"Whooo are you?"
Squinting at the muscular oni shouldering the heavy club, Kernel raised a large, hairy right hand. Instantly, black monsters with oversized heads crawled out from the crimson floor one after another, swarming around the hulking warrior.
Small though they were, there were more than a dozen of these giant-faced beasts, completely surrounding him. He was vastly outnumbered, and by any conventional measure, the odds were hopelessly against him. Yet the muscular oni paid no heed whatsoever to the encroaching pack.
"Who am I, you ask? Normally, I wouldn't deign to give my name to a miserable insect like you. But tonight, I received direct orders from the Supreme Great One himself, and my mood could not be better!
So I shall make a special exception and answer!"
He bellowed arrogantly, standing proud with his legs planted wide.
"Calling meee an insect?!"
Ignoring Kernel, whose rage had boiled over, the brawny oni twirled his kanabō effortlessly with both hands, aiming its tip straight at his trembling foe.
"My name is Zenki! First retainer to Fierce God King Asura, and executor of the will of the Supreme Great One—the absolute measure of all things!"
He roared the proclamation at a deafening volume. In an instant, a savage blast of wind tore through the room. The monsters encircling Zenki—Kernel's spawn—burst apart in all directions, splattering their entrails across the floor and walls. The shockwave swept Kernel off his feet like a dry leaf, slamming him hard against the far wall.
Staggering back to his feet, Kernel froze.
"..."
He stared in horror at the scattered viscera of his subordinates. When his gaze drifted back and met Zenki's, a violent spasm ran through his body, and a waterfall of cold sweat drenched his skin.
Small wonder. Zenki hadn't even attacked—he had simply roared his name. That alone had been enough to blow an entire horde of Kernel's beasts into pulverized mince.
"Now then, that leaves only you, doesn't it?"
"I-I was forced into—"
"Don't you dare utter such spineless drivel as begging for your life! You have, after all, incurred the wrath of our Supreme Great One!"
"The Supreme... Great One?"
"Indeed! The one and only Great One in whom we place our absolute faith! Your crime is having displeased him! That is the greatest sin in this world, and a wretched maggot like you could never hope to atone for it!"
Zenki's eyes were fixed, burning with chilling intensity. He meant every word. He genuinely intended to act upon this absolute, unhinged fanaticism as his righteous duty.
"S-Stop..."
"I shall grant you neither life nor death! Only after breaking you to my heart's content will I send you straight to hell with my finest oni arts!"
Without bothering to offer another word, Zenki advanced on the retreating Kernel, dragging his massive club along with one hand.
"S-S-S-Stay awaaay!"
A crimson battle aura erupted from Zenki, swirling into a violent vortex around him.
"Condemn him! Condemn him! Condemn him! Condemn him! Condemn him! Condemn him!"
Looking like a vicious demon incarnate, Zenki chanted the words under his breath like an incantation. Closing the distance, he hoisted his kanabō high overhead.
"Aaaaaaaagh—!"
Without a doubt, that had been the very last moment of peace Kernel would ever know.