Instructor? What's Wrong? (2)
Even with simple calculations, it was 1 against 1,000.
Unless you possessed the regenerative abilities of a troll, capable of instantly healing wounds, there was no chance of victory for a single man.
Even trolls, however, experienced a decline in their recovery rate as their injuries accumulated. A mere hundred humans could easily take down a single troll.
That's why, somewhere deep down, Keigue might have allowed himself a sliver of hope.
That he wouldn't stand a chance.
That he *shouldn't* stand a chance.
And indeed, he didn't.
Not against a thousand of his own men.
"What is this… What in the world is this…."
Deep in the night, the Higma Forest was painted with screams of utter despair.
"M-Monster!!!"
"Run away!!!"
"Aaargh!!!!"
Blood splattered through the air.
Crimson painted the ground, a gruesome mixture of vomit, blood, and tears obscured by the settling fog.
With every flash of the sword, another lifeless body crumpled to the ground.
A scene too horrific to be real.
Keigue wondered if he was trapped in a gruesome nightmare.
A mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
How many minutes had passed?
The monster, bathed in blood and wearing a bright smile, brandished a broken blade.
At first, a few charged at him with a will to fight, but they were the first to lose their lives.
*Thud.*
*Thud.*
"Aaaargh!!!!!"
"Kyaaa!!!!!"
"Gah! Ugh!!!!"
Arms and legs were severed.
Could human bones truly be severed as easily as rotten branches?
No, could one human hunt another down like this?
Keigue knew he wasn't one to talk, having killed countless people himself.
But he couldn't help but feel a sense of absurdity.
Another one of his men fell.
His wide, bloodshot eyes revealed the immense pain he had endured.
The sight was burned into Keigue's memory.
An indescribable fear coursed through him, his teeth chattering uncontrollably.
"This can't be…"
Something like this shouldn't exist in this world.
How could such an unreasonable being exist?
'A monster….'
His instincts screamed at him to flee this place immediately, but his feet felt glued to the ground, refusing to budge.
Keigue's gaze shifted to one of his men trying to escape.
It wasn't long before the man was slammed to the ground, clutching his ankle and screaming in agony.
The monster, who was just in front of him moments ago, was now far away.
The same thing happened when several men tried to escape in different directions.
The monster wouldn't allow a single one to flee.
And as the realization dawned on them, a chilling silence fell over the chaotic scene.
Except for the occasional scream, there was no other sound.
In that suffocating silence, the bandits trembled like children, tears streaming down their faces.
They could only pray desperately.
That their turn would come as late as possible.
If possible, that the monster's madness would be satiated with a certain amount of carnage, like a predator returning to its slumber after a feast.
"C-Captain… W-We…"
"...."
The vice-captain tried to speak, his eyes filled with terror, but Keigue knew that opening his mouth now would only make him the next target.
He silenced his vice-captain with a sharp gesture.
Faced with this crisis, Keigue's mind raced.
'He's going to kill us all.'
The thought struck him like an undeniable truth.
He had considered the possibility of being defeated someday.
That's why he had focused on strengthening himself, on building an impenetrable defense.
He ruled his men with fear and crushed any hint of rebellion with overwhelming force.
But in front of this monster, he was nothing.
'Why? Why… For what reason…'
Bounty?
No, no one could become like this for mere money.
Perhaps the loss of a loved one, an unquenchable thirst for revenge, could drive someone to this point.
He had never seen anyone wear such a smile while taking a life.
Not even those who reveled in the act of killing.
This was no human.
A family grudge?
A lover's revenge?
The faces of those he had wronged, their expressions contorted in fear, flashed before his eyes.
But how many had he sold out? How many lives had he brutally ended?
Rape, robbery, and threats were his daily bread, and murder was a bi-daily routine.
Among the countless faces, Keigue couldn't recall anyone resembling the monster before him.
Despair.
He thought in desperation.
Could he plead for his life, beg for forgiveness?
What if he repented, offered all his wealth?
What if he surrendered himself to the capital's prison?
'No, it's no use…'
He needed something more concrete, something that could sway the murderous intent of this demon.
"Right, at this rate, we're all dead…."
He gripped his axe tightly.
The vice-captain, hearing his mumbles, looked at him with a glimmer of hope.
*Whoosh!!!!*
Keigue swung his massive axe, cleaving through the air.
"C-Captain!?"
The axe was aimed at the vice-captain's neck.
*Slash—!*
The vice-captain's eyes widened in disbelief and horror.
His head, frozen in that expression, separated from his body and flew through the air.
'If I kill them, kill more of them, maybe he'll show mercy.'
Keigue's only priority was his own survival.
The young man glared at him, his eyes filled with malice.
A murderous aura emanated from him.
With a face twisted like a demon, the monster slowly approached.
"Y-You… You… bastard… You dare touch… my food…?"
It seemed Keigue had made another wrong choice.
'Damn it…'
The monster approached, his anger slowly building.
Keigue bit his lip.
"You bastard!!! Die!!!!!!!!"
In a last-ditch effort, he swung his axe.
And then.
Starting from the arm that swung the axe, his flesh was stripped away from the bone.
*Thump, thump.*
Red chunks of meat splattered to the ground, painting the earth crimson.
Like a skilled butcher dissecting livestock.
Keigue watched in a daze as his arm fell away.
His white bones were exposed to the open air for the first time.
His right arm, the one that had always been his strength, the one that had brought countless men to their knees.
Reduced to nothing but bone in an instant.
It felt surreal.
But then the excruciating pain hit, and Keigue's jaw dropped.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
He screamed, but the young man only uttered a single sentence.
"You… I'll kill you last, and most painfully."
Keigue could only clutch his severed arm and sob in despair.
***
"Haa…"
Selena, a silver-haired girl, let out a long sigh as she leaned back against her headboard.
Sleep eluded her, no matter how hard she tried.
The reason was obvious: Zeke's absence.
"......Has the instructor developed a habit of staying out all night…?"
After the Eustia Banquet.
She thought they would return to the Yohaiden estate together, but Zeke had disappeared again.
Without a word.
She had heard rumors that Zeke had saved Iriel from falling off the terrace.
The banquet had ended abruptly because of it.
She waited for Zeke until the very end, but she couldn't stay at the Eustia mansion forever.
Reluctantly, Selena had no choice but to return to the estate.
"The First Prince said he wanted to talk to me later, what did he mean by that…?"
She had simply nodded along to Zeke's instructions, agreeing to meet the First Prince in secret.
It was clear something had transpired between them, and Selena couldn't shake off the nagging feeling of being left in the dark.
"And what was that about Elise having the Imperial Family's emblem…?"
Selena frowned.
Everything that had happened at the Eustia Banquet had gone off-script, at least from what she was aware of.
The plan was for her to have a sword dance with the instructor, and that was it.
Countless unforeseen events had unfolded, leaving her feeling troubled.
"Well, I can't sleep anyway, so I might as well read."
Selena reached down to the bottom of her bed and rummaged through her things.
"Hmm, this thickness… 'To Conquer the World Tree'? A classic. This is the one."
Just as she picked up the book.
*BAM—*
"Lady Selena!"
Selena's face hardened.
She casually tossed the book aside.
She was lying horizontally on her bed, one arm dangling towards the floor, a rather peculiar sleeping position.
But Selena played it off as if it were just her usual, terrible sleeping habits.
*Yawn—*
"Ailey… Knock… Didn't I tell you… to knock… before entering my room…? Is it the instructor?"
She rubbed her eyes as if she were sleepy.
"Th-That, ah, I apologize for entering without knocking! But Lady Iriel Eustia is…!"
"Iriel?"
Iriel, out of the blue?
Selena frowned at the unexpected name.
She quickly threw on some clothes and went outside.
There, lying asleep in front of the Yohaiden estate's main gate, was Iriel.
"What is she doing here?"
Selena asked the knight who was on guard duty.
"I'm not sure… When I came back from my rounds, she was just lying there…"
"Did the Eustia family kick her out or something?"
Selena had a hunch about the reason.
The Yohaidens had caused quite a scene at the Eustia Banquet, so it was only natural for there to be consequences.
However, she hadn't informed Iriel about any of it.
Revealing the details could have jeopardized their plan to protect the instructor.
'But still… To dump her here like a piece of trash? What are they thinking?'
Selena tilted her head in confusion.
"We have no reason to take her in, do we?"
"Hmm…"
As if awakened by the night breeze, Iriel's eyebrows twitched, and her eyes slowly fluttered open.
"Z-Zeke… N-No…!"
She shot up from the ground in a panic.
"Z-Zeke!! Zeke!!!"
"Hey, Cliff!!"
Iriel called out for Zeke the moment she opened her eyes.
Selena grabbed her by the shoulders.
"Zeke!"
"What's wrong, Iriel?! What about the instructor?!"
"Zeke, no!! Don't go!!!"
Selena shook Iriel's shoulders, but she only thrashed her head from side to side.
It seemed like she couldn't even recognize Selena, too fixated on finding Zeke.
'Perhaps the instructor didn't just save Iriel at the banquet…'
Her condition was anything but normal.
'Instructor, where did you go…'
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