Area 1 of the Dead City of Flowers, Northern Babel.
A bald man brought his scimitar crashing down in a relentless, ferocious assault. Parrying his strikes as gracefully as a swaying willow was a blonde girl. A lovely young lady who skillfully warded off his blows with her greatsword. To an untrained eye, it might have seemed that the bald man held an overwhelming advantage. In reality, the one dictating the entire tempo of the battle was none other than the blonde girl, Laila.
"Damn it! Why can't I hit you?!"
Though he spat the words in frustration, the bald man—Mad Hound—understood the reason better than anyone. It was a pure difference in fundamental ability. Real combat experience, raw talent—he fell short of this girl named Laila in every single aspect, making this outcome inevitable.
At last, with a sharp parry of Laila's blade, Mad Hound's scimitar was knocked from his grip, clattering uselessly to the ground.
"It is over!"
With the steel of her sword pressed against his throat, Mad Hound ground his molars together for a moment, but then—
"Yeah, reckon it is."
The corner of his mouth curled into a smirk as he conceded.
"You really lost to a brat?! That's pathetic as hell!"
A diminutive man wearing a loose green hunting cap pulled low over his eyes and matching green robes emerged from the thicket, dragging Somni behind him.
Without a word of reply, Mad Hound grabbed the blade held at his throat.
"You're stronger than me. But the one who wins—"
He drove his right foot straight up into Laila's stomach.
As she was blown backward, struggling to regain her footing, Mad Hound snatched his scimitar from the ground, raised it overhead, and sprinted forward.
"—is ME!"
Howling in fury, he brought the blade down with all his might. Unable to fully deflect the crushing blow, Laila was sent flying backward in a high arc through the air, though she somehow managed to land on her feet. However—
"Look at that, tables have turned. If you care about this pretty boy's life, drop the sword."
The cold edge of his scimitar was pressed against Somni's neck.
"Kh...!"
Biting her lower lip in bitter frustration, Laila cast her sword to the ground.
Mad Hound's face twisted into an ugly sneer.
"Normally, I ain't interested in brats like you, but strong women are a different story. I'll do you a favor and make you my woman."
"I must politely decline!"
"Khaha! That's the spirit! That's what I like about you!"
Mad Hound reached into his pocket with his left hand and pulled out what looked like an iron collar.
"This here's a cursed tool made just for slaves. You won't just be unable to talk back; your body won't even be able to disobey an order I give."
"—!"
Laila instinctively tried to step back, but the tip of his scimitar easily blocked her retreat.
"Don't you worry. I'll make sure you have plenty of fun as my lifelong slave!"
Just as Mad Hound reached out to clasp the collar around Laila's neck, a long, black-haired man appeared out of thin air and seized his left wrist.
"Skull, you bastard, what do you think you're doing?!"
Mad Hound craned his neck, glaring in pure fury as he demanded an explanation from the black-haired man.
"I am taking this woman."
"Huh?! Don't screw with me! Taking her wasn't part of the job!"
"Yes, that is true. However, it appears this woman, Laila Helner, is an acquaintance of Kai Heinemann. We will use her as bait to lure him out."
The moment the name Kai Heinemann left his lips, the lust vanished from Mad Hound's eyes. Clicking his tongue, he shoved the collar back into his pocket.
"Kai?! What are you planning to do to Kai?!"
Suddenly, Laila cried out in sheer panic.
"Word is he showed disrespect to Prince Gilbert. He's slated for disposal."
"I won't let you—"
As Laila shouted in desperate defiance, the black-haired man touched the nape of her neck, and she collapsed limp, like a marionette with severed strings.
"I shall look after her. You have no objections, I presume?"
"Hah! Do whatever you want! But the reward—"
"I know. A three-way split, correct? I will honor our agreement. I will deliver these two, so you two continue to make contact with Kai Heinemann and guide him to the designated location."
"Don't order me around!"
Mad Hound barked, spat on the ground, and vanished into the depths of the forest.
The man in the green robe shrugged, tossed Somni onto the ground, and followed after Mad Hound.
A short while after the two had disappeared—
"Lucas, what is the meaning of this?!"
A black skeleton draped in luxurious black robes manifested, demanding an answer in a raised, rattling voice.
"Yes, I understand full well the reason for your anger, Deimos."
The long, black-haired man known as Skull transformed back into a refined elderly gentleman, his cold, emotionless tone shifting into a familiar, amicable voice.
"You understand, you say?! Then why give such an absurd order?! Lady Laila is an acquaintance of the Great One! I am the one sworn to protect her! To tell me to stand by and watch the filthy deeds of such scum—even if it were an order from Lord Girimehkala himself, I cannot possibly accept this!"
Rattling his bones, Deimos let out a roar of rage from the very depths of his soul.
"No actual harm will come to Lady Laila. No matter who they are, we would never allow it."
"This is not a matter of whether harm was done! The Great One commanded me to protect Lady Laila! He placed his trust in me! In me, who once committed a grave act of disrespect! Yet you tell me to brazenly betray that trust! You had better have a satisfactory explanation for this!"
Cracking the finger bones of both hands, a sinister crimson light flared in the depths of his hollow eye sockets, and a blood-red aura surged around his skeletal frame.
Depending on the answer, he was prepared to bare his fangs against anyone, no matter their standing. With that unyielding resolve, Deimos fixed Lucas with a murderous glare, demanding to know his intent.
"Because it must be done, of course."
"I told you to stop blowing smoke! Explain the reason at once!"
"Do you not see it? On the surface, this incident appears to be orchestrated by that foolish prince, but behind the scenes lie a faction of Babel's upper echelon and the Central Church."
"What of it?! They are merely a rabble of insignificant humans! We could easily exterminate them ourselves!"
"Yes, I do not deny that. If it were purely human factions, it would have sufficed for us to move in the shadows and wipe them out. However, it seems there are beings of the same kind as Lord Girimehkala lurking behind them. In other words—"
"The moment they plotted to turn their blades against the Great One, it became a declaration of war against our forces... Is that what you mean to say?"
"Indeed. I know not who they are, but of all things, they dared to attempt the Great One's assassination! And using such vulgar, feeble humans to do it, no less. You understand the magnitude of this sin, do you not?!"
Thick veins bulged on the forehead of the smiling Lucas, and a voice dripping with venomous malice escaped his lips.
"Hey, Lucas!"
"Especially that foolish prince! Even if he was skillfully manipulated, for a mere prince of a single kingdom to spit squarely in the face of our God! And targeting his kin, of all people! Yes, my thread of patience snapped a very long time ago!"
Seeing him rant with that manic smile, Deimos pulled back slightly and waved his hands up and down to placate him.
"Calm down, Lucas!"
Lucas shook his head a few times.
"Pardon me, I got a little carried away. At any rate, the die has already been cast; the war has begun."
He stated this quietly, with absolute conviction.
"Even so, that is no reason to involve the Great One or Lady Laila!"
"Involve the Great One? Deimos, your perception is mistaken."
"What do you mean?"
To the suspicious Deimos, Lucas pressed his hands together with a look of pure ecstasy and began to preach.
"Lord Girimehkala said it himself: there is no way the Supreme One would fail to notice something that mere vermin like us could realize. When I heard those words, I was honestly struck down by the sheer depth of my own shallowness. I realized that my faith—my devotion—is still far from adequate!"
"In short, you are saying this entire incident is dancing in the palm of the Great One's hand?"
"Yes, including their foolish act of using Lady Laila as bait."
"Then assigning me to protect Lady Laila was also...?"
"Naturally, he must have desired a justification to purge them. Your guarding Lady Laila is merely insurance against any unforeseen anomalies.
Truly, what a terrifying individual. To think he foresaw even our actions, intending to drag the cowardly scum who dared commit disrespect onto the public stage!"
Spreading his arms wide, Lucas proudly proclaimed these nonexistent achievements like a bard singing the praises of a legendary hero.
Of course, Kai had no such intentions whatsoever, and anyone who believed it would have to be out of their mind. And yet, Deimos stood shaking his entire skeletal frame for a moment before nodding heavily and repeatedly.
"S-So that was it!"
He shouted, completely convinced.
Indeed. To these fanatics, Kai's omniscient master plan had already become absolute gospel.
"The plan is proceeding swimmingly. The Great One shall personally eradicate and pass judgment upon those fools. When that happens, the enemy forces will be wiped out, and our morale will soar. Truly, the ultimate strategy! It sends shivers down my spine!"
"So even my indignation was within the realm of the Great One's predictions. That certainly explains all of these incomprehensible events. In that case, should harm threaten Lady Laila in the future, I simply need to resist with all my might, yes?!"
"Yes, precisely."
Lucas gave a deep nod and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, the clearing was engulfed in black flames, and Egg, missing his right arm, appeared on the ground. A breath later, the black flames coalesced into the shape of a person.
"Evacuate that child as well."
The puppet, clad in black clothes and a hat, hoisted Egg onto its shoulders and sprinted off toward the plaza.
Then, more black flames formed a second humanoid shape, taking on the exact likeness of the one-armed Egg.
"What do you plan to do with that?"
"Why, to prove the sheer depravity of that scum, of course."
"Lucas, you truly are nasty to the core, aren't you?"
At Deimos's half-exasperated murmur, the old gentleman replied:
"You are probably right about that."
He grinned widely, the corners of his mouth stretching nearly to his ears, and wagged his index finger side to side. The next moment, black flames enveloped Lucas's body, returning him to the form of the long, black-haired swordsman.
"Now then, shall we be on our way?"
Tucking Laila under his left arm and carrying Somni alongside the Egg puppet in his right, he set off to advance the plan to its next stage. All for the sake of fulfilling the grand design of the Master he worshipped.
It was true that those who orchestrated this incident had incurred the wrath of the strongest monster in history by targeting Lumine and Roman. However, had it ended there, there might still have been salvation for them. For until Laila Helner was dragged into the fray, the monster had intended to settle things through far gentler means.
Yet, through their staggering conviction and blind faith, the fanatics had poured gasoline onto that small spark, fanning it into a raging inferno. At this very place and moment, a catastrophic clash between the monster and the masterminds had become entirely inevitable.