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nChapter 39 – Krebskulm Liberation Front – Broken Army (Part 2)

nI ran toward the town square.

n“Stop!”

n“You bastard!”

n… I suppose it was because it was in the middle of the town, but everyone seemed to be equipped with spears here. Not that I cared…

n“Hmph!”

nI cut off the head of the first soldier that blocked my path, before grabbing the next spear that thrust out towards me, pulling it back as I slashed the wielder’s throat with my sword.

n“Buegh!”

nI was able to cut out specific pieces now in a short amount of time. It could just be me, but I seem to have improved greatly with handling weapons?

n“Damn!”

nI threw scraps of metal at their heads and throats when there was an opening, and jumped over the waterway and landed on the shoulders of the soldier on the opposite side, while stabbing his head with my shortsword. Then I jumped away and crushed the head of the next soldiers as I landed. Numerous spears would thrust towards me, but I dodged them while running on the walls of a house and throwing special explosives that burned even in water, into their midst.

n“Hey!”

n“Re-retreat!’

nI ignored the screams as I moved away, jumping from roof to roof… Don’t worry, it wasn’t enough gunpowder to kill. In fact, wounding instead of killing was a good way to chip away at the enemy’s resources. It’s the basics of warfare. But more importantly, the slaves weren’t watching, so it was time to cut down the residents who got in my way and make my way to the town square.

nAnd then I arrived…

n“…Hey, I’ve been waiting for you, Ronove… Who are you?”

nHmm? This must be the bodyguard that Sage Ron was talking about. And there is someone standing next to him. He did say something about how they planned to teach us a lesson today. Bodies of decapitated people with the mark on their left cheek were scattered all around them.

n“…Are you curious about them?”

n“…Yes, I am.”

nWhat was with this careless way of cutting? The most you could do was make balls out of them now. You have to cut neatly, into large blocks…

n“Sorry, they’re all dead, you know? Of course, by my own hand. I wish you could have heard it too! While you aren’t Ronove, their screams…”

n“… I see.”

nIt wasn’t like I hated hearing people scream, but I didn’t exactly like it either. You can just listen to it when you want to. And so when he said that he wished I could have heard it, I could say nothing but ‘I don’t really feel like it now…’

n“Are you angry? But these are tools and not humans. So I can do whatever I want…”

n“… I think that’s enough idle chatter. Can’t you hear the chaos in the town? Hurry up and kill this girl so we can go to the landlord.”

n“What!? Don’t be like that! It’s not every day you face someone like this! I need to see her face as it twists in…”

n… His legs were completely open to attacks as I activated before accelerating all at once and thrusting my sword at his neck.

n“Woah!? Not bad at all!”

n“… Be careful.”

nHmm. The talkative one had a large hatchet, while the quiet one had a halberd. And while I had used projectiles in my attack as well, they were all blocked.

n“… Well, you’re still going to die.”

n“So you are angry!”

nI didn’t know what he was rambling about, but it was very annoying. And so I lunged towards his mouth with my blade. Just as he tried to block it with his hatchet, I knocked over his legs and unleashed a roundhouse kick into his stomach. At the same time, I tossed a gunpowder ball towards the quiet one.

n“Gah!”

n“Huh!?”

nJust as the explosion staggered him, I swung down towards the talkative one in a follow up attack…

n“Aaaarghh!?”

n… His hands were on the ground behind him as his foot came up, as if he were going to do a backflip. His toes slammed into my wrist, blocking the attack, and so I threw the shortsword up into the air instead. And then I grabbed his ankle and threw him towards the quiet one. Of course, I sent some gunpowder balls with him.

nThere was an explosion, and while they were hit by it, they were back on their feet in an instant. It was not very effective at all, I thought, as I caught my blade.

n“… You really are a strong one.”

n“That’s what I’ve been telling you…”

nWhile they were much weaker than the knight captain, they weren’t scrubs either… Perhaps I could experiment with some new medicine.

nOnce I decided this, I injected myself with a dose from a small needle. Then I roared so loud that the stone pavement seemed like it would crack. And with Inoue’s assistance, I slammed my fist into the silent one’s jaw… smashing it. The impact caused him to go flying into the air, but I barely noticed as I rotated in a half circle while using my right foot as an axis. I wanted to cut off the talkative one’s arm, but… he dodged me at the last moment, and all I got to take off was a few fingers.

n“Buuugh!?”

n“Gguh!”

nI sent out some poison needles as a follow up attack, but the talkative one blocked them all. However, the quiet one, who was still in the air, had been hit by all of them, so I wasn’t too disappointed.

n“Y-you bastard… and you even have the chaos affinity.”

n“Chaos…? Ah.”

nI suppose they were talking about the karma level? It was true that my karma was quite low… but then again, I didn’t even know what the average was. However, mine was still below zero.

n“… Shouldn’t you be on our side? What madness has caused you to be over there?”

n“Well, I suppose it’s because this side looks like it would be more fun?”

nWhat was he going on about? Chaos this and chaos that. It has nothing to do with that. I am just doing as I please.

n“Then why does it matter to you how I play with my own toys!”

n“Hah… Wait, you were playing? While making this huge mess over here?”

nIt really was a mystery to me. What could you do with them, if you decapitated them so badly…?

n“Ha! You do ask strange questions, don’t you? People eat when they are hungry, and they sleep when they are sleepy. And they will bed a woman when they have the desire… it’s the same thing!! If anything, shouldn’t you be applauding me for taking it out on tools instead of real people!?”

nNo, that wasn’t what I was asking about… Oh, the quiet one has regained consciousness and is getting back up. I think I better send him some more poison needles.

n“You love it too. Blood. You love to scatter organs and hear the cries of your victims! Otherwise, you would not have fallen to this degree!”

nI didn’t hate the sight of blood, but I didn’t love it either. Most importantly, it wasn’t very sanitary, and so it was better to avoid splattering it everywhere.

nBesides, decapitation was how I studied the most efficient way to destroy. This kind of ‘playing’ that was a dead end was just… I preferred toys that lasted long.

n“And so you should…”

n“How long is this going to take?”

nIt was very boring… I would have more fun listening to Yuu talk about his extensive knowledge of anime.

nAnd so while I threw poison needles towards the silent one -well, it might have been unnecessary, as the previous needles were starting to take effect, and his consciousness was hazy- I thrust my sword at the boring one.

n“Gggaah!!”

nWhile he finally stopped talking, I could see that he still wanted to say something. However, I had had enough of it, and would end things here.

nI moved in before he could take another step, and smashed the handle of the sword into his mouth. When I saw his teeth shatter, I went in to break his nose with my fist. He started to fall back, I moved behind him and kicked upwards into his lower back. As his body bent in half and shot up into the air, I grabbed his arm in order to stop him. And without a second’s pause, I swung down with my shortsword and cut off all four of his limbs.

n“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!”

nThis man talked too much, and we were just not on the same wavelength. He was also boring, and for someone who liked screaming so much, his own scream was very disgusting. He had nothing going for him at all…

nAt least the silent one had been amusing to me, that is, when he was bleeding from all the holes that the poison needles made in his face… Oh, was he already dead? Well, at least now I knew how effective the poison was.

n“Y-yoooooooooou!!!”

nIn any case, since they were making an example of all these people, perhaps I should do the same to them? The silent one would look very unsightly if I just swapped out all of his limbs.

n“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!! Do you think you’re going to get away with this!?”

n“… You’re being much too loud. Here, drink some of this.”

n“What are you doing!? Stttooooppp———glug!!??!?”

nAs he was starting to hurt my ears, I stuffed his mouth with a bottle of poison that quickly flowed down and burned his throat, robbing him of the ability to talk.

n“…! …!!”

nNow that I had some peace and quiet, it was time to get back to work. First, I used some low grade potions to stop the wounds from bleeding, then I tore up the clothes and rolled them onto their faces.

n“… You are now my property. A toy. Alright?”

nAs he looked at me with fear, I took what he said was proof that they were tools—the mark that was once a mark of slavery, and burned it into his back with my blade, which I had heated with fire magic.

n“…”

n… Apparently, the pain had caused him to lose consciousness. I could no longer enjoy his reaction. What a failure…

n“Well, as long as he is kept here, someone will see him. So it’s fine.”

nNow, it was time to go to the landlord’s house!

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