Memories intertwine and become a chaotic mess.
The brain, dyed in murky colors like mixed paint, made each breath grow rougher. The pounding of a thundering heart resonated sharply in my ears.
Suddenly, a strange scenery emerged.
The blood-soaked meadow exuded an ominous atmosphere in itself. Even the corpses covering the ground felt as comforting as a fluffy blanket.
Countless crowds stood upon it.
The man pushed through the throng, hurrying his steps. He appeared anxious. The closer he moved forward, the more the murmuring noise faded.
Finally breaking through the crowd and reaching the end, he soon joined the ranks of silence.
It was a miraculous sight.
Monsters that even countless armies couldn’t withstand lay defeated, reduced to mere ashes. The once tainted creatures met death with serene faces, having reclaimed their human forms.
The crushed grasses stomped by military boots grew thickly, painting the field green. It was then that the man realized the season was spring.
And beyond that, she lay. A woman collapsed against a tree.
It was the person he had been searching for so desperately. Her hands were clasped together, and her face wore a cozy smile as she lay fallen, as if a piece of a holy painting had been torn away.
Yes, she was painfully beautiful. Just as she always had been.
The man stood motionless for some time. He couldn’t even muster the will to exhale. After a period of silence, he hesitated and took a step forward.
As he slowly and cautiously approached, the pounding of his heart struck at his eardrums.
Finally, in front of the woman, he leaned over. Even when he brought his ear close to her nose, he could hear nothing.
Not the sweet breaths that had danced above the bed, nor the voice that whispered love, nothing at all.
Nothing came to his ears.
Staggering back, the man looked down at the woman with a hopeless gaze.
She was dead.
Was this it? The end of her proud fate?
He couldn’t understand why she wore a smiling face. All she had gained by sacrificing her life was merely a little more time left in an unstoppable history racing toward destruction.
He wanted to argue.
Why did she have such a serene expression? What would happen to the Eastern Front she had left? And why did she have to leave him behind?
Numerous voices swirled in his mind like a blast furnace, white-hot. Stumbling, his trembling lips seemed on the verge of spilling forth words of reproach.
But in the end, he couldn’t.
Instead, he gritted his teeth and spoke.
“… Lieutenant.”
The woman, who had been dazedly examining the corpse behind him, flinched and lowered her head.
“Yes.”
“Send a dispatch by gallop. The withdrawal operations from the Eastern Front were successful. And…”
The blazing golden eyes rose into the void.
Upon meeting that gaze, the woman called Lieutenant stiffened and further lowered her head.
“… Humanity has lost another Master.”
Without delay, the Lieutenant turned to dash away. The man stared at her retreating figure, then looked around.
Soldiers saved by someone’s sacrifice were kneeling one by one.
Soon, their hands came together. Thus, the most solemn worship began to praise the Heavenly Deity.
The sight of thousands upon thousands of troops chanting a prayer at once was truly a spectacle.
However, only one man did not kneel.
He walked among the kneeling soldiers, stepping through them. Destruction was approaching moment by moment; there was no time for him to pray.
He only thought. Grinding his teeth, he endlessly repeated in his twisted mind, filled with hatred and vengeance.
Everything must be killed.
Be it monsters, mages, dark priests, or even mythical creatures, it didn’t matter.
Everything must be killed.
All of it.
The consciousness that had been dark came to life. Breath had stabilized eventually.
A pleasant tension was felt at my fingertips. In the heavy flow of time, I stood.
No thoughts came to mind. My brain was cold, and my senses were sharper than ever.
A Flesh Seed was upon me. Toxic liquid dripped from its gaping, gruesome mouth.
The distance was already close. It seemed almost too late at first glance.
Yet, there were no signs of movement from my body. There was no glimpse of tension among my loosely relaxed muscles.
But instinctively, I realized. This still position was the seed of all movement.
The calm within motion.
Just before the Flesh Seed’s claws touched, time stopped.
In that halted time, only my sword danced. In an instant, the blade struck downwards to the lower left.
I recalled a scene I had seen long ago. Senior Delphine and Ceria drew their swords from this stance.
And then, as time began to flow again.
A heart-wrenching scream erupted.
The dismembered Flesh Seed tumbled to the ground. Blood gushed out uncontrollably. Three silver claw marks were already etched in the air.
It was a dazzling speed. All three cuts made simultaneously were real.
The writhing Flesh Seed, belatedly split in half, went into its demise.
The Yuridina Clan Vision Rite, Golden Lionsword.
Ceria’s eyes widened in recognition of its identity; however, that too was but a fleeting moment.
The remaining Flesh Seeds began to leap and raced along the cave walls.
I couldn’t ascertain what mechanism was at play. However, it was clear that several had brushed past me and a few were crashing toward me.
A sound of metal clashing was heard from behind me, marking the beginning of a full-blown brawl.
I took a moment to catch my breath in the midst of it.
Fierce hostility burned inside my chest. Under normal circumstances, my head should also be boiling. Yet strangely, the more my chest bubbled, the colder my head grew.
It was a bizarre sensation. Like an old soldier who had crossed countless battle lines possessed me.
And when I opened my eyes again, a silver trajectory sliced through the darkness.
It was a strike shot like a beam of light. One Flesh Seed racing from my left was pierced cleanly through its head. The struggling Flesh Seed gripped my blade with its own hands.
It almost seemed to intend to obstruct me. To prove it, one Flesh Seed kicked off the cavern ceiling and jumped toward me, while another one did the same from the right.
There was no time to wrestle with the one pinned to my sword. I kicked the grasping Flesh Seed away, still impaled, and drew my hand axe, extending my arm to the right.
The claws of the Flesh Seed brushed by my slightly twisted body, and soon its head came into my range.
With a crack, the Flesh Seed’s skull burst open. Its brain and blood splattered everywhere, releasing a stinging scent.
But that wasn’t the end. Gritting my teeth, I focused strength into the hand holding the axe lodged in the Flesh Seed’s side.
Trembling and resisting, the Flesh Seed’s skull had its fate sealed, no matter how desperately it tried to endure.
The silver trajectory connected horizontally.
The mangled head of the Flesh Seed flew into the sky. My thrown axe struck the brow of another Flesh Seed rushing from the right.
The speed was so fast that the horizontal slice felt rather like a continuous extension of my cut. In an instant, three Flesh Seeds lost their lives.
It was a rough battle fueled by anger. My vision, heated by excitement, turned crimson. My labored breaths began to emit a sweet fragrance.
As a result, no weapons were left in my hands.
It didn’t matter. Now, to face the Flesh Seeds rushing from behind, I bent my upper body backward.
Then, the Flesh Seed barely brushed above me. Naturally, I had no intention of letting it go.
With a powerful spring, I raised my upper body and wrapped my arm around the Flesh Seed’s neck. Using that momentum, I thrust with all my might, driving the Flesh Seed into the ground.
Kieeeek!
With a thud, the shockwave elicited a pained wail from the Flesh Seed. Before the creature could regain its senses, I punched its face in.
An unhesitant blow; a glint of thrill flickered in my eyes as I unleashed raw violence.
Crack, smack, crunch.
With each punch, a terrifying noise resonated.
The first punch shattered its nose, the second burst its blood vessels, and the last finally crushed its skull, causing its brain to ooze out.
And in its demise, it took only three punches to end the creature’s life.
The price was harsh. Perhaps because I spent too much time on my punches, one Flesh Seed had approached from behind me.
It was too late to turn and get my stance back. I quickly raised my right hand.
Then came the heavy weight settling into my grasp.
It was the hand axe. I had summoned the axe lodged in one of the Flesh Seed’s heads using the principle of calm within motion.
Naturally, it was a matter involving complex calculations.
Even using the principle of calm within motion, the trajectory was determined during its initial throw. Thus, for me to accurately recover this intricately thrown axe, I needed to know how the fight would unfold later.
However, that was irrelevant to me.
I was merely relying on instinct, throwing and swinging wildly. The same went for my next action.
I spun around as if collapsing, driving the hand axe into the Flesh Seed’s neck. Blood burst forth, drenching my face.
The Flesh Seed, with the axe lodged in its neck, couldn’t even let out a proper scream. I pressed down hard, plunging the Flesh Seed into the ground, climbing atop it.
From there, it was simple. Swing the axe until it was dead.
Crack, smack, crunch.
Each swing of the axe produced the sound of shattering. The Flesh Seed’s cries accompanied it.
Blood, bone fragments, brain matter splattered, painting the vision in all colors.
I was breathless. My heartbeat surged so violently that my chest felt tight.
It has to die.
It was a sort of obsession. Gritting my teeth, I swung the hand axe repeatedly.
Even when the Flesh Seed’s body spasmed and eventually became motionless, and even when no cries echoed anymore, I continued.
Only the chilling sound of the axe tearing flesh reverberated hollowly in the cave. Yet, I couldn’t stop.
If only they didn’t exist.
If only these monsters didn’t exist, I could have lived.
No need to specify anyone. Everyone could have lived.
All of them, if only these monsters didn’t exist!
An unidentifiable hostility rammed through the blood vessels in my brain. Like tree roots taking hold in the ground, hatred and vengeance swelled up, threatening to explode.
I felt like I was about to go insane.
“… You bastards!!”
As I shouted, someone caught my raised hand holding the axe.
I turned my fierce gaze to the side. There stood Celin, trembling and looking at me.
“W-wait… Big brother. It’s all over now.”
All over?
Startled, my gaze scanned the surroundings. It was just as she said.
The remains of just over ten Flesh Seeds lay sprawled around us. All their heads had burst open. And more than half of them were corpses I had created.
Only then did my senses return. My eyes slowly drifted toward the Flesh Seed I had been ready to strike down with the axe.
It was no longer recognizable in shape. Not even a pile of minced meat. Crushed flesh, brain, and bone fragments mixed together, flowing down like a thick soup.
I had nothing to say. Why had I done that?
I gasped for breath, staggering as I rose to my feet. Looking back, my companions were all watching me with fearful expressions.
Among them, Senior Elsi and Senior Delphine looked the most serious. While they hadn’t collapsed to the ground, Elsi struggled to hold back tears.
Delphine’s complexion had gone pale. Left unchecked, she seemed on the verge of vomiting.
Silence fell upon the cave.
