerfully.
“Your Excellency! You’re safe!”
“Yes! Good to see you! Are those gentlemen the Red Axe Gang?”
“Ah, yes!”
Listening to Kirhas and the youth’s conversation, Jereil finally regained his composure. Thankfully, they weren’t ruthless mercenaries after the mint.
Realizing there was no need for conflict, Jereil calmed down.
“Uh, uh… Are those knights over there?”
“Ah, knights… Hmm. Yes! They’re my seniors!”
“Damn it…”
I should stay away from the Order of St. John Knights’ territory from now on. Jereil groaned. No, if I even hear rumors of the Order of St. John Knights joining the fight, I’ll have to give up on that side.
The pressure from the walkers ahead had almost disappeared. The two butchers had wiped them out.
The slender youth suddenly extended his hand to Jereil and spoke.
“I’ve heard of your valor! Pleased to meet you, I’m Angelo of the Order of St. John Knights!”
“Uh… I’m Jereil of the Red Axe Gang… How do you know us…?”
“I have urgent news! Just a moment!”
-KWAAAAANG!
The cheerful youth, Fernandez, suddenly swung his crimson-robed fist.
“Eek?!”
As Jereil flinched at the force, a walker charging at his side collapsed with a broken neck.
“Brother! Your strength has grown! With the blessing of Vaitas! Macto!”
“Ah… yes. Brother. Macto Superlaudo…”
The giant chuckled and leaped into the area behind them, where the walker density was extremely high.
Staring blankly at the sight, Fernandez whispered to Jereil.
“For the victory of the Duke of Crimson.”
“!!!!! Eternal victory!”
Jereil was shocked, almost fainting at Fernandez’s words. The Order of St. John Knights was a holy war order aligned with Vaitas. But how…
How could they praise Duke Tyban of Crimson? Jereil stared blankly at Fernandez’s face and cautiously asked.
“…Are you a saint?”
“That’s why I’ve been searching for you. The situation has become too dire for idle chatter.”
“Show me the mark.”
Duke Tyban of Crimson. The god of war and the demon king of slaughter. A great demon said to be sealed somewhere in the fifth realm, the Material World…
Sealed in the distant past, his blessings to his followers were meager, so his influence was almost nonexistent…
‘But if he’s a knight, he’s no different from a warrior…’
Jereil swallowed hard and looked at Fernandez. Fernandez shrugged and slightly loosened his crimson robe.
On his left fist was a strange mark, like a burn scar.
To the uninformed, it might just look like a meaningless scar. The back of the hand is prone to injuries, after all.
But Jereil, as one of the last remaining warriors of Duke Tyban of Crimson in this era, could clearly recognize the mark on Fernandez’s hand.
“Good heavens… You’ve come as prophesied, the great slaughterer…”
It was the mark bestowed upon the most favored champion of the Duke of Crimson. A clear stigma, only appearing on those anointed by the Duke himself!
Fernandez chuckled and patted Jereil’s trembling shoulder. He wrapped his robe back around his hand and spoke quietly.
“I’ll need your strength someday. Until then, build your forces.”
“How could I ever find you, great one?”
“I’ll…”
“You don’t need to know my name or rank, brother. If you are willingly doing what He desires, I will come to you.”
“Oh… For the victory of the Duke of Crimson!”
Jereil was moved as a fierce red aura erupted from his axe. The appearance of the Duke of Crimson’s Great Warrior meant that a Great War, one that would set the world ablaze, was coming in his lifetime!
Fernandez decided to completely ignore his emotions. Even if they weren’t useful in this mission, they were definitely a useful hand. He immediately approached Kirhas, who was staring at him blankly.
“We’re returning to headquarters, Sir Basilla. The mission is over.”
“…Huh? But, Sir Angelo! What about the Walker situation here…”
“No need to worry about Walkers. Sigard can handle this situation well enough. ‘The chain has been broken.’ There’s no more business in Merlin Port.”
Fernandez grinned. From the vision, even the Bronze Throne was visible. It was an enormous gain.
“I didn’t do anything… Sir Angelo. Did I even help…?”
On the other hand, Kirhas had only moved with the mercenaries and had a small record of taking down a few Walkers. Fernandez patted Kirhas on the shoulder.
“You did enough. Meeting these people here was one of the main objectives of this journey.”
Jereil, who had been listening to Fernandez, trembled with emotion once again.
-Such simple folks.
Faijashi grumbled quietly.
-Should’ve summoned Urkasia or Mumto… or at least Sadarkelisa. What kind of mage summons Tyban and ends up in this mess?
‘Stop grumbling, Faijashi. We didn’t know what would come out either.’
-Ignorance is no excuse for a mage, it’s a disgrace!
‘True, but Tyban wasn’t so bad. These guys are useful too.’
In a past life, Tyban’s followers were practically human butchers. They had a habit of going berserk at the sight of blood, but with Tyban’s blessing, they would tear through knight orders into shreds on the battlefield.
Though Tyban now sleeps somewhere in an ancient dwarven ruin, and because of that, he can hardly bestow any blessings… but that’s another story.
Fernandez began to carefully make his way out of the battlefield, keeping an eye on Kirhas. The red-axe mercenaries almost flipped their eyes open to clear the path for Fernandez.
Now, it was time to go home. Fernandez released the illusion magic on the back of his hand and smiled with a tired face.
*
[Operation Report: Breaking the Chain]
Operation Area: Phaeirn Kingdom, 3rd Checkpoint, Merlin Port.
Operation Summary: Investigation of the Bronze Scales’ hidden bases and heresy. Search for the origin of the Walker Plague.
Operation Progress:
1) Ancient Lich [Gian-Kel] eliminated, and the McLaren Church within Merlin Port city center judged as heretical.
2) Resolution of the frenzy situation within the city center.
3) Confirmation and response to the large-scale Walker outbreak triggered by the Bronze Scales within the city.
4) Detection and elimination of an unidentified medium-sized demon summoning.
5) Elimination of the Bronze Scales’ High Priest [Dale Pertas] and eradication of the Bronze Scales’ faction.
6) Request for suppression support for the large-scale Walker outbreak within the city.
Operation Task Force Team:
1) Diemonica, Fernandez Sernerd – Returned
2) Diemonica, Fabiano Meidas – Joined and returned
3) Torchman, Kirhas Hearttaker – Returned
We shall burn demons, heretics, and witches.
Operation Leader: Diemonica Fernandez Sernerd.
*
Monastery Head Beorn pushed up his monocle and looked at Fernandez. If looks could kill, Beorn’s gaze would be a strategic weapon.
“You annihilated the Bronze Scales?”
“At least those who fled from Merlin Port and its vicinity have been dealt with.”
“And what about Gian-Kel?”
“A lich disguised as a bishop of the McLaren Church. Eliminated.”
Beorn read the report again. He had checked it immediately upon receiving it, read it again, and even after hearing it directly from the person involved, he still couldn’t understand.
“You took down a lich alone?”
“That lich was somehow weakened. A fortunate turn of events.”
“How do you know it was weakened? Have you encountered a lich before?”
At Beorn’s sharp words, Fernandez’s heart nearly sank. But he replied indifferently without a change in expression.
“If I beat it to death with my fists, wouldn’t that mean it was weakened?”
“Hmm… That can’t be…”
Beorn stroked his chin. During his long service, he too had memories of cutting down demon-worshipping liches, but those were tragic, mythical battles that required the church’s relics and the sacrifices of his brothers.
And you just casually solved it like it was nothing…?
“And the High Priest of the Bronze Scales? Where did that come from? Did he just run into your arms asking to be caught?”
“Brother Fabiano had almost caught him at the 6th Checkpoint. When he fled here, Brother Fabiano and I eliminated him together.”
“What on earth…”
Beorn sighed and put down the report. He crossed his arms and looked at Fernandez. Even if you’re a saint, and no matter how capable, is this kind of achievement even possible?
“The Lord must have been watching over us.”
“And Merlin Port won’t function properly for a while. The mint will stop, the Golden Harbor will halt, and it will take decades to restore the city’s functions. Brother Fernandez. The Phaeirn Kingdom is in dire straits now.”
Beorn carefully wiped his monocle. Fatigue was etched around his eyes.
“You asked Brother Zephis to keep an eye on the royal family, didn’t you?”
“…Yes.”
“What was the basis for that?”
“Information obtained during the process of eliminating Dremdrizard.”
“Why didn’t you report it to me?”
“I wanted to provide only confirmed information. We couldn’t fully trust the demon’s words.”
“…Good. I see. You handled this well. Good news will come soon. Go and rest, you’ve worked hard.”
Beorn sighed and dismissed him. The Inquisition Office was facing a severe manpower shortage due to the widespread heresy incidents across the Phaeirn Kingdom.
There was no time to rest, or even to interrogate. But Fernandez didn’t get up.
“Is there something else?”
“What is Brother Zephis doing now?”
“He’s at the Phaeirn Royal Palace. Yes, Brother Fernandez. You were right. There was a cult hiding within the royal family. Brother Zephis will be busy with that for a while.”
“Understood.”
Now, within the church, Zephis might be the one who trusts ‘Inquisition Officer’ Fernandez the most. But Fernandez considered Zephis the most obstructive to his own tasks.
Zephis believed in Fernandez’s abilities. From his first mission, Fernandez had stood out, so Zephis paid a lot of attention to him.
Fernandez had things to do that required avoiding others’ eyes. The information that Zephis wouldn’t be coming to the Inquisition Office for a while was a godsend to him.
Fernandez bowed his head and smiled as he left. Now, he had guaranteed free time for experiments. The thin bronze bracelet on his wrist sparkled in the sunlight.
*
“Sigh…”
Beorn sighed as he watched the door close. His mouth felt dry.
‘A saint? Receiving revelations? Blessed by the gods?’
Of course, logically, there’s nothing incomprehensible. Even through faith, there’s nothing incomprehensible. But there are things that can’t be understood by ‘sense.’
The sense honed by decades of rooting out heretical sects lurking underground as ‘Heretica’ Beorn Shieldbane was screaming that something was different.
But Beorn picked up his pen and thought.
But if it could rebuild the crumbling humanity, anything would do. No matter what Fernandez’s intentions were, no matter what he was thinking or plotting. As long as it was for humanity, it didn’t matter.
Beorn, and the civilized world, had no time to ponder.
![[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return](https://i3.wp.com/novelhitam.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/TS-Obsessed-Gamer-The-Ultimate-Return2.png?resize=85,105 "[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return")
