Episode 22. So It Was You? (3)

“Ah… Ugh, agh!”

A man groans through his swollen, busted lips.

I look down at him with deep-set eyes, pressing the tip of my sword to his temple.

“Not answering?”

Well, then, I have no choice.

“Let’s start with the most useless eye first…”

“W-wait…! I’ll talk! I’ll talk, so please stop…!”

The man pleads with a desperate voice.

“Oh? Then go ahead and spill it.”

“Uh, well… You see, earlier…”

The man lowers his head, trembling as if trying to recall his memories before being beaten.

And then.

-Uuuung!

A dark aura bursts from his left chest.

“You were asking how I should kill you, right?!”

The man, who had been hunched over, springs up like a coil, crossing his arms.

In his hands now are two scythes.

He spreads his arms like wings, and the scythes, shrouded in a dark aura, swing fiercely.

“Looks like this old man got beaten so much his memory’s gone bad.”

Seeing the man charging at me with a look of glee, I smirk and take a step back.

The ‘Point Blood’ technique was originally created to easily subdue opponents with relatively low magic power.

I already knew that with my pitiful amount of magic power, I couldn’t keep a Mine bound for long.

‘But.’

Just because I can’t keep them bound for long doesn’t mean I can’t handle them.

“Alright, I’ll ask again, so listen carefully this time?”

Sun Sword.

First Form, Initial Eclipse.

An upward slash rising from the blind spot.

The sword slips between the two scythes being swung fiercely, as if performing an acrobatic feat, and slices through the man’s chest.

Flesh tears, blood spurts.

“Ah, ugh.”

The man presses his hands against his chest, which is gushing blood, his face pale.

Clang.

The two scythes in his hands clatter to the ground.

“W-what are you…?”

“I said I’m the one asking questions.”

Thud!

I roughly stomp on the fallen man’s knee.

A piercing scream echoes loudly through the cave.

“What was a Mine doing here?”

“Ah, ugh…”

“Let’s see… Which part did I say was the most useless earlier?”

“I-I was just following orders!”

“Whose?”

“That’s…”

The man turns his head slightly, avoiding my gaze.

Just as he’s about to answer, biting his lips nervously.

“Ah… Kgh! Gah, kgh!”

Suddenly, the man clutches his chest, writhing in pain.

His bulging eyes are bloodshot, and grotesque veins, like tree roots, crawl up his neck and begin to cover his face.

“This is…”

Did they put some kind of curse to prevent information from leaking?

I quickly reach out toward the man, who’s foaming at the mouth and trembling as if electrocuted.

“Tsk.”

But the man’s pupils have already lost all life.

I had considered the possibility of a curse being placed on him from the moment I subdued him.

‘But it was a high-level curse.’

Most curses activate when a specific word is spoken or a specific action is taken.

But the curse on this man was a high-level one that instantly cut off his life the moment he even *intended* to reveal information.

“Just who the hell are these guys?”

From the way he mentioned ‘priest’ earlier, it seemed clear they were from the Devil God Church.

But the Devil God Church itself has so many factions and operates like a network, so it’s hard to pinpoint exactly which faction they belong to.

“Hmm.”

First, I pick up the black nail-like object the man had.

‘It seems like something that affects the leyline.’

This cave is a place where the leyline flows thickly, enough for starflowers imbued with magic power to grow in clusters.

From the way he was hammering nails into the stone wall and releasing demonic energy, I could guess it was something meant to affect the leyline.

“But I don’t know exactly what effect it has.”

I even wondered if this nail was the reason the Devil God’s seal weakened in my past life.

‘But no.’

If the Devil God’s seal could be weakened just by hammering a small nail like this into the wall, the seal would have been broken long ago.

Even if there were dozens or hundreds of these black nails, it wouldn’t matter.

The Devil God’s seal isn’t something that weakens just from a slight disturbance in the leyline.

‘Then what is it?’

I keep pondering, but no clear answer comes to mind.

‘For now, let’s look for more clues.’

Just as I reach out toward the man’s corpse lying on the ground.

-Thud, thud.

Faint footsteps echo from afar.

I stop reaching for the man and spread my magic power throughout my body, activating my sensory perception.

‘Three… no, four.’

It’s not hard to figure out who the owners of the footsteps are.

‘They must be the ones who gave this guy orders.’

Probably coming to check on the situation since this guy’s return was delayed.

“Hmm.”

The four approaching now likely aren’t the entire group of Mines that infiltrated the school.

‘There must be more.’

I still don’t know why they infiltrated the school, but if they’re bold enough to sneak into a school swarming with Heroes, they can’t be a small, weak faction.

‘Even if I subdue them, I won’t get any information because of the curse.’

To track down the Devil God Church faction, I’ll need to find another way.

“Alright, so what do I do…”

As I continue thinking, my eyes land on the two scythes lying on the ground.

An idea flashes through my mind as soon as I see the scythes.

“Aha.”

So that’s how?

“Let’s see, first…”

I slice the neck of the Mine who died coughing up blood.

‘They won’t think he died from the curse now.’

I smirk and pick up the scythes lying on the ground.

And next.

Thud.

Without hesitation, I bring the scythe down toward my own abdomen.

* * *

“How long has it been since we lost contact with Husk?”

Four men in black robes.

The one leading them, a man with blood-red hair, turns his head.

A gruesome burn scar covers his entire left cheek.

His deeply sunken eyes glint with a blood-red light so eerie it sends shivers down your spine just by looking at him.

“I-it’s been about 30 minutes.”

“30 minutes, huh.”

The blood-red-haired man’s brow twitches slightly.

“I distinctly remember telling you that the ‘nail’ work should be done by at least two people together.”

“S-sorry, Priest Calyx!”

The three Mines behind the man called ‘Priest Calyx’ bow their heads in terror.

Calyx coldly glances at his subordinates, then clicks his tongue and turns his head.

“…I’ll deal with your punishment later.”

“Y-yes, sir!”

For now, finding the missing Mine is the priority.

“Lead the way.”

“Y-yes, sir!”

Calyx and his subordinates cautiously but quickly make their way deeper into the cave.

What they find upon reaching the spot where the nails were supposed to be hammered is.

“Ah… Ugh, ah. P-please… save me. Please…”

A Candidate lying on the ground, bleeding from his stomach, and Husk’s corpse with its neck sliced open.

“Why is a Candidate here at this time…?”

Calyx frowns and looks back at his subordinates. One of the Mines answers hurriedly.

“T-today was definitely not a day for outdoor training!”

“Hmm.”

Then that means this Candidate must have gotten special permission from a professor to enter.

“What a headache.”

From the situation before my eyes, it’s not hard to guess what happened in this cave.

‘This Candidate, who got permission from a professor, must have stumbled upon Husk.’

And after a fierce battle, Husk ended up decapitated, while the Candidate suffered a fatal wound from Husk’s scythe.

“Tsk, pathetic.”

Calyx clicks his tongue in disdain as he looks down at Husk’s corpse.

Even if he was a low-ranking monk, losing to a mere Candidate who isn’t even a full-fledged Hero?

For a Mine who received the Devil God’s blessing, this is an unforgivable disgrace.

‘The plan’s gone awry.’

Calyx furrows his brow as if he has a headache.

The plan, which was supposed to be carried out secretly during the outdoor training schedule, has been disrupted by some random Candidate.

‘If *he* finds out about this…’

Calyx shuts his eyes tightly, his body trembling.

‘No matter what, we have to keep this hidden.’

If word gets out that there’s been a hitch in the plan, he might end up like Husk, lying dead on the ground.

“By the way… what should we do about that Candidate? If we leave him like this, he’ll bleed out soon.”

One of the Mines asks, looking down at the Candidate who’s gasping for breath, on the verge of death.

Calyx doesn’t hesitate, issuing a firm command.

“Kill him.”

“Huh? B-but!”

If the school finds out a Candidate died, the ‘professors’ will definitely take action.

“W-what if we heal him, silence him, and send him back?”

“Silence him?”

A bitter smirk forms on Calyx’s lips.

Heal this nameless Candidate, then use threats and persuasion to silence him before sending him back to school.

‘If everything goes according to plan, that would be the best solution.’

But.

“I don’t trust the living.”

Calyx’s finger points toward the fallen Candidate.

Uuuung!

A dark aura bursts from his left chest, forming into a black spike.

And then.

Thud!

In the blink of an eye, the black spike pierces the Candidate’s heart.

“Ugh… Gah!”

The gray-haired Candidate lets out a final gasp and dies.

“Dispose of him.”

“Y-yes, sir!”

Terrified by Calyx’s merciless actions, the Mines quickly hoist the Candidate’s corpse, its heart pierced, onto their backs.

Calyx clicks his tongue and turns away from his subordinates carrying the corpse.

“If you want to survive in this world, remember this. Never trust the living.”

The only ones you can trust are.

“The dead.”

Calyx says coldly as he heads toward the hideout.