Rem looked at the sleeping bastard's face and thought.
'One swing of the axe would do it.'
When one reached knight level, the body itself became far more robust than before. Skin grew tougher, bones hardened, and the blood flow circulating through the body became much faster, so even reaction speed surpassed common sense for ordinary people.
This was why humans who became knights were called superhumans. That said, it didn't mean they could survive having their neck severed or anything like that.
In other words, they could still fall to a surprise attack if asleep. Especially now when half-unconscious like this, it would be all the more so.
Rem looked at Ragna sleeping like the dead, then turned his head away.
Sometimes he did want to kill him outright.
'But not like this.'
Rem was a man of the West and a warrior. He was also Yarul's mate and father of a child.
Perhaps if they fought head-on and he won, but swinging an axe at a bastard's neck who'd collapsed dead asleep mid-battle?
Even if reborn ten times over, Rem himself would never do such a thing.
They'd entered the Demonic Realm and destroyed and burned one fortress wall. It would be a lie to say fatigue hadn't accumulated in the body during that process.
Rem had also killed three large bird-type demon beasts and fallen to one side of the Demonic Realm, suffering some hardship.
The Demonic Realm was rife with things proving it wasn't called a Demonic Realm for nothing.
A horned gorilla demon beast moved more stealthily than an owl to catch his back, and a ghoul with a pointed snout transformed tried to pounce to suck blood.
He'd also seen quite a few bastards who might have been cultists who'd lost their minds or just had that appearance—should he call them half-human half-demon?
He'd also encountered things with strange brands on their foreheads spilling shamanic power from their entire bodies.
'Those bastards were really.'
He couldn't just pass by after seeing them, so he'd dealt with them.
Thus beating and killing a few bastards, breaking through to find his way, he'd summoned the wolf spirit and ran.
Thanks to the wolf spirit, his spatial awareness became exceptional and his enhanced olfactory ability let him track traces of allies, but in that process, an eight-armed spider monster appeared and continuously shot webs.
From a distance, it shot arrow-like webs from a hole that looked like an anus, and there weren't just one or two but easily over a hundred.
He'd killed half of them.
There were too many to kill by throwing hand axes, so he had to deal with them one by one. They were troublesome opponents who utilized terrain and features like hiding behind trees.
That said, it wasn't dangerous, but he couldn't pass without consuming stamina and shamanic power.
Fortunately, perhaps, when he killed half, the other half fled.
That way he'd joined allies, finally thrown a hand axe to save the lazy bastard, then returned to the village to eat, sleep, and rest while stretching muscles, splitting them, and doing exercises to thoroughly loosen his body.
Even so, his body ached stiffly in places.
'Still not normal.'
Nothing was broken, but the overworked body was oddly unbalanced left to right.
Shamanic arts were inherently power that put excessive strain on the body beyond necessity.
Well, it wasn't just him. The fairy who constantly talked about engagement looked pale as if half-dead, and Luagarne had lost an arm in battle.
An armored skeleton dog had bitten it, he'd heard.
Among them, the lazy bastard collapsed behind was most seriously injured.
The bastard had fought using Will excessively and ended up half in a death state. He'd woken exactly once in the middle to eat his fill then fallen back asleep, and wouldn't wake even if a man-faced dog dragged him off.
"Haam."
Having yawned for no reason, Rem himself was about to be a bit lazier too.
Outside the window, he saw the two ugly ones lost in thought. Ugly Pel and Ugly Lawford would stay like that until evening before coming in.
Several residents glanced at those two as they passed. Now more people looked with reverence rather than fear.
The village was quiet and peaceful.
'Since we swept away all surrounding monsters.'
That bastard Roman was also visible rolling around on one side.
"You can do more, brother. You still have strength left."
Hybrid giant Teresa was helping his training. Beside them, Audin had become a demon and was smiling contentedly.
'When you torment someone then grin like that, that makes you a demon.'
Roman had several stone chunks placed on his shoulders and bit down hard on his molars before barely managing to open his mouth.
"I can't do anymore."
"No. You can do it. And don't speak, brother. When breath escapes, strength leaves the abdominal muscles."
The demon Audin lightly rejected his resistance.
They're having fun.
Rem turned his gaze from the window and turned his body toward the room. Then as he lifted his right foot to head toward the bed, he stopped and placed his hand on the descending weapon he always kept at his waist.
The axe reacted, detecting an existence dripping with killing intent.
'When?'
A brief question rose in one corner of his mind, but there was no time to find an answer to that question.
Kkeeeek.
The only entrance opened, and beyond it, thick darkness or something flowed in. Not metaphorically but actual black smoke gathered and spread across the floor.
It was now midday and cloudless, a clear day.
Yet when the door opened, though it wasn't night, the surroundings darkened and suddenly he felt pressure as if dropped into the heart of a Demonic Realm.
"If you're a guest, shouldn't you knock first?"
Rem spoke while drawing and throwing a hand axe. His arm that moved with his words left not even an afterimage as it swung.
Pung- With the sound of air bursting, the hand axe he threw became a round disc and flew.
The motion was so fast that before his words finished, the disc-shaped axe seemed ready to smash the opponent's head.
The master of the black smoke deflected the disc by twisting what he held in his left arm from bottom to top. A shield commonly called a kite shield, wide at the top and pointed at the bottom, was firmly attached to that left arm.
Kwang! Deudeudeudeudeudeu!
The hand axe Rem threw shot diagonally upward with a roar and flew far away. A long gouge remained on the shield and the axe disappeared as if to become a star in the sky. Also, a large hole appeared above the entrance.
'It was one I quite liked.'
Rem thought while looking ahead. It seemed difficult to find that hand axe that flew far away.
Except for the left arm and shield part among the black smoke covering the floor, smoke still filled the area.
That smoke dispersed smoothly and a visor firmly pressed down appeared, but inside the visor couldn't be seen.
Jjeulgeureok.
The entire body was armor. It felt lifeless as if living, moving armor, and the craftsmanship of the maker was evident in the appearance of armor made by connecting metal pieces down to each finger.
The sword remained undrawn and the shield was in a forward stance. He raised his right hand as is and lifted the visor.
Tung. With the sound of metal engaging, a face beyond Rem's expectations was revealed inside.
"Phew, it's stuffy. Since you're not wearing a helmet, I'll lift my visor too. But I can't take off the helmet. This has become like part of my body now. Well, I'll leave it to your choice. Should I fight with the visor down? Or up?"
Rem narrowed his eyes and looked at the opponent.
What the hell is this bastard?
Pel and Lawford, who'd been visible outside just moments ago, couldn't be seen. Outside the window was now blocked by rough, bumpy walls or something. Inside the house were only two—himself and the lazy bastard.
In other words, this was an abnormal situation.
Between the helmet, a man's curly blond hair hung down. It was a considerably handsome face. Couldn't compare to Enkrid, but the kind of face that would be called handsome anywhere.
"Do as you please."
Rem answered in an indifferent manner. If he couldn't resolve the question, he'd just do what he could.
"Then I'll keep it up."
The man smiled on his face. Confidence showed in the corners of his mouth rising in a grin.
Tung.
Lowering the shield that seemed to cover half his body, when he struck the floor with its pointed end, the mortar-made stone floor was gouged.
It showed the shield's weight was no ordinary thing.
He exaggerated a motion of craning his neck upward in that stance, pretending to look behind Rem. It was a position where he could see well enough without doing that, so he was a bastard with a habit of exaggerating body language.
The blond man asked with a smile. His attitude was friendly and gentle.
"I just need to kill one bastard, you see? So if you leave just the bastard behind and go, I'll let you pass. What'll it be?"
Rem's physical condition wasn't normal. And the bastard standing before his eyes looked more dangerous than any demon beast encountered in the Demonic Realm.
'What was that Fortress Lord or Apostle bastard like?'
He'd delivered the final blow, but he hadn't seen the entire process so he didn't know.
Anyway, the reality was his body condition was severely bad and the opponent's skill was difficult to easily gauge.
Though Rem appeared to have thrown emotion control or whatever to the dogs and seemed crazed for fighting, he originally knew how to assess situations coldly.
If that weren't the case, he wouldn't have claimed the title of Noble Slayer either.
Even then, killing that noble and getting a bounty placed on him was all the result of using his head.
So his conclusion now was this: fighting here was disadvantageous in many ways.
'Inside the house is narrow and there's baggage at my back.'
The leisure of the bastard surrounded in armor also approached as pressure.
A bastard who deliberately fought with his visor raised. Absolutely not someone to be taken lightly.
But should he choose the path of handing over a subordinate to survive? Leave behind a weak, sniveling subordinate and flee to live?
Such bullshit wasn't among his options.
"Anyway, the lazy bastard. Why sleep so damn much."
Rem muttered then raised his descending weapon axe slightly to stand it before his face, then raised his voice a bit to ask.
"Hey, do you even know who I am?"
The man answered with the same smiling face.
"I don't know."
Rem also smiled and spoke again.
"Clean out your ear holes and listen carefully. I am none other than Vice-Commander Rem of the Madman Knight Company."
Behind him, Ragna flinched while still asleep. He'd felt a sense of exhaustion in the fight with the Apostle of Red Foot and forcibly drew out insufficient Will relying on Sunrise.
He'd devoted himself to rest from that aftermath. Though he looked like he was sleeping comfortably, the reality was like this.
He could force himself awake, but couldn't fight properly. So rest it was.
Well, originally collapsing asleep like that after drawing out his everything seemed like acting without a single worry, but Ragna trusted Enkrid. Well, maybe he didn't trust Rem though.
The corners of Rem's mouth, whom Ragna had distrusted, rose.
"No vice-commander abandons their subordinate. Specter."
Rem was a warrior of the West and a shaman. A faint but sour smell came from the opponent. The armor's master wasn't human. By Rem's judgment, that was so.
"Vice-commander? Madman?"
The specter or whatever bastard didn't know the Madman Knight Company. He tilted his head with the same smiling face then raised the shield that had been striking the floor and drew his sword.
Seureureureung.
The slowly drawn blade's contained silver light harmonized with the surrounding darkness. Not pushing away but harmonizing—that's the feeling.
From Rem's perspective, that was so.
The blade was shorter and thicker compared to a typical longsword. The form was close to the gladius Enkrid had used before, but the blade was straighter than that.
Good for thrusting, and conversely suitable for using as a shield substitute or the sword face as a blunt weapon.
"Anyway, the choice to have both die, is it?"
The man asked.
"No, it's that I'll kill you."
Rem answered without even breathing.
"Ah, I understand those words."
The blond man raised his shield to dominate the narrow space. The aura he exuded fiercely swept through the space.
Intimidation taking form.
This man's intimidation accompanied smoke, so that smoke took form and revealed the power contained within him.
A solid chunk of metal, a cube of metal that couldn't be cut or split by anything—that massive metal filled the inside of the village hall.
The cubic object made of smoke bestowed pressure.
Rem put strength in the hand gripping the axe.
Behind was baggage, the space narrow.
No advantages, full of disadvantages.
Then he'd reduce disadvantages and bring advantages. That's what he'd do.
He did so.
Just as Rem had influenced Enkrid, the Madman Knight Company mutually influenced each other.
Rem had originally possessed excellent tactical sense. He borrowed and used part of Enkrid-style orthodox swordsmanship derived from Luagarne-style tactical sword.
"Person behind!"
He shouted loudly. As if someone really had appeared behind.
"...Would I fall for that?"
The curly-haired blond specter let out a deflated sound and shook his head.
Rem's aim wasn't really to fool him—it was to give the opponent absurdity.
In that brief moment, Rem's axe shot into the air.
Pung!
The axe thrown upward smashed the hall ceiling. Ceiling debris rained down. The thick, large, blackened heavy wood chunks forming the ceiling structure, stone chunks with gravel embedded and fixed with mortar, and dust aged and hardened like stone.
Debris falling like hail. Because he'd precisely split the roof center, the ceiling collapsed.
Rem smashed through the ceiling raining like hail while carrying Ragna on his back and ran.
"Well now."
The man walked leisurely while watching Rem move nimbly. There was nowhere to flee anyway.