With a casual sweep of his spearhead, Roman blew a zombie's head clean off, then pulverized a skeleton's skull with the spear's butt.
In the span of a single breath, he slaughtered several undead, twirling his weapon as effortlessly as if it were an extension of his own body.
(He really is strong!)
Lumine Helner inwardly admitted defeat.
For quite a while, Roman had been the only one fighting. Lumine and the buzz-cut, brown-haired boy, Poison Bee, merely watched from a distance.
The chasm in ability between Lumine's side and Roman was far too wide; awkwardly trying to pitch in would only make them dead weight. That outcome was glaringly obvious.
(Damn it! Damn it! Damn it all!!)
At this rate, everything would play out just as the Helner family intended.
Her family was a martial house where both the main and branch lines had earned their living through swordsmanship for generations. Preserving a lineage endowed with martial talent was, in a sense, their absolute duty. Because of that, they coveted the bloodline of the Spear King—one of the finest in the world.
The only reason the Helner family had permitted her to sit for the Babel entrance exam was to buy time for her sister to reconsider.
Her sister, however, had firmly declared that she would choose her own husband. She was unyielding. Once she made up her mind, she would never compromise. Realizing she would not budge, those monsters had resorted to dangling the prospect of marrying off Lumine, a member of the branch family, to Roman instead.
Of course, Lumine and Roman fought like cats and dogs. They were fundamentally incompatible, making the idea of marriage a sick joke. Everyone knew it.
In short, the Helner family was using coercion: if her sister refused to wed Roman, Lumine would be forced to take her place.
If this continued, her kind-hearted sister would surely return to that wretched hometown after graduating from Babel, and then—
(No! Anything but that!)
As long as her sister was happy, that was all that mattered. Lumine could not bear the thought of her sister being miserable on her account.
If it came to marriage, Kai Heinemann would be far better than Roman. At least Kai would never force her sister to do anything against her will. Besides, her sister clearly had feelings for—
Just as Lumine's thoughts were spiraling into despair...
"Splendid spear technique."
The buzz-cut boy, Poison Bee, clapped his hands.
"..."
Probably sick of hearing praise, Roman merely turned his back on Poison Bee without a word and began to walk away, utterly uninterested.
"Aww, man. If I'd taken you on head-to-head, I might've actually lost, y'know?"
Poison Bee uttered the bizarre remark with a grin. The very next instant, Roman staggered and collapsed face-first onto the ground.
Seeing the sheet of cold sweat drenching Roman's brow and the eerie smile spreading across Poison Bee's face, an intense chill gripped Lumine's entire body.
"Wh-What are you doing?!"
Shouting out, she instinctively sprang backward and took a stance, but—
"It's no use, y'see."
Accompanied by Poison Bee's cheerful voice, a swarm of tiny creatures surrounded her.
"B-Bees?"
They were minuscule insects, the kind one might see on any ordinary day.
"Ngh!"
A sharp pain suddenly pierced the side of her neck, and she instinctively slapped it away with her right hand. Smashed against her palm was the tiny carcass of a single bee.
"How cruel. You went and killed my precious little poison bee, y'know?"
"Y-You bastard!"
She barely managed to squeeze out the words, but—
"Buuut that's the e-n-d for you, too."
The moment Poison Bee pointed his index finger at her, Lumine collapsed like a marionette with severed strings. From that second on, her body stiffened like stone, unable to twitch even a fingertip.
"Don't worry, now. The venom injected into your bodies is just a paralytic. It won't kill you on its own."
"Y-You... bastard..."
As Roman forced out a raspy, venomous growl, Poison Bee strode over, kicked him hard in the face, and stomped down on his head.
"Quite feisty, aren't you? Hey, do you even realize what situation you're—"
Roman managed to roll onto his back and spat directly into Poison Bee's face.
"You... piece of shit..."
The insult tore from his trembling lips. Instantly, thick veins bulged across Poison Bee's forehead and cheeks.
"Ever since I first laid eyes on you with that smug, disrespectful attitude, I've been sooooo pissed off!!"
Like a rabid beast, he kicked and stomped on Roman again and again. Poison Bee battered him mercilessly until blood sprayed from the boy's split lips and battered forehead.
Only after thoroughly venting his rage did Roman's eyes roll back and his body go limp.
Panting for breath, Poison Bee muttered,
"Oops, my bad, my bad. I almost killed him. Finishing someone off like that goes against my pride as Poison Bee."
Shaking his head, he took several deep breaths. Then, completely wiping away his previous fury, he turned his gaze from the unconscious Roman to Lumine with a sickening smile. That simple glance sent a shudder ripping through her flesh. A scream rose in her throat, but she choked it down at the absolute last second.
Poison Bee savored the sheer terror on Lumine's face, raising his index finger before his eyes as dozens of bees swarmed around it.
"I'm going to turn you two into breeding grounds for my little ones."
Poison Bee made the declaration in a sing-song voice.
"Breeding... grounds?"
At Lumine's hoarse question, his smile stretched wider.
"That's right. These little ones will lay their eggs inside your flesh, and they'll hatch right there. Human meat is the absolute best nourishment for their growth, y'see."
He practically sang the horrific words, painting a waking nightmare for them both.
"Now, now, now! Let's start with you, little Lumine. Once Roman wakes back up, I'll turn him into a meatball all over again."
Just hearing her name called sent a jolt of ice down her spine, as if a freezing blade were trailing along her back.
Relishing every ounce of Lumine's dread, he continued,
"Slowly, bit by bit, they'll gnaw their way out of your flesh, crawling out in massive swarms. Dying from the agony while countless tiny bees chew through your body from the inside out... It's an experience you don't get to taste every day, y'know."
Poison Bee took a slow, deliberate step toward her.
"St-Stay away..."
She desperately choked out the plea, even knowing it would only fuel the monster's sadistic urges. She knew it all too well, yet she could not stop herself from begging. Being eaten alive by insects while conscious—she could never endure such a horrific end.
"No, no, throwing a tantrum is bad manners. If you're a proper lady, you should just accept it, y'know."
Clad in a writhing cloak of bees, Poison Bee's right hand reached slowly for her.
The moment it touched her, those insects would inject their eggs, and she would meet an unimaginably gruesome death.
(No! Please, anything but that!)
Tears flooded her eyes, blurring her vision.
I don't want to die! I don't want to die like this! If I die, I won't ever see them again. I won't see Father or Mother. I won't see my brothers or sisters. I'll never see my dear sister again. And—
Like a passing kaleidoscope, memories of that hated hometown flashed through her mind, surfacing only to burst and vanish into darkness.
Yet, the final face Lumine pictured was neither her parents, nor her siblings, nor even her beloved sister. It was the black-haired boy who had always treated her with boundless kindness ever since they were children.
"S-Save... me, Kai—!!"
Just before the fingers grazed her skin, she screamed with the last shred of her spirit—and Poison Bee's right hand shattered into bloody mist along with every bee clinging to it.
"Huh?"
Poison Bee let out a stupid, bewildered gasp, staring blankly at the crimson fountain gushing from his ruined wrist.
"Aaaaagh! Aaaaaaaaargh!!"
An ear-splitting shriek tore from his throat.
Without sparing him a single glance, the black-haired boy scooped Lumine up, carried her to the base of a massive tree nearby, and gently set her down.
"Sleep for a while."
He spoke in that gentle, familiar voice she had heard so many times before. With those words as her sanctuary, Lumine's consciousness swiftly drifted away beneath a profound wave of relief.