The tide of battle was a maelstrom, impossible to predict. First, a wall had collapsed, and now, Mimics were pouring out from the very heart of the fortress.
"%ⴀoⴈ!"
The Gahalic people reacted first. The women and children were hiding in that direction, so the warriors defending the walls scrambled down to intercept.
"Ooh."
A man strolled through the enemy lines as if on a leisurely walk, swinging his enormous cleavers.
"More! Aren’t there any stronger ones?"
With every flash of his cleavers, another Gahalic head flew. He lowered his stance, coiled his powerful thighs, and shot forward like a cannonball. The Gahalic warriors who entered his range had only a moment to turn before their heads were soaring through the air.
"Hahaha! The slicing is exquisite! Huh?"
In the distance, he spotted a girl in a black uniform holding back the tide of monsters, commanding skeletons with fluid grace.
"Finally found one. A Kizen student!" He snatched a few severed heads from the ground and sauntered over. "Who could it be? Platinum blonde, blue hair, platinum blonde, blue hair..."
Muttering to himself, he finally got a clear look at her. It was a girl with orange hair—neither of his targets. He smacked his lips in disappointment.
"Oh!"
The girl spotted him too and pointed. "Mister, you’re—!"
"What a coincidence! Was the reindeer meat to your liking?" It was Eshe Arjel. "If so, how about a taste of this?"
The Butcher tossed the severed heads at her. They landed with a series of wet thuds at her feet. Eshe squeezed her eyes shut and let out a bloodcurdling scream.
"Thanks for the wide-open invitation."
The Butcher surged forward, his feet gliding on a slick of Jet-Black. "I won’t kill you, but you’ll have to get a taste of being sliced!"
His cleaver flew toward her legs. With a sickening squelch, they were severed from her body.
"Hahahaha! Hmm?" The Butcher’s manic laughter died on his lips, his expression twisting in disgust. The sensation that traveled up the blade was indescribably repulsive. It wasn’t the feeling of cutting flesh.
’Poof!’
Eshe’s severed body transformed into a straw doll.
’—I’m so disappointed! I thought you were a good person!’
Her voice echoed from the doll. A curse-laden magic circle was inscribed on its torso.
’BOOOOOOM!’
The circle exploded, engulfing the Butcher in black smoke. From a safe distance, the real Eshe scrambled away, fumbling with her communication crystal.
"This is Eshe! This is Eshe! A strange person has infiltrated the fortress!"
’Chk!’
’—Report in detail.’
"Spotted him in a nearby village yesterday! Presumed to be a third party, not Gahalic! He just started swinging his cleaver at me out of nowhere—"
’CLANG!’
A thrown cleaver struck the crystal in her hand, pinning it to the wall. Eshe froze with a strangled gasp.
"That was uncalled for," the Butcher growled as he emerged from the smoke, fuming. "Making me experience such a vile sensation." He extended his arm, and the cleaver flew back to his hand.
Eshe narrowed her eyes in disbelief. ’I’m sure he was hit with a convulsion curse...’
The curse seemed to be working; angry red welts had broken out across the Butcher’s skin. But that was the extent of it. The effects were already fading.
"Still, Kizen is different. I figured if I threw a real human head at kids just playing at war, they’d piss their pants. But you managed to run and even counterattack."
Eshe backed away, her eyes darting around. There was nowhere to run, and her opponent was a martial combat specialist with high curse resistance. He would catch her in seconds.
"Why would we be scared of a human head?" she retorted, finally stopping. She held her hands out before her. "We spend all day at school dissecting and assembling corpses."
"Right. Cornered, so you’ve decided to fight back?"
"Why do you think I’m the one who’s cornered?"
’Plink. Plink. Plink.’
’Plip-plop. Plink. Plink.’
The Butcher stopped and looked around. Bouncing on the rooftops, clinging to the walls, and covering the ground were small, white dolls that resembled infant spirits. There were too many to count. The entire area was infested with them.
"You’re the one who’s cornered," Eshe declared.
"Interesting." The Butcher flicked his cleavers, a predatory grin spreading across his face. "This time, give me the ultimate slicing experience."
The hem of his black uniform whipped around him as the boy strode through the enemy lines. His limbs moved in a blur, sending Mimics flying with every strike.
’Keeeeeh!’
A Mimic circled behind Simon and lashed out with a kick. Without looking back, Simon caught the blow between his index and middle fingers.
"Mimicking me? I’m sorry, but..."
’Crack!’
Simon spun, his own leg whipping around to smash into the Mimic’s face.
"A clumsy imitation is worse than nothing at all."
With a splintering crash, the Mimic was blasted through the wall of a wooden house. Simon lowered his leg and stared ahead.
’Something’s wrong.’
Among the countless Mimics, a few were unnaturally strong.
’Just like this one!’
Simon coated his arm in Jet-Black, blocking a sword aimed at his chest. ’And they aren’t even trying to kill me.’
’Clang!’
Simon parried the blow. The Mimic performed a triple backflip in mid-air, landed on a wall, and launched itself at him again. Simon gritted his teeth, channeling Jet-Black into his right hand.
’Hong Feng Original – Blade Draw.’
A razor-thin line of energy sliced through the air. The Mimics it touched collapsed, spewing green blood. The one that had been diving from above managed to twist its sword just in time to block.
’As I thought, its combat skills are different... huh?’
Simon’s eyes widened. Red blood—not green—gushed from the shoulder of the Mimic grazed by his ’Blade Draw’.
’Keeeeeeeeh!’
There was no time to think. The horde of Mimics swarmed him. The one bleeding red blood kept its distance, still targeting him. Simon tapped the floor twice with his left foot.
’Gate Open.’
The Overlord’s blade erupted from a subspace on the floor, lifting the sole of Simon’s boot and launching him upward. He shot through the thatched ceiling and onto the roof, where the zombies he had placed earlier were already waiting. He used the Overlord’s blade as a springboard to leap even higher.
"Corpse—"
As if on cue, the zombies tore through the roof and plunged into the building below. High above, Simon watched them descend and clenched his fist.
"—Explosion."
A deafening blast ripped through the air, cleanly obliterating the surrounding monsters. Simon landed and walked back into the wreckage. Amidst the scattered monster parts, he saw the Mimic that had been bleeding red. Half of its body was reverting to its human form.
’An infiltrator disguised as a monster.’ Simon’s expression grew grim. The man flailed weakly.
"W-Wait...! I can still fight—!"
He twitched for a moment more, then went limp. Simon checked his body and found the cause: a curse had activated from within.
’The Union.’
Simon clenched his fist until his knuckles turned white. He stood and walked toward a spot where he felt a particularly alien energy. A large, shimmering portal hung in the air before him.
’A warp gate!’
After a quick glance to ensure no one was watching, Simon extended his arm.
"Pier!"
[I have been waiting!]
A subspace tore open, and Pier’s greatsword materialized in his hand. Simon gripped the hilt and swung with all his might.
The warp gate shattered, and the endless flood of monsters from outside the fortress was finally cut off.
"Hahahahaha!"
The Butcher swung his cleavers like a madman. The ground was now a chaotic mess of curse dolls, as if a white snow had fallen.
"Where are you! It’ll hurt when I find you! Hahaha!"
Hiding behind a building, Eshe clutched her chest, gasping for breath. ’What kind of monster is he?’ There was no chance of winning. She had to escape.
"F.ound. you."
Her pupils trembled. The Butcher’s face appeared in the window of the very house she was leaning against. "Peek-a-boo."
’BAM!!’
Instantly, a teddy bear the size of a house charged in and slammed its fist into the Butcher’s face.
"Oof."
"What a cute little black magic."
Eshe’s teddy bear charged again, but the Butcher’s cleaver moved in an elegant arc. The doll was instantly sliced into six pieces.
"Hmm."
The cotton stuffing exploded outward, covering him. It was, of course, cursed, but the veins on the Butcher’s body bulged redly, and he shrugged off the effect in an instant.
"Ugh! What the hell is that thing! Somebody save me!" Eshe shrieked, turning to run.
The Butcher launched himself into the air, bounding from rooftop to rooftop. "I’m sick and tired of slicing cotton and straw!"
His eyes gleamed. Just as his body descended in a straight line toward Eshe—
The hem of a gray skirt flashed before his eyes, followed by a heeled shoe smashing into his face.
The Butcher shot backward like a cannonball and slammed into a wall.
"Aaargh!"
"Is kicking people the new trend at this school?!"
A girl with flowing black hair landed gracefully in front of Eshe.
"L-Lorraine!" Eshe sobbed.
Lorraine turned back. "Are you alright, Eshe?"
"Yes! I’m fine!"
"Eshe!" Toto came running up behind them. "I spotted you from the wall and followed with a Death Worm right away—"
He stopped short, his face turning beet red as Eshe went limp and collapsed into his arms.
"Ugh, my legs are cramping. All the tension just left me."
"Toto," Lorraine ordered in a calm, steady voice. "Take Eshe and get out of here. Immediately."
"O-Okay!"
At Toto’s gesture, a Death Worm erupted from the ground, its massive maw gaping open. It swallowed them both in an instant and burrowed back underground.
"Now, let’s see." The Butcher staggered out of the rubble, dusting himself off, looking completely unharmed. "Platinum blonde, blue hair, platinum blonde, blue hair. What, you’re neither of them."
Lorraine’s expression turned to ice. "Blue hair?"
"Yeah, yeah, I have business with him, so if you’d just—"
’WOOOOOOOO!’
Without a moment’s hesitation, she undid the seal on her choker. Her jet-black hair billowed upward like living flames.
"Then from now on, I have business with you."
She gestured, and the air before her split open like a monstrous jaw. From within the void, a pair of red eyes, identical to her own, flashed with terrifying light.
"Oh, ooh."
The Butcher’s bravado vanished. He awkwardly shifted his stance.
"I have a feeling I’ve gotten myself into something very, very bad."
"Aaaaah!"
"What was that?!" The students on the wall scrambled back in alarm. A pitch-black puddle was slithering along the base of the wall, its single eye scanning them.
’Not this one. Not this one either.’
It was the One-Eyed Gentleman.
’I’ve already caused too much of a commotion. I have to capture Simon Polentia before the Kizen professors find us.’ His eye darted frantically, taking in the faces of the students in black uniforms. There was no sign of Simon Polentia or Serne Aindark. ’First, I’ll check the entire wall...’
His face suddenly caved in as he was sent flying. He tumbled across the ground, spilling from his puddle form.
’What—?!’
He’d been kicked with a force and speed he couldn’t even perceive. He rolled his eye forward. A boy stood there with a bored expression, his hands in his uniform pockets, one leg still raised from the kick.
Patches of dragon scales shimmered on his skin, and a pair of limp dragon wings hung from his back.
"Who the hell are you?" the boy demanded, his voice thick with fatigue.
The One-Eyed Gentleman’s pupil darted. ’Hector Moore. The intelligence said he was the student commander. In that case...’
With a gurgle, he rose to his feet like a macabre doll. A vast amount of Jet-Black radiated from his body like thorns, imbued with a potent curse. The nearby students backed away, their faces pale with terror. The Curse of Fear—one of the most effective tools for controlling humans.
"An outsider targeting students?" Hector said, his voice still flat. He had instantly recognized the man’s power.
[I am looking for a boy with blue hair,] the Gentleman projected.
Hector’s eyebrow twitched. "Blue hair?"
[That is correct. Hand him over, and I will withdr—]
He never finished. A massive dragon’s claw slammed his head into the ground. The earth shook, and debris rained down from the wall.
"Fuck! FUCK! Every Tom, Dick, and Harry is after Simon Polentia! SIMON POLENTIA!!" Hector’s eyes contorted with an unbearable rage.
[Wait—!]
"I’m the one who’s going to crush him!"
’SQUAAAAASH!’
"His other claw smashed the One-Eyed Gentleman’s head deeper into the fractured stone.

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