As he sprinted frantically toward the palace, a single, piercing question continually gnawed at Ose's mind.
Just what in the world was that black-haired brat? Beginning with Lieutenant General Drekavac and Girimehkala, that band of Evil Wickedness counted among the absolute strongest in this world. It was unthinkable that they would submit to anyone weaker than themselves. In that case, was that brat actually stronger than those evil gods?
(No, that's impossible.)
If such a being existed, it would signify the emergence of a true Transcender capable of rivaling even the Six Great Generals.
Most likely, the brat possessed some sort of mind-control technique. That was the only reasonable assumption. Rather, nothing else could possibly explain this absurd situation.
If so, this was an extremely dangerous state of affairs. After all, if it was a technique capable of bending even that Evil Wickedness to his will, Ose had no confidence in his own ability to resist it.
In this regard, the Six Great Generals were sheer absurdities of this world. They possessed a resistance bordering on total immunity against such status ailments. Furthermore, Lord Anra—the deputy commander of the expeditionary force and one of the Six Great Generals—possessed the foul, rule-breaking ability to devour any and all techniques and convert them into his own power, an ability that was permanently active. In short, the brat's techniques would have no effect whatsoever on Lord Anra. If that was the case, the black-haired brat could be handled by Lord Anra and his direct guardian unit, while the rest of the Evil Wickedness could be engaged by the direct forces led by Ose and Medusa under the command of Commander-in-Chief Lord Asura, allowing them to fight on more than equal terms.
(I see it!)
Catching sight of the distant structure carved in the likeness of a colossal monster, he breathed a sigh of relief—just as a voice came from behind.
"Thanks for the escort."
The young man's voice vibrated through his eardrums, and at the exact same instant, a violent shock tore through both of his legs. The sky and ground blurred into a dizzying spin. By the time he realized he was flipping through the air, his face had already slammed violently into the earth.
(What in the—?!)
He tried to scramble to his feet, but a foot stomped down hard onto his back. He struggled desperately to break free, but the pressure didn't budge in the slightest.
"Resisting is just a waste of time. I'm not soft enough to let the likes of you escape."
Craning his neck back over his shoulder, he saw the black-haired brat looking down at him with eyes as cold as if he were staring at a pebble on the roadside.
"Why are you here?!"
A scream of sheer disbelief tore from his throat, loud enough to rip it apart.
That binding spell had been a barrier technique of absolute resilience, cast by sacrificing the souls of Ose's aides and royal guard. With that level of strength, unless someone possessed a special technique-devouring ability like Lord Anra's, even the other five Great Generals should have been stalled for over ten minutes.
"Ah, you mean that binding technique where you sacrificed your own subordinates? Naturally, I sliced it to ribbons."
"Sliced it... to ribbons?"
He barely managed to parrot the words back.
That was a barrier technique designed purely for restraint. If it could be sliced apart so easily, the spell would have been utterly pointless. Pulling off such a feat was impossible even for General-class entities. In other words, if that was true, then this brat—
"It was revolting, you see. I cut it so thoroughly that not even the dregs remain."
"T-That has to be a bluff!"
He desperately strung together words of denial. Naturally so. To acknowledge it would mean that, regardless of what Ose did, his fate was already sealed.
"Think whatever you like. But you committed the one act a warrior must never do. I will grant you no mercy."
The black-haired brat casually hooked the toe of his right foot under Ose's abdomen and kicked upward.
An unprecedented impact ripped through his gut, sending Ose's body hurtling in a straight line, snapping through trees before crashing violently into an exposed, rugged cliff face. Sinking deep into the crater carved out by the impact, he dragged himself out while vomiting blood, desperate to flee from that monster.
(I-I was mistaken!)
He had made a grave misconception. A fatally massive error in judgment. Just now, the boy had merely hooked his foot under Ose and swung his leg with casual momentum. There hadn't been the slightest intent to attack in that gesture. He had done it as nothing more than a routine movement. In essence, that monster was a being capable of inflicting fatal wounds on even a Lieutenant General of the Evil Army with a mere everyday motion. That vividly revealed a single, terrifying truth.
While his entire body screamed to stop, he finally managed to drag himself out of the crater and dropped to the ground, when—
"Eek?!"
A monster in the form of a black-haired human suddenly appeared right before his eyes. If Ose could describe his current state of mind, he was like prey about to be devoured by a ferocious predator. Simply being impaled by those ice-cold eyes paralyzed his entire body. The only sound was the incessant, frantic chattering of his own teeth.
Grabbing Ose by the collar, the monster hoisted him into the air.
"If you're a general as well, at least show a shred of your final pride."
Quietly declaring this, he hurled him to the ground.
Fight that thing? Don't be ridiculous! Ose couldn't even fathom the depths of its strength. Now he understood with crystal clarity why those battle-hardened evil gods submitted to him. It was pure terror, born of overwhelming, undeniable strength. If anyone could stand against that, it would have to be someone on the level of the Six Great Generals or Six Heavenly Gods. No, in the worst-case scenario, he might be even stronger than that. In that case—
"What is your objective?! Why are you targeting us?!"
There was no longer any conventional way to escape this monster. His only option was to ascertain the creature's motives and devise a countermeasure.
"A reason to exterminate you? Circumstance, I suppose."
"C-Circumstance?"
At a reason so utterly trivial for picking a fight with the mighty Evil Army, his voice cracked in sheer disbelief.
"Yeah. You showed up out of nowhere and harmed the monsters I had my eye on."
Monsters? Was he, Ose, a Lieutenant General of the Evil Army, about to be brought down over incomplete, inferior creatures that could become neither human nor demon?!
(Y-Y-You've got to be kidding meeeeeee!)
Faced with such an absurd reality, a violent storm of humiliation and fury rushed through his heart, and he unleashed a silent torrent of indignation.
However, this confirmed that the creature cared about those inferior beasts. If so, this was actually the perfect opportunity.
Snapping his fingers, he caused a wooden box to open, revealing the child of a bird monster. Snatching it with his left arm, he thrust the claws of his right hand against its throat and channeled a curse into it. Instantly, the bird monster child's body began to turn a bruised purplish-blue.
"Only I can lift this curse! Leave it be, and this creature will rot into sludge and perish!
Once my safety has been guaranteed, if you wish to know how to dispel the curse, let me go without a word!"
The black-haired monster let out a long sigh.
"So he says. Satori, is this true?"
He glanced behind him to ask. Kneeling behind the monster was a green-haired girl.
"It is entirely a lie. If left alone, that curse is designed to vaporize the entire surrounding area along with the child. In other words—"
"It'll go 'boom,' huh..."
Having his exact thoughts exposed with pin-point accuracy, Ose stared at them in frozen shock.
"N-No, that's—"
"I doubt a measly curse from this guy would even scratch me, but regardless... You truly are a vile piece of work."
The black-haired monster's chilling voice resonated through the air. Instinctively, Ose tried to retreat backward while clutching the bird child, but—
"Huh?"
Before he even realized it, the bird monster child that should have been in his left arm was being cradled by the monster, who gently set it down on the ground. Immediately afterward—
"Gwah?!"
Both of his arms slid smoothly out of their sockets and dropped to the earth. An excruciating agony, as if iron stakes had been driven straight into his spine, ripped through him. As Ose writhed on the ground, screaming in torment, a foot kicked brutally up into his solar plexus.
His breath caught, and a long blade was thrust deep through the cheek of the fallen Ose.
"Quiet down. Don't go shrieking over something so minor."
Just by being subjected to that murderous gaze, his screams choked off, replaced by fluids streaming pathetically from his eyes and nose.
He hadn't been able to perceive a single one of the monster's movements during that entire sequence. Now he knew beyond any shadow of a doubt. This was a super-dreadnought monster far surpassing the Six Great Generals and the Six Heavenly Gods. At worst, this being might even rival the Commander-in-Chief of the Evil Army.
Surely, Ose's fate had been sealed the moment he crossed paths with this monster—no, the moment he set foot in this land.
"Among the monsters and demon race you toyed with, there were those who were dissolved alive. After doing that, don't shriek over every little bit of pain. It's unpleasant."
—Terrifying! That unfathomable, despairing strength was purely and utterly terrifying!
"P-Pwease fpare me..."
Impaled as he was, he desperately begged for his life, but the black-haired monster's expression only darkened with deeper disgust.
"Do you really think such selfishness is permitted at this point? Well, I suppose you do it precisely because you think so."
The black-haired monster pulled the blade from Ose's cheek and raised it overhead into a high stance.
—Terrifying! Those ice-cold eyes looking down on him as if he were nothing more than a worm!
"P-Pwease ftop!"
Amidst his shrill shriek—
"Go and perish, while apologizing to all those who died pleading just like that."
The black-haired monster's blade came swinging down.
The steel severed Ose, and the wound rapidly expanded, swallowing even Ose's soul whole.
Ose's consciousness vanished from this world for all eternity.
—The expeditionary force main unit of the Evil Army had been annihilated.