Fifty… I've already killed hundreds. The more I kill, the more inhuman I become. Unlike my first victim, slaughtering these pieces of shit doesn't make any difference.
Archie drew two one-handed axes and stalked toward me, raising his arm to signal the other bandits to attack.
- Kayin, go grab your mother and run! Let me handle these freaks. -
I extended my arm and redirected my mana into my blood vessels, activating dark magic. Before the bandits could strike, I focused my dense mana on a single point. Space warped and a small rift tore open.
- BLACK HOLE! -
Most of the nearest bandits unprepared for magic were sucked in and crushed. Screams echoed through the cave until the rift snapped shut.
The survivors froze in terror.
Archie looked at them and shouted,
-- WHY ARE YOU SPACING OUT?! DON'T HESITATE KILL THAT DEVIL! --
He lunged. His dual-axe attacks were brutally efficient every strike faster than the last though I could read his movements easily.
I wove wind magic to push him back. As he flew away, he hurled an axe at me. I raised a barrier, then launched a fireball. He landed, grabbed a bandit at the rear, and used him as a living shield. Flames engulfed the terrified captive; his agonized screams filled the cave. Archie flung the charred corpse aside and charged again.
The other bandits looked on, their eyes wide with terror and hatred.
I held up another barrier. Archie drew a dagger from his boot and jabbed at it of course, no physical blade could breach my magic.
With a smirk, he jumps backward… and a pillar of flame erupted beneath me. My barrier cracked; I instantly reinforced it as the fire died out.
Archie struck again. Then the previously frozen bandits rallied and attacked as well.
I notice the shrinking number of the bandits… Wait, Kayin...
I casted a wide-range detection magic, I realized some bandits had broken off to chase him. I needed to follow them but first, I had to finish these bastards.
I summoned dozens of fireballs in midair and flung them in all directions. Some were dodged but most burst into ash.
Another flame pillar burst under my feet. I strengthened my barrier yet again.
- Who the hell is casting these pillars?! -
Archie glared and smirk.
I felt insulted.
Time to show these maggots how a true fire pillar works.
I cast a thin barrier around my skin and manipulated it to lift myself into the air. Spreading my mana throughout the cave, I fired flame pillars at every bandit's position.
The cave turns into hell-like scene.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA! THAT'S how you do it!"
…Wait. What the hell is happening? Am I actually enjoying this?
The cave filled with agonized screams as I descended. Archie sat on the ground, both legs horribly burned. Most of the remaining bandits unable to dodge lay reduced to ashes.
One crawling survivor, half his body blackened, bone and charred flesh exposed, croaked,
-- Please… kill me… --
I summoned a psi-blade of pure mana and ended his suffering.
-None of this would've happened if you had just...- Sigh.
Even in this life... fate seems determined to toy with me.
All I want is to live peacefully and free. Free from responsibility. Free from chaos. Free from suffering. Freedom and peace... Most people only attained when they're no longer alive.
I stared at my bloodied hands.
And here I am unable to find peace in either my past life or this one... nor will ever be since i can't die...
I left the scene and went to follow Kayin.
As I neared Kayin's location, something felt off. His mana was steadily depleting.
My detection magic works by sensing mana. Everything has it organic matter contains active mana, while inorganic matter holds inactive mana, which allows me to distinguish living beings from objects.
There are only two reasons a human's mana would drop like this:Either they're casting magic… or they're dying.
And according to my detection, Kayin's mana was nearly gone.
When I arrived, I found him lying on the ground bruised, bloodied, and barely conscious.
A bandit stood nearby, holding something in his hands. He lowered it beside Kayin.
-- Why're you crying, kid? Never seen a severed head before? -- the bandit said, laughing.
I froze.
The object he was holding…It was the head of Kayin's mother.
Rage erupted through my veins. My vision blurred. My fists trembled. The sound of his laughter felt like shards scraping my brain.
-- Stop crying. Mommy's here, -- the bandit sneered, taunting Kayin with the severed head of his own mother.
I cast a Wind Blade, a sharp gust of air sliced through the bandit's arm, severing it at the elbow. His laughter twisted into a scream of agony as the severed head hit the ground with a dull thud. He turned toward me, trembling. The other bandits drew their weapons hands shaking, eyes wide with fear.
-
-- Why are you still alive?! Don't tell me… you wiped them all out! -- the bandit shouted, trembling. His face showed pure disbelief.
-- Oh? Why are you trembling? You were just laughing a minute ago. Don't tell me you're scared of a little child like me. Don't worry… I won't kill you... easily. Dying would be too merciful, right? I'll make sure you suffer. -
I walked slowly toward them.
The bandit who had just lost his arm grabbed Kayin and held a dagger to his neck.
-- Go ahead, and this boy dies... --
He glanced at another bandit and whispered something.
The moment he looked away, I instantly cast a thin barrier around Kayin and continued moving forward.
-- Hey! Did you hear what I just said?! I'll kill this boy! --
Terror twisted his expression. He looked to the other bandits and signaled them to attack.
But they stayed frozen, too afraid to move.
Then, one of them suddenly shouted and dropped his weapon.
-- I surrender! Please don't kill me! Jean's the one who killed the woman and beat up the boy, I was just following orders! -- He pointed at the man holding Kayin.
I stepped in front of the bandit who had just spoken.
- What's your name? -
-- My name...? It's Rudo... -- he stammered.
- Okay, Rudo. Since you surrendered, I'll grant you a quick death. -
His eyes widened as I pulled the Goblin King's sword out from thin air and beheaded him.
The other bandits dropped their weapons and began running toward the cave's exit. But before they could escape, I spread my mana across the ground and cast earth magic.
The earth shifted, snaking upward, grabbing at their limbs rooting them to the floor.
All except Jean.
- Now it's just the two of us, Jean... -
I lifted Kayin into the air.
Jean panicked as Kayin's body began to float. He tried to stab him but the barrier blocked the blade.
I used wind magic to propel myself forward and launched a solid punch into Jean's ribs.
He staggered backward and dropped to his knees, clutching his side where I had struck.
He was clearly in pain his mouth opened, but no words came out.
I sliced off his ear with the Goblin Sword, then stomped the back of his head, slamming his face into the ground.
I pointed the sword at his back and let gravity do the rest. The Goblin Sword was razor-sharp it slowly sank into his flesh, carving its way toward his spine.
Jean tried to struggle, but my foot was still pressing down on the back of his head, pinning him in place. He reached up, trying to push me off.
Then suddenly, his arms went limp not because he was tired or had given up,but because the sword had severed the connection between his brain and body.His nervous system was destroyed.
He was paralyzed.
I grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked his head upward, forcing him to look at me.Then I formed a tiny stone sphere and drove it straight into his eye.
A loud, guttural scream echoed through the cave.
Then I placed both hands over his ears and conjured a surge of compressed wind just enough to rupture his eardrums.
-- Now you're deaf, blind, paralyzed... What else? Oh, right you can still talk, can't you? --
I forced his mouth open, grabbed his tongue, and sliced it off.
-- Now you're nothing but a prisoner in your own body. --
I lifted him up and hurled him outside the cave.
I created a barrier to carefully carry the remains of Kayin's mother.
As I stepped outside, I gently placed Kayin on the ground and laid his mother's corpse beside him.
Then, I summoned a fireball and poured dense mana into it. The flames intensified shifting from red to a blinding white.
I launched it into the cave, incinerating the remaining bandits still rooted to the ground, along with everything they had built inside.
Finally, I used earth magic to seal the cave shut burying their crimes with them.
-- Sorry, Kayin... I'm late. It's all my fault. -- I whispered.
I lifted his mother's body once more and used earth magic to shift the soil, gently burying her.
Meanwhile, Jean still lay on the ground unable to move, unable to speak, and unable to do anything ever again.
Then, I noticed a glowing pool of water nearby.
Upon closer inspection, I realized it was filled with slimes, their translucent bodies pulsing with light.
I grabbed Jean by the collar and dragged his paralyzed body across the dirt. Without a word, I tossed him into the pool straight into the glowing mass of slimes.
- These slimes will consume you... slowly... until there's nothing left. Good luck. -
I turned away, gently lifted Kayin using my barrier, and flew back toward Ar'ci's house.