Chapter 25: Grendels

At that moment, what flashed through my mind was him pointing a sword at Lowell just moments ago.

Him asking us for help.

Me throwing flames at the girl.

It was a fleeting instant.

All the emotions I had felt toward myself turned into resentment and rage—directed at Hailer.

“…Shut up!”

I pushed him away with all my strength.

Literally, with everything I had.

The young boy flew backward and collapsed—ironically, right in front of the pile of ashes that had once been his sister.

“How dare you point a sword at Lowell! What right do you think you have…!”

I walked toward him, deliberately avoiding Lowell’s eyes, which I knew were still on me.

Turning away from the sun hidden behind the clouds, and away from the turmoil in my own heart.

“You should’ve protected yourselves in the first place. Or you could’ve just kept quiet and known your place! Then you wouldn’t have ended up as some damn hostage! It’s because of you, because of you…!”

Before Lowell or the others behind him could do anything, I raised my foot and stomped on the ashes of the girl—ashes that still faintly held her form.

Her remains crumbled beneath my foot, and Hailer could only stare, stunned, at what I had done.

“Hey, that’s enough!”

“Th-that’s too much, no matter what!”

A few villagers finally spoke up.

Of course they did.

I had clearly gone too far, lost control.

But at that moment, their voices were nothing more than noise to me—more meaningless sounds from people who didn’t understand.

With a motion of my hand, spirits were summoned, and they too, affected by my rage, flew wildly around me.

“As if you’re any different…”

I couldn’t even finish the sentence.

A strange impact struck my head, and the world twisted around me.

My back hit the ground, and the connection with my spirits was severed.

As I lay there, dazed, trying to make sense of what had happened—Lowell’s face appeared.

He was holding me, crying.

“Stop it, stop it, Anak. Please, just stop. It’s all my fault, so don’t hurt like this…”

He was still grieving.

His eyes, staring straight into mine, were filled with guilt, pity, and regret.

But I saw it.

His eyes were shining again.

The darkness from before was gone.

They were shining once more, guiding me back to the right path, lighting my way.

“…Yeah. That’s how you’ve always been.”

And with Lowell’s eyes as the final image, the past that had enveloped me faded away, and the present returned to view.

“Hailer, how do you feel right now?”

It was a cruel question.

“How do I feel? Obviously, it’s satisfying—”

“Clown. Shut your damn mouth.”

Whether it was because my threat worked, or because he found it more entertaining that way, the red-haired man didn’t interrupt again.

“Answer me, Hailer. Are you happy?”

Hailer turned his head and looked straight at me again.

His eyes, filled with hatred, wavered—just for a moment.

Yes, that was the answer I had wanted.

“Yeah. I thought so.”

That hatred wasn’t just because I had killed his sister.

When Lowell and I left the village, Hailer had only been filled with rage and grief over her death—and directed that at me.

That anger had probably brought him some comfort, something to dull the pain and provide a place to hide from his helplessness.

But time passes.

Unfortunately, humans can’t stay in one emotion forever.

As time went on, what he felt, what those memories brought him, weren’t simple.

Every time he came to understand the situation.

Every time reality crept in.

Every time he heard of the Hero’s deeds that justified my actions.

Every time he remembered his sister dying so horribly.

Every time he breathed.

Every time he thought of her.

Every time reason clashed with emotion.

What he felt, the pain he endured, was never simple.

Whenever he thought maybe I had no choice, he felt guilt toward his sister.

And her burning figure would return to him like a nightmare.

Even if he tried to forget, he couldn’t.

Even if he wanted to forgive, he couldn’t.

Whenever such thoughts came, it must’ve felt like betraying her all over again.

His soul must’ve burned with that guilt.

That’s not something reason can fix.

It’s not something others’ understanding can fix.

It’s not something he himself can fix.

It’s like carrying a flame in your chest—one that never goes out and burns you forever.

He cannot survive without anger.

He cannot live without it.

That’s not life.

That’s not him.

He’s just bound by a thread of rage, letting himself burn, losing his sense of self—both in that emotion and in life.

That’s what his hatred is.

That’s what his rage is.

And as long as I live, that flame will never waver.

Of course, my death wouldn’t extinguish it either.

“I’m sorry, Hailer.”

That was the one thing I wanted to say.

And the one thing I had to say.

“…No matter what you say, Anna won’t come back.”

“No, I’m not apologizing for the choice I made back then. Even if I could go back to that moment, I would make the same decision. I don’t regret it.”

That’s not what I’m apologizing for.

“And I don’t care if that choice was ultimately justified. That’s not why I made it. I made it because that’s who I am.”

That’s why I can’t offer excuses.

Whatever the outcome, even if it was the only choice, none of that matters.

I still would have chosen the same thing.

Even if I regret it.

Even if it hurts me.

The memory doesn’t change.

The fact doesn’t change.

And because of that, I don’t regret it.

Nor do I grieve like Lowell did.

Not truly.

I just hate what kind of person that makes me.

And that’s what hurts.

“I’m apologizing for what’s about to happen.”

Then, I activated Key of Tindalos, hidden in my clothes.

As it activated, a strange and intense color, strong enough to distort spatial perception itself, spread through the surroundings.

“…!”

Some of the assassins immediately cast spells in response to the sudden change, and their speed was incredible—too fast for my eyes to follow.

But even they couldn’t break through the barrier.

Even the fifth barrier, which had been unstable just moments before, had returned to its original form.

In the face of Key of Tindalos, which temporarily creates an interdimensional space, binding spells and mana interference spells are meaningless.

This key doesn’t just carve out a new physical space in the existing one.

It maximizes and materializes the rifts between dimensions and worlds.

The mana filling this strange space is far from ordinary—it’s immune to the usual interference spells.

In fact, within this space, ordinary mages can’t even use magic—the nature and structure of the mana is entirely different.

“Now then. Time to begin the counterattack.”

But I am not ordinary.

With a wave of my hand, black sigils appeared in the air, and strange shadows began to emerge one by one.

Summoners are, by nature, beings who create pathways between worlds.

Manipulating the rifts between worlds, the powers of other dimensions—that was child’s play.

No matter the world, as long as the natural flow isn’t disrupted, there’s no difficulty in controlling its forces—regardless of shape or nature.

After all, the one who created Key of Tindalos was a summoner too.

With every motion of my hand, more black sigils appeared, and the shadows grew, covering the surroundings.

The assassins instinctively drew their weapons.

The red-haired man, now tense, stepped back to shield Hailer and drew twin blades.

The Key of Tindalos was a powerful artifact capable of creating a dimensional rift in an instant, but the duration of that rift was not long.

This was because it operated using an extremely advanced method that maximized the space between dimensions, and the artifact’s power was insufficient for sustained use.

But in truth, this limitation was intentional, set by the artifact’s creator from the beginning.

Keeping such a space open for a long time would be dangerous.

These dimensional gaps not only exist between worlds, but also connect to a separate abyss that lies outside countless worlds.

If left open too long, that abyss might be summoned.

Thus, the rift was destined to disappear soon.

And with the mana disruption spell, the mana flow in the area would once again become chaotic, making it difficult to control the summoned beings.

That’s why I chose these particular summoned beings.

Once the Tindalos rift vanished, they wouldn’t need mana to sustain their physical form, nor would they require a mental link to be controlled by magic.

The shadows that had completely covered the surroundings began to take shape.

“Grrrr…”

A gloomy and hungry beast-like growl echoed everywhere.

With bodies twice the size of an average person, coarse ashen skin reminiscent of rock, these beings resembled ogres or trolls at a glance—but they were Grendels.

These creatures inhabit the Valley of Despair, where the sun rises only for a few months each year.

Scholars debated whether they were a mutated form of ogres or a cursed aberration.

What’s certain, however, is that no summoner had ever tried to summon or control them.

They possessed neither ego nor intellect to form contracts, nor could they be influenced through soul resonance or telepathy.

Even summoners who could communicate with entirely different-world beings found no way to connect with the Grendels.

Some scholars theorize, based on this fact and old legends, that the Grendels were once beings cursed by the gods—condemned to eternal isolation.

“Oh? I wondered what you’d summon…”

A mischievous smile reappeared on the red-haired man’s lips.

He wasn’t alone—

For a brief moment, I could read the disappointment and cold sneers in the eyes of the other assassins as well.

“Quite the amusing choice.”

His form blurred slightly——and three nearby Grendels collapsed to the ground.

As mentioned, Grendels aren’t especially strong monsters—just unmanageable.

Their strength and size are smaller than ordinary ogres, and their skin isn’t as tough as it appears.

To top-tier assassins, such monsters—regardless of their numbers—posed little threat.

But that was never the point.

“The fun begins now.”

I crouched down as much as possible.

Once the Key stopped working, the magic and mental links would be severed, making it impossible to control any summoned creatures.

Any creature I summoned would either vanish or attack me—since I was closest.

But these were different.

At last, the Key ceased to function, and the surroundings reverted to their original state.

The Grendels, who had briefly hesitated at the foreignness of the space, suddenly lunged in all directions.

As mentioned, they have no eyes or ears.

What they do have is a bizarre organ—resembling a split nose—that detects temperature.

They differentiate between themselves and other life forms using heat.

To them, anything not one of their own is simply prey.

At that moment, huddled behind a barrier and keeping still, I would register as no more than a rock.

Meanwhile, the others—surrounding the area, many holding torches—looked like a full-course meal.

I had opened gates connected to the Valley of Despair in all directions and summoned as many as time allowed.

Even I didn’t know the exact number, but the sound of their marching shook the ground.

“Protect the mage unit at all costs!”

Finally realizing my intention, the red-haired man shouted and swiftly retreated with Hailer.

But it was already too late.

“S-stop them all!”

“F-Fire Bolt!”

The regular soldiers quickly rushed in to block the Grendels, and the top-ranked assassins also jumped back to protect the mages.

However, the number of Grendels I had summoned was far from small.

The mages, seeing the Grendels rushing toward them, had no choice but to abandon the disruption spell and switch to attack magic.

Some Grendels were struck directly by lightning and flame and fell.

But as I said, there were too many.

Moreover, since the Key space had abruptly appeared, those outside had no idea what was going on inside—

Naturally, they couldn’t react effectively to this sudden ambush.

The Grendel horde finally reached them.

Regular soldiers, and even mages who failed to maintain distance, were quickly torn apart by fangs and claws.

Of course, they would eventually be dealt with, but the important part was that the tight formation encircling me had been completely broken.

And while some individuals might regroup, the mages no longer had the strength to recast those wide-area mana disruption spells like a barrier.

“Now that things are like this, I can’t afford to let even one of them escape.”

At my gesture, crimson-black runes surged across the sky like gathering storm clouds.

Thankfully, I was wearing the Necklace of the Heavens, which amplifies magic, and the High Priest’s Ring, which boosts mana recovery.

Normally, this summon would never be possible with such little prep time.