■ One Day More □
The news that the Resistance’s execution would be carried out tomorrow seemed to have spread, and it was noisy in front of the Governor’s Office from early morning.
Not only the people hired by the nobility but also families of the Resistance members who were commoners had gathered noisily. As I passed by the Headquarters entrance, someone shouted as if they were on a witch hunt.
“Over there! The Demon King’s dog is passing!”
“Get lost, you evil guy!”
“This is our country!”
Shout all you want.
No matter how much they shout like this, this country has long since fallen into being a colony of the Demon King’s Army.
Crack!
“Huh?”
I glanced up at a sound of something breaking above my head.
A broken egg couldn’t penetrate the barrier of wind and slid down.
One after another, tomatoes and stones were thrown at me, but since leaving them alone would surely make a mess in front of the Headquarters, I decided to clean it up myself.
Snap!
As I flicked my finger, a strong gust of wind arose, sending everything flying back directly at those who threw them.
“Kyaaaah!”
“The demon is killing people!”
Just as they say “the one who farts gets angry,” the protestors screamed and scattered.
Is it because they lack learning ability, or are these different people each time?
I shrugged my shoulders and confidently climbed the steps to the main gate.
Pfft!
At that moment, an arrow flew from somewhere, aiming for my neck.
Thud!
With superhuman reflexes, I blocked it and shattered the special magic-imbued arrow.
“You’re crossing the line…”
Regardless of anything else, I had no intention of letting someone who targeted my life go easily.
Koooom!
Spewing gales from both feet, I instantly took flight and scanned the buildings from which the arrow had come.
A suspicious shadow was fleeing.
Using the winds of the Whirlwind Tunnel, I pursued at full speed.
No matter how much that guy runs, he’s still on Buddha’s palm.
In the blink of an eye, I approached the sniper.
His face was covered with a piece of cloth, so his features couldn’t be properly seen, but judging by his build and limbs, he appeared to be a man in his early to mid-20s.
Spewing wind from both hands, I quickly changed direction and delivered a dropkick to his exposed back.
“Kuhak!”
The sniper was sent flying, spitting blood, rolled across the roof, and fell below.
Since I assumed he was a Resistance underling, I chased him down intending to cut off his breath once we reached a fairly open space, where I realized something was amiss.
The surroundings were too neatly arranged.
By the time I realized this, I had already enveloped my whole body with a wind barrier used to contain storms.
This entire process took about two seconds.
Dozens of spells flew from all directions but failed to pierce the much thicker barrier than usual.
Eventually, as the sniper who had fallen to the ground slowly rose, around 20-30 men in their 20s and 30s revealed themselves from all sides of the open space.
All of them had elements floating around their bodies, indicating they were mages.
They were likely members of the Resistance from the Oz Youth Association expelled from the Emerald Tower.
“Chief Financial Officer Partarth, it seems you’ll need to die for this country’s future.”
“To be so harsh right off the bat.”
Purple Lightning Flash
Muttering those words, I surrounded my entire body with purple electricity.
The difference between the Thunder Lance I often use and Ozma’s spell-armament Purple Lightning Flash lies in the balance.
If Thunder Lance emphasizes balance, then Purple Lightning Flash focuses solely on speed.
Eventually, the opponents made the first move.
Dodging the rising rocks from the ground, I twisted my body momentarily and sprang upward like a spring.
Fire arrows followed like guided missiles.
I deflected all the fire arrows with my lightning-covered hand, then spread my arms wide.
Penta Spell—
“Heavenly Flag Lightning Spear”
Lightning spears filled the sky.
Their numbers were countless, like stars.
The mages who attacked me looked astonished as they looked up at me, but I had no intention of sparing them.
Gyaah!
Simultaneously with my clenching fist, the lightning spears descended towards the ground.
“Ugh! Hold on!”
The mages who attacked me desperately shouted, but alas, this was not something they could endure just by doing so.
To begin with, there was an insurmountable hierarchy gap between them and me.
Even if hundreds of mages two ranks below me were brought in, they wouldn’t stand a chance.
From the first rank to the third rank, it’s like humans with a little hair; there might be some room to fight numerically, but beyond that?
“Kraaaah!”
Eventually, the ones whose mana ran out first began to get impaled by the lightning spears and turned into charred corpses.
Seeing this, the comrades standing nearby became enraged, but unfortunately, they met the same fate as their allies.
When all the spellcasting ended, only the initial sniper and two seemingly higher-ranked mages remained alive.
I intentionally spared the sniper, and the other two seemed to have broken through to the fourth rank, akin to magicians.
Though meaningless against me.
Perhaps due to the rapid depletion of mana, the visibly exhausted man shouted with a resentful expression.
“Why! Why do you demons possess such great power and yet oppress us humans?”
“Isn’t it shameful to wield such immense power without any sense of responsibility?”
Listening to the cries of the weak, I shrugged.
“Why should I, the strong one, feel ashamed? This world has always operated on the principle of survival of the fittest.”
Saying this, I took a step forward.
“You’ve all been stepping on those weaker than yourselves until now, haven’t you? And now that you find yourselves in the position of the weak, you try to assign blame to the strong. Isn’t that rather selfish?”
I gestured with my hand, causing the wind to rise.
The sniper, trying to escape at the slightest opportunity, had his ankle severed by an invisible blade.
“!!!”
The man silently screamed and rolled on the ground.
As a result, the crimson blood from his severed ankle soaked the ground.
The two mages trembled with fear.
But I had no intention of sparing them.
For one thing, those who target my life are best dealt with while they can still be killed to avoid future trouble.
“In the name of the country, how many have you killed so far? Did you ever feel guilt when you killed them? No, you didn’t. If you had, you wouldn’t be walking around with such normal expressions now.”
On the day I committed my first murder, I couldn’t sleep at all.
But people inevitably become desensitized to repeating the same act.
Even if taking a life initially causes nausea and rejection, eventually, it becomes commonplace.
Let alone from my perspective, there isn’t much difference between slaughtering demons and humans.
Both merely differ in name, yet equally speak, think, love, form friendships, hate, and despise each other as intelligent beings.
“Let’s finish this.”
I surrounded both hands with the Whirlwind Tunnel.
The mages in front of me took frightened steps backward.
“Eek! Don’t come closer!”
“I don’t want to die!”
“If your last words are only that, you’re both simpler than expected.”
Saying this under my breath, I swiftly beheaded the two mages.
Two heads that didn’t even realize they were dead fell to the ground, and I looked at the sniper who was writhing like a bug due to the severed ankle.
“Choose your targets better in your next life.”
The sniper, crawling like a bug on the ground, died like one.
It took approximately ten minutes to kill all the members of the Oz Youth Association who had set this clever trap. Before it got too late, I hurriedly returned to the Governor’s Office Headquarters for work.
Today, an important meeting was scheduled.
That was none other than meeting Duke Munhen, cousin of Prince Tipetarius.
“Welcome.”
“It’s been a while. Lord Partarth.”
The handsome man with neatly combed black hair was around the early 30s, similar to my age.
He was one of the key figures among the Royalists and one of the founders of the Oz Independence Association.
“It’s been almost a year since I visited here personally because there are so many prying eyes around.”
“Given your busy schedule, it’s unavoidable. Please take a seat.”
As he sat opposite me, I asked Agnes to bring refreshments.
Removing his hat and sitting comfortably, Duke Munhen asked with sharp eyes.
“I heard there’s going to be an execution of the Resistance members tomorrow. May I ask what purpose that serves?”
I shrugged in response to his straightforward question.
“When fishing for big fish, you need bait that matches its size. The Resistance executions serve that purpose, so you don’t need to worry too much.”
“What exactly do you mean by ‘big fish’?”
“…Lord Munhen, you’ve done excellent spy work for nearly two years. There’s no reason to hide it anymore.”
Smiling, I told him.
“The new Hero.”
One day remains until the final battle.
