Manic laughter followed manic laughter.
I ignored the sounds that grated against my ears. The only thing that held my attention was the massive Magic Array behind them.
‘It’s a good thing I hurried.’
The Magic Array was nearly complete. It was disaster itself, a trigger that could connect the Demon Realm and the Human Realm at any moment.
If Arahel and Mamon decided to pull that trigger, I wouldn’t be able to stop them. The only way to buy time was to force them to take their hands off the Magic Array themselves.
‘I can at least be confident in that much.’
I gripped the hilt of Bad Bond tightly. Mamon, his lips curled into a smile, approached me.
“I’m happy. I’m just so happy.”
His innocent voice sounded like a child who had received an unexpected gift. It was a statement filled with genuine sincerity. However, I knew exactly where that emotion originated.
*Tight.*
Before I could even react, Mamon pulled me into an embrace. Since he had the physique of a mere five-year-old child, his head was positioned far below my chest.
“I’m happy that you said you would play with us, but…”
*Crack.*
“I am so happy I could die that Father is in a human body.”
“The Light has no bones, but now you have such beautiful ones, don’t you?”
*Snap, crack!*
Those small arms hugging me didn’t seem to hold any strength, yet my ribs shattered with terrifying ease.
“Cough!”
Bloody foam spilled from between my teeth, likely because a broken rib had punctured a lung. A light exclamation escaped Mamon’s lips.
“I was going to crush them all, but it isn’t easy.”
His ability was the manipulation of bones—whether they were his own or his opponent’s. It was a truly troublesome power.
*Swish!*
I swung my sword to create distance.
‘It feels like walking on the edge of a blade.’
Against Kalgos alone, a large-scale army, including myself, had to risk their lives. Dealing with two beings on that same level by myself was an endeavor bordering on the impossible.
Right now, I was no different from a dragonfly in a child’s hand. Wings torn off, legs ripped away. I was being handled like a toy, destined to be discarded in a mess of ruins.
But I hadn’t come here to die like a common insect.
With that thought, Mamon pulled a long bone sword from his palm.
*Clang!*
Bad Bond and the bone sword collided.
“Ahahaha!”
Sword strikes that felt like a game, devoid of even a speck of murderous intent, rained down on me repeatedly.
Fine. Enjoy yourselves to your heart’s content.
I played along with those clumsy sword swings. Then, my body suddenly jerked to a halt.
“Ah, Father!”
“It’s quite disappointing that you’re ignoring me.”
I didn’t know when she had approached, but Arahel was hugging me from behind. Though the arms wrapping around my body were slender, it felt as if I were being constricted by a giant serpent.
Because of her, I couldn’t block Mamon’s playful strike.
*Slash!*
Blood spurted from my left forearm. At the same time, the bone in my arm snapped with a sickening crunch. I didn’t even have time to feel the pain.
There was truly no solution when caught between these lunatics. I drew out my Light to its limit and quickly escaped the spot.
“Phew… I’m glad you two seem to be having fun.”
I made a joke as I lifted my dangling left arm, causing Arahel and Mamon’s smiles to deepen. Their “affection” was a force that invited the destruction of its recipient.
Interest or indifference. Affection or hatred. To them, there was no distinction. Everything related to them would eventually walk the path to ruin.
“The King will be jealous of us.”
“Hmm, maybe he’ll even kill us.”
Mamon spoke in a light tone, as if it were nothing. Arahel nodded in agreement.
“Our eldest brother has a nasty personality.”
“He was even jealous of our brother Kalgos, who is already dead. I can only imagine how he feels now.”
The eyes of the two Grand Army commanders flashed.
“I want to enjoy this moment as much as possible.”
“Come now, Father! Tell us honestly.”
“How much longer can you keep playing with us?”
The pressure erupting from the two commanders was difficult for me to withstand alone. It was only after I drew out all the Divine Power I had hidden within my body that the pressure eased.
“That depends on how you two behave.”
Their eyes widened at my words. Soon, manic laughter broke out. However, unlike their initial laughter, it was now laced with blatant killing intent.
“That’s an answer that lacks even a shred of the will to resist.”
“Even so, are you going to stake your life for humans?”
Mamon growled. The father who had abandoned them—now that his pathetic bottom had been revealed, anger twisted the faces of Arahel and Mamon.
*Boom!*
The bone sword, now filled with murderous intent, began to fly toward my neck.
“Why go this far to protect humans?”
‘Why do you think? Because I am human.’
I didn’t let those words, which had risen to my throat, escape. Just fending off the bone swords blurring my vision was overwhelming.
At that moment, Arahel scattered her Demonic Energy. For a brief second, the world flipped upside down.
It was nothing more than an illusion, but Arahel’s power possessed a wicked nature that forced one to believe the lie was the truth.
*Stab.*
The bone sword pierced my body, seizing that momentary opening. The pain of the blade slicing through flesh was fleeting. Mamon twisted the sword.
The joints of my entire body began to crush bit by bit.
“Coming here to buy time with your life as collateral was a mistake.”
“There’s no way the humans who lose you will be able to handle us.”
Mamon spoke, clicking his tongue. I simply stood there, enduring all the pain. I had said I would play along, but in truth, I had no intention of satisfying the desires of these lunatics.
Of course not. Why would I do something that only benefits them?
“Father.”
Arahel stepped up beside Mamon.
“Don’t worry.”
“We won’t let it end easily.”
I could see it clearly. An unquenchable thirst was deeply etched around the eyes of the two commanders. A mere taste would never be enough to satisfy them.
“Until you regret abandoning us…”
“This hell will not end.”
“Let’s enjoy this together.”
*Sshhh.*
Black parasites poured out from her wings. Soon, they covered me completely. As my consciousness slowly submerged, I saw Bad Bond in my vision.
The Giant inside Bad Bond was laughing under his breath.
‘Everything is going according to plan.’
***
When I regained my senses, I was standing in a place quite different from the fortress of bone where I had been confronting them. However, it was a very familiar place.
“This is… Riot Castle?”
Yes. The five banners hanging from the fortress proved it. As I looked up at them, murderous intent suddenly erupted from behind me.
*Swish!*
I quickly twisted my body to dodge the attack. What grazed past my eyes was a lance. It was ‘Horntail’, the lance cherished by a knight I knew very well.
“Aaron…”
The one who had attacked me was Aaron. But his state was strange. That pale skin, the rotting flesh, and the eyeball that was halfway falling out.
“Grrr…”
That pleasant, low voice was now only making a noise like grinding metal. Behind him, familiar faces began to appear one by one.
Moritz, Leon, the First Knight Order, the Third Knight Division. And even the Martial Union that had defended Riot Castle.
I furrowed my brow. Among those in my sight, there was not a single person who wasn’t a corpse.
“Are you showing me what I fear?”
When Riot Castle was suffering through the Undead crisis, I had hoped my comrades would not become Undead. This was a horrific vision, the exact opposite of that hope. It was truly malicious.
But.
“How shallow.”
I swung my sword and cut Aaron’s throat. I split the head of Moritz, who was aiming for my back.
[Eye of Laplace — Activated]
What was there to fear when the fact that this was fake was so clearly visible? Those people were still alive and fighting right now, so why should I dwell on an illusion like this?
I simply cut, cut, and cut again.
I gave rest to the rotting Count of Orde. I gave rest to Albert, who was suffering in death. This was not murder. It was a Holy Ritual to grant peace to comrades who had been cursed.
“Gah…”
However, I struggled when facing the First Knight Order. Even if their peerless swordsmanship had been flawed by becoming corpses, dealing with all of them was quite difficult for me in my current state.
Blades and lances cut my body countless times. That burning pain felt dozens of times more intense than usual. This, too, must be Arahel’s doing.
I lit up the Light with my entire body. I summoned every Star and unraveled the chains of Draupnir. Occasionally, I used Magic to prevent the corpses from surrounding me.
How long did I fight like that? It felt as if I had fought for three days straight.
I stood alone, gasping for breath. Blood flowed from my mangled body. Crimson droplets fell onto the ground that was soaked black with dead blood.
“There’s no way this is the end.”
I turned my head. Beyond the hill, the Army of the Dead appeared. Similarly familiar banners fluttered in the wind. My eyes were drawn to the Death Knight standing at the front.
He was nothing more than a corpse now, but in his final moments, he was a man who had died as a human. The first ‘person’ I had ever killed.
“Count Poiro.”
“You… it’s… because… of you…”
He appeared before me once again as a corpse. Ah, how shallow. Truly, it couldn’t be more shallow. Did they think I would be shaken just because my first murder victim appeared now?
But that thought stopped the moment I heard Count Poiro’s voice.
“It is… because… of you.”
A hand crawling with maggots pointed at me.
“It is… the same as… you… making us… like this.”
“The culprit… of the nightmare…”
“The existence… you created… plunged Baren… into despair! You… hypocrite…”
The dead howled. A deep-seated resentment choked my throat. It wasn’t just the Army of the Dead. The corpses of Riot Castle, whom I had barely managed to defeat, had already been restored to their original state.
“Why… why did you make… the world… like this…”
Aaron muttered gloomily. Bloody tears flowed down his face.
Damn it. I covered my face with my blood-slicked hands.
“…Ah, this is getting annoying.”
They just had to show me the scene I feared the most.