――The Heart of the Forest of Deep Magic
Count Ketzer's domain army had begun their suppression with overwhelming numbers.
The army was composed of ill-tempered, undisciplined soldiers, along with mercenaries and underworld thugs hired for exorbitant sums. While ill-suited for coordinated military maneuvers, they possessed terrifying prowess when it came to guerrilla melee combat in dense forest terrain.
That was precisely why everyone believed, without a shadow of a doubt, that subjugating a settlement so frail it could be blown away with a single breath would be child's play.
So when several dozen men and women of all ages—evidently the residents of the Wind Cats—appeared in rank and file, the frontline soldiers naturally assumed their targets had given up and surrendered.
"Coming out quietly saves us the trouble of hunting you down. Keep the young women for our amusement. You can kill the rest."
At the squad leader's bandit-like orders, his subordinate mercenaries laughed lecherously.
The mercenaries brandished their weapons and closed in, savoring the Wind Cats' apparent terror. But the white-haired, long-bearded old man at the head of the group merely raised his right hand with a blank expression.
"Commence the slaughter!"
He issued the command in a heavy, uncompromising voice.
In an instant, the mercenaries closing in on the Wind Cats were hoisted into the air.
"Huh?"
A split second later, their limbs were crushed in midair as though squeezed by an invisible titan's grip, and their bewildered groans instantly turned into bloodcurdling shrieks.
And so――the slaughter began.
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"Fouuuund yooou!"
A young woman's voice, steeped in absolute madness, drifted closer through the trees.
"S-She's here!"
"Y-You monsters!!"
The battle-hardened mercenaries let out panicked cries, swinging their blades with all their might at the blonde young woman who stepped out from the shadowy trees. Yet before they could even blink, their bodies—along with their swinging weapons—were frozen solid.
With every step the woman took, the surrounding ground froze with sharp, crackling pops.
"Is that all? What's wrong with you, giving up just because you're a little frozen?! Tear your own limbs off and attack me! How pathetic!!"
Approaching the mercenaries who had completely lost their will to fight, she grabbed one by the collar and roared into his face.
"P-Pwease spware me..."
Looking down at the mercenary begging for his life through a mess of snot and tears, the blonde woman clicked her tongue and hurled him violently to the ground. Directing a look of pure contempt at the screaming man whose shattered limbs had broken beneath him, she vanished back into the depths of the forest.
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"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Dammit all!! What the hell is going on?!"
Shouting as his longsword trembled in his grip, the bald mercenary captain voiced his bewilderment for the umpteenth time.
This was a battle they were supposed to win. No, it was supposed to have been a one-sided slaughter, not even worthy of being called a battle. And yet, the ones being hunted like prey were Count Ketzer's hired mercenaries.
"It's no use! Captain, our escape route is completely cut off!"
"I can see that, you idiot!"
As the encirclement tightened around them, the bald squad leader let out a shrill, hysterical shriek.
One by one, his men had been disappearing, whittling his squad down to just a handful.
"It's impossible... There's no way we can beat them. We walked straight into a forest where evil gods live!"
Finally breaking down, one of his subordinates tossed his sword to the ground, clutched his head, and began to shiver uncontrollably. Suddenly, an invisible, enigmatic force seized the trembling mercenary.
"N-No, stop――"
Without even being permitted to finish his plea, he was dragged backward into the dark forest, vanishing from sight.
"..."
Amidst the surreal clatter of the remaining mercenaries' chattering teeth, a young boy emerged from the trees with both hands shoved casually into his pockets.
"W-What the hell? Just a brat...?"
The moment the mercenary breathed a sigh of relief, his entire body seized up and rose into the air, his limbs twisting violently into unnatural angles. A scream ripped through the cold night air.
"If you've got time to cry about the pain, how about trying a counterattack?! You worthless piece of trash!"
With the boy's venomous, enraged roar, the rest of the mercenaries were lifted into the air. A moment later, agonizing screams echoed through the dark woods.
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At first glance, he looked like nothing more than a greasy, potbellied middle-aged man. Yet, enveloped entirely in a crimson membrane, he bolted through the dark forest at blinding speed. He lunged into point-blank range of one of Count Ketzer's mercenaries and drove an elbow straight into the man's neck. The mercenary spun through the air, crashed face-first into the dirt, and began twitching like a dying frog.
"Huh?"
Unable to process the reality before him, the neighboring mercenary let out a dumbfounded gasp. The middle-aged man seized the mercenary's head in his right hand and smashed it into the earth, the impact gouging a small crater into the soil.
"Fshhh-rooor!"
Plumes of white vapor vented from the middle-aged man's mouth. His bloodshot eyes bulged as he locked onto his next quarry among the mercenaries.
"Aaaaaaaagh!!"
Finally recognizing the nightmare unfolding before them, the mercenaries screamed in unison, their voices drenched in terror. In an instant, the middle-aged man closed the gap and struck the heads of two mercenaries with both hands. The men flew through the air, slammed into the ground, and lay completely still.
"Eek!!"
Flashing directly into the face of a fleeing mercenary until their noses practically touched, he seized the man's head with both hands.
"Gyaaahaaagh!"
With a chorus of shrieks serving as his background music, the middle-aged man drove his knee squarely into the mercenary's face.
Slightly hunched, he darted off once more into the darkened forest in search of further prey.
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Luminous spheres streaked through the night sky at blinding speeds, casting a brilliant glow over the forest. One after another, they slammed into Count Ketzer's hired mercenaries, blasting away arms, legs, ears, and noses.
"Kyahahahahaha! Look at them! Everywhere I look, it's just targets! We don't even need to scout! Every single shot hits!!"
Blood sprayed against the night sky. In a living hell of agony and screaming, the blond young man—who was once so gentle he wouldn't hurt a fly—raised his arms to the heavens and shouted with pure, manic glee.
He had become a living, all-directional artillery battery. Desperately scattering like spiderlings, the mercenaries dropped like flies, screaming in torment every time the young man moved.
It was, in every sense, a demonic parade out of a nightmare.
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"S-Stay back! You monster!"
At the sight of a girl with a black bob emerging from the shadowy trees, the battle-hardened mercenaries shrieked in terror, loosing arrows and firing magic bullets of flame.
Yet every arrow was incinerated to ash by black flames, and the flame bullets simply burst harmlessly upon reaching the black-haired girl.
"I-Impossible..."
His lips quivering, the long-haired blond squad leader took a hesitant step back. But in that instant, his limbs burst into flames, reduced to charred cinders in the blink of an eye. A harrowing scream tore from his throat as he writhed in agony from the searing heat.
"Ah..."
As the shock began to clear, the remaining soldiers' minds registered the horrific scene with terrible clarity.
Their squad leader, who was supposed to be the strongest among them, was squirming helplessly on the ground like a severed caterpillar.
"Nooooo!!"
"S-Save us――"
Sparks flashed, and black flames flared up to cut off the path of the fleeing soldiers. Before they could even blink, their arms were completely erased by the flames.
"P-Pwease spware me..."
The black-bobbed girl approached the squad leader, who was missing all four limbs and weeping pathetic tears of snot and agony.
"I shurrender! Sh-Sho pwease shpare me!!"
Approaching the squad leader as he desperately rasped out his plea,
"Spare you?! What did your lord do to my mother and father when they begged for their lives?! What did you do to my helpless little brother?! Even when they cried and pleaded, didn't you all gang up on them and burn them alive while laughing in their faces?!"
The black-haired girl seized him by the collar, consumed by blinding rage.
"Hiiieeeek!"
Shoving the shrilly crying squad leader back to the ground, the black-bobbed girl stood trembling for a moment. Biting her lower lip, she turned and bolted into the depths of the forest.
"Lucas, it seems your worries were unfounded."
"So it seems."
Ignoring the soldiers who were sighing in relief at their narrow brush with death, two men appeared soundlessly from the shadows.
"That rule you imposed on them—'do not kill those who have lost their will to fight'—was it truly necessary? I would think slaughtering them all would be far more efficient."
"Yes, it is necessary if she is to remain who she is."
"Is that what the Great One refers to as a warrior's pride?"
"No, quite the opposite. They were never meant to be warriors. That is precisely why they must not take the lives of the defenseless."
The Flame Demon furrowed his brow.
"As I thought, I do not understand."
He slumped his shoulders in clear disappointment, letting out a heavy sigh.
"Haha! It is merely my own petty sense of chivalry, nothing more. I am sure it differs greatly from that of the Great One. There is no need to be disappointed."
"Indeed. That is true! We are the ones who truly understand the Great One!"
As the Flame Demon pumped his right fist, the old gentleman allowed the corner of his mouth to lift.
"Well then, shall we begin the cleanup?"
He walked toward the domain soldiers sprawled across the forest floor.
"You have my apologies. You sought to eradicate us, after all. Your destination has already been decided."
The old gentleman's eyes darkened to an abyss, and his lips curved into an unnerving smile. A dark, suffocating aura of battle spirit bled from his entire frame.
Confronted with an expression that could no longer be called human, the domain soldiers let out hoarse, frantic screams that only grew louder with every passing second.