"Hm? Who are you?"
Squinting one eye, he scrutinized the grasshopper man.
The grasshopper man's entire body was encased in a lustrous black carapace, beneath which he wore a bizarrely shaped black suit. Furthermore, intricate crimson geometric patterns were etched across his form.
"Gigi-gigagugiga-gagagigi-ga. Gagagigi-gugugu-gaga. (To be so blind to the disparity in strength, and to behead a warrior who fulfilled his duty at the cost of his life... The Evil Army is truly a foolish lot beyond salvation.)"
The strange grasshopper man spat the words out. Even though the sounds leaving his mouth were nothing more than grating, clicking noises, Malphas could somehow understand their meaning with perfect clarity. And every syllable was an intolerable insult to both him and the Evil Army. A tempest of furious rage surged within Malphas's mind.
"A mere grasshopper has no right to speak of the Evil Army!"
He roared in fury.
"..."
Turning toward his aides, who had shrunk back in terrified silence, Malphas barked,
"What are you standing around for?! Kill that grasshopper! Once we dispose of it, I will personally take command!"
If the higher-ups learned that a mere grasshopper had breached the Evil Soldier Division's command post, Malphas was finished. His only hope of redeeming his honor was to claim the head of the enemy general himself.
And the general commanding these grasshopper men was that lion-faced brute.
(Hmph. As if he could ever defeat me!)
Malphas was a colonel. He prided himself on possessing martial prowess rivaling that of a major general. There was no reason he should lose to a mere beast. He would scatter these grasshoppers in an instant and take the head of the lion-faced man leading them.
"Hm? What is wrong with you?! Kill that grasshopper at once!"
He bellowed the order, but his aides remained rooted to the spot. Sweat poured from them like waterfalls as they stared wide-eyed at the black grasshopper man, unable to move so much as a finger.
"Gigi-gugugu-gagagugu-gugigigi. (Those men are far more suited to command than you.) Gugugu-gagagagagagigigi. (At the very least, they seem capable of grasping the difference in our strength.)"
"Nonsense! Slay him this instant!"
Malphas raised his voice again, but they only trembled, paralyzed by fear.
"You worthless cowards!"
Losing his temper completely, Malphas detached several feathers from the wings on his back. They expanded to massive proportions and shot toward one of his aides at blinding speed, cleanly severing the demon's torso and neck.
"Kill that eyesore of a grasshopper right now!"
"Aaaaagh!"
Letting out shrieks that cracked with pure terror, the surviving aides drew their swords and charged the grasshopper man. However—
"Gigi. (Pointless.)"
The grasshopper man vanished. An instant later, the aides' heads went flying through the air, their bodies collapsing to the ground like puppets with severed strings.
"What?"
Standing in the spreading pool of crimson blood, Malphas let out a stunned, bewildered gasp. It was only natural. His aides were all majors, overwhelming powerhouses in their own right. No ordinary force could hope to defeat them easily. Yet several of those major-class warriors had been slaughtered in a heartbeat by a single grasshopper monster.
No, that wasn't even the real issue. What had he just done? Malphas hadn't been able to perceive the black grasshopper man's movements in the slightest. Before he had even registered the motion, his aides were already decapitated.
"Gigagaga-gigigigigigigigi. (It seems you are the exact sort of wretch my Lord despises most.)"
Spitting out words laced with cold fury, the black grasshopper man began walking slowly toward Malphas, entirely unarmed.
"Do not mock me!"
Countless feathers detached from Malphas's wings, ballooning in size as they tore through the roof of the tent, their razor-sharp tips locking onto the black grasshopper man. Flames, lightning, and frost enveloped the massive feathers, each crackling with destructive elemental power.
"Gigaga? (Mock you?) Gigugu-gagagigi. (If anything, you are the one mocking reality.) Gigigagaga. (Take this advice.) Gugugugigi-gagagagogogo? (Come at me with everything you have. Perhaps a miracle will occur and you'll manage to leave a scratch on me.)"
Those were words spoken by the absolute strong to the weak. To make matters worse, a mere grasshopper was daring to speak that way to an Evil Army Colonel. Struck by a dizzying wave of sheer outrage at such blatant condescension, Malphas screamed,
"Big words! You filthy insect!"
He launched the feathers at the black grasshopper man. The pitch-black projectiles surged forward at terrifying speeds, poised to reduce him to ash. Lowering his center of gravity, the black grasshopper man traced a fluid circle with his arms, deflecting and knocking down every single incoming feather with his bare hands.
"Impossible... Impossible! Impossible! Impossi—ble! How can you touch my feathers and remain unharmed?!"
"Gigigugugugaga. (Do not be amazed by something so trivial.) Gigugagigigi-gagagogigi. (There are more than enough in our unit capable of such a feat to rot in heaps.)"
The grasshopper man spoke with genuine pity.
Naturally, the martial skill required to swat away such a barrage was astonishing, but something else shook Malphas to his core. Namely—
"W-Why have my abilities been neutralized?!"
A single one of those feathers touching the ground should have vaporized the entire area. From the beginning, whether the foe dodged or blocked, Malphas's victory was supposed to be guaranteed. Yet the tyrannical power cloaking the feathers had been effortlessly snuffed out, reducing them to nothing more than sharp quills.
"Gugigigi-gigigagagaga-gugagaga. (That is one of the gifts bestowed upon me by my supreme Lord.) Gugagagagagigi-gaga! (There is no way the trivial power of someone like you could ever breach it!) Gigigi-gugugaga! (I will say it once more!) Gigagagugu! (Brace yourself!) Gugagagaga! (Muster every drop of your fighting spirit!)"
"Trivial or not—let us see you survive this!"
A tempest of wild frenzy seized Malphas. Screaming at the top of his lungs, he suspended every single black feather he possessed in midair, imbuing each one with his most lethal, prized destructive power.
"Can this truly be your full strength?"
Seeing the black grasshopper man ask the question with a deadpan expression, Malphas barked,
"It is! How does it look?! Terrifying, isn't it?! Tens of thousands of feathers, every single one harboring enough power to obliterate a vulgar monster like you upon mere contact! Behold this miraculous might!"
Spreading his arms wide and throwing his head back toward the sky, he declared his absolute victory.
The power of decomposition—Malphas's ultimate ability, which broke down anything it touched to the molecular level. In this state of total omnidirectional encirclement, even an Evil Army Major General would be disintegrated without leaving a single bone behind.
"Gagagugugugi. (Boring. Pure child's play.)"
Spitting those words, the grasshopper man slammed his right foot into the ground. The earth caved in, sending debris exploding upward. His arms blurred into motion.
In an instant, the upturned earth transformed into a storm of black particles that blasted through the feathers, obliterating them into fine dust.
"Huh?"
An idiotic squeak escaped Malphas's throat. It was only natural. Never before had anyone escaped his ultimate encirclement.
"Gigigugugugagigi? (Was that street performance truly your best?) Gugagagagigigi-gigagaga. (It seems I still vastly overestimated you.) Gugugagagagagigigigigagugagigi. (Lord Nemea strictly ordered us never to underestimate our foes, but it appears that Great One's worries were entirely unfounded.)"
In a flat, unimpressed tone, the black grasshopper man uttered those baffling remarks, casting a look at Malphas as though he were nothing more than a worm beneath his boot.
"Eep?!"
A violent chill shot down Malphas's spine. Letting out a strangled yelp, he leaped backward. To his terrified eyes, the black grasshopper man suddenly resembled a colossal monster looming over him, jaws gaping wide to devour him whole.
(There is no way in hell I can defeat a monster like this!)
The moment he took a step back to flee this deathtrap—
"Gigagu. (Futile.) Gagagagugigigi-gugugu. (It is already over.)"
The grasshopper man casually raised his right hand.
"That's... my...?"
The moment he recognized the throbbing, crimson mass clutched in the black grasshopper man's hand as his own heart, every ounce of strength drained from his body.
"G-Give it... back..."
He choked out a plea, reaching toward him with a trembling hand, but the grasshopper man simply squeezed, crushing the heart to pulp. The last vestiges of life deserted Malphas, and he collapsed face-first into the dirt.
"Gugagigi-gugagaga-gugugagigi. (Apologize to the brave warrior you murdered moments ago, and die.)"
With the grasshopper man's cold voice serving as a grim lullaby, Malphas's consciousness faded into pure, blinding white.