The moment Tai cast his speech into the wind and hurled the severed heads of the royal family to the ground, every kingdom received the same message—
the one who ignited this war was not the king of Newstagia…
but by a shadow moving alone.
Tai descended from the king's palace, his aura wrapping the kingdom in a barrier—
a dome that allowed entry, but no escape.
And then, with no allies, no hesitation, no mercy,
he began slaughtering every living soul within the walls.
Not a single creature was spared.
He walked into the Duke's manor.
In the garden, the Duke and his wife froze as Tai's shadow fell across them.
Each step was deliberate, heavy, inevitable.
The Duke stammered, voice cracking under fear:
"W–What are you doing here? I did not summon you. Leave, or I'll call the guards!"
Tai laughed—an unhinged, serrated sound that cut through the air.
"You frightened me, Kiura Shisi.
Go on… call them.
Call whoever is left."
The Duke blinked, confusion twisting his face.
"W–What do you mean… 'left'?"
Tai tilted his head, eyes dead, smile sharp.
"I killed them.
Why don't you summon the rest?
Oh—right. I killed them too.
Forgive me… though I don't apologize to filth like you."
Terror swallowed the Duke.
He shoved his wife forward like a shield and ran.
Tai's laughter followed him, serrated and cruel:
"How disgraceful. Sacrificing your wife… just to flee."
The Duke didn't answer. He crawled, dragging his broken pride toward the mansion.
From above, Kamura descended the stairs, irritation in her voice:
"What is all this noise? Where are the guards? Where is my father?"
But when she stepped into the hall—
her breath froze.
Her mother hung impaled through the back, lifeless.
Her father crawled across the marble floor, both legs severed.
Tai walked behind him, a predator soaked in blood.
Kamura's voice cracked into disbelief:
"Y–Youtaro… what are you doing?!"
Tai's gaze locked onto hers.
His voice was sharp enough to wound:
"I am not Youtaro.
My name is Tai.
Youtaro was the false name I carried…
and the name of my son—the son you killed."
Her face collapsed into horror.
She stood petrified, unable to move.
Tai's laughter echoed through the mansion, bouncing off blood–stained walls.
He raised his sword to finish the Duke—then darted toward Kamura instead.
One clean swing.
Her head fell.
It rolled across the floor, stopping at her father's trembling hands.
Tai kicked the head. "There. Your daughter. Why don't you... crawl to her?"
The duke trembled, and the voice breaking:
"Wait... Please... I'll do anything!"
I'll give you everything! Money - gold - anything you want! Forgive me!"
Tai's whisper was cold, merciless:
"Where is your money?"
Hope flickered in the Duke's dying eyes.
"The key… the vault key is under my pillow. The vault is in the basement. Please… will you let me go now?"
Tai nodded softly.
"…Agreed."
The Duke laughed—high, broken, desperate.
He thought he had outwitted death.
But a second later…
his arms shredded into ribbons,
and the rest of his body detonated into a pile of meat.
Tai didn't look back.
He simply wiped the blood from his sleeve, broke into the vault, took the gold, and walked back into the corpse–choked kingdom.
The kingdom drowned in silence.
Not the silence of peace….
but the silence of corpses.
Tai's threads—thin as spider silk, sharper than steel—slid through flesh and bone.
Every strike was precise, merciless.
Men, women, knights, mages… all fell.
The streets became rivers of blood.
The walls became altars of death.
The kingdom itself became a graveyard.
When the other kingdoms arrived, their armies froze.
Veterans of decades collapsed to their knees.
Some vomited until blood stained their lips.
Others fainted where they stood.
Even seasoned generals whispered in horror:
"Whoever did this… must die."
Tai stepped forward, his shadow stretching across the carnage.
His voice was calm, almost mocking:
"After seeing this, you call me a threat to humanity?
It was only me.
No one helped me."
The armies surrounded the ruined kingdom.
"Come out, coward!" they shouted.
Tai's laughter cut through the air like a blade.
"Cowards?
You dare speak of bravery after what you did to me…
to my wife… to my children?
I swear—I will annihilate you all."
He walked out of the palace gates.
The soldiers trembled, whispering:
"Who is he? How could anyone do this?"
Tai's laughter grew louder, serrated, unhinged.
"I killed them all.
With these hands."
No one believed him.
So he raised a single finger.
"You, in the middle… disappear."
The soldier vanished—no scream, no sound…
only a burst of blood raining down.
Shock rippled through the armies.
Voices cracked in terror:
"…Tai? How is he alive?"
Tai's reply was steady, volcanic:
"Because I wanted to kill you."
The armies closed in—
three kingdoms, three banners, three million soldiers.
Steel clashed against the silence.
The air itself trembled.
Tai stood alone.
The Shield Hero they once mocked.
The man they called useless.
Now, the storm they could not contain.
He released his aura.
It tore through the world like a cataclysm.
The ground split into black veins.
Trees collapsed like brittle bones.
The sun hid behind clouds, smothered by his rage.
Spirits fled screaming, their voices swallowed by the void.
Half the army—over a million men—died choking, their flesh incinerated by the sheer weight of his rage.
The rest screamed in desperation:
"Heroes! Kill him!"
They moved.
And died in the same heartbeat.
Tai's threads lashed out—
razor–thin, black, merciless.
Bodies parted cleanly into halves.
Heads rolled across the dirt.
The battlefield drowned in crimson rain.
"Forgive us!" They cried.
Tai's voice was calm and angry:
"Your apologies will not return what you stole from me."
He leapt into their ranks like a falling star.
The ground shook as he landed.
Dust exploded.
His threads carved circles through flesh and steel.
Weapons shattered.
Limbs flew.
Blood sprayed in arcs across the sky.
Tai laughed—madness dripping from every note.
"Where is your courage now?
Where is your bravery, cowards?!"
He moved like a Soul Reaper.
Every step was calculated.
Every strike was merciless.
The threads tightened, wounds burst, blood fell like black rain.
A soldier tried to flee—
a thread wrapped his throat, dragged him back,
and Tai's blade severed his head in a single stroke.
Final. Absolute.
The army collapsed.
Their screams faded into silence.
Their bodies piled into mountains of flesh.
Tai sat down.
Slowly. Calmly.
Upon a throne made of corpses.
Blood dripped beneath him.
His eyes did not shine.
His chest did not rise.
Only silence remained.
Draculina whispered, voice breaking:
"This… this is Tai?"
Diablo's look was cold, unshakable.
"Yes.
That's not the Tai you knew.
Look closely…
Face without expression,
Heart without hesitation.
He walks quietly...
Killed steadily.
He does not distinguish between mercy and guilt.
His weapon is not steel...
it's inevitable."
Tai's voice was flat, hollow:
"This is nothing but a fragment of my grief… and my rage."
After they saw the view, they didn't believe their eyes, everyone thought he was dreaming, Tai... the hero of the shield... kills without mercy.
Diablo put his hand on his chest, then laughed fearfully and said:
"I can't believe I survived him."
Tai raised his head, looked at them without features, uttered in a scary voice:
"There's still more, I'll kill everyone who stands in front of me."
Then he headed towards the three kingdoms, and killed everyone who stood in front of him, until he was in front of the elves forest.
When he was in front of the gate, he was welcomed by an army of arrows.
The forest bristled with arrows.
Elven bows aimed at Tai's head, their voices sharp:
"Don't come in. You are dangerous and not welcome."
A single arrow flew—
piercing the air, striking his skull.
But Tai did not fall.
He caught it between his fingers, eyes burning.
"Bring me your queen.
I will speak to Rosa."
The elves faltered.
"How does he know her name?"
And then—she appeared.
Rosa, the queen, stepping forward with a gaze heavy as stone.
"Enter," she said.
Tai lowered his head.
"This."
A huge shadow came out from behind him, from which the severed human heads came out.
"I promised you... I will bring those who killed your daughter."
Then, with hands shaking, he revealed a coffin.
Miko's coffin.
Rosa's breath broke.
"Is this… Miko?"
Tai's voice cracked, hollow:
"Yes."
Tears fell from her eyes.
"My grief is not half of yours."
Years of silence collapsed between them.
She whispered:
"When did she die?"
Tai's reply was strangled:
"Do not speak of her death.
I cannot bear the thought of living the rest of my life without her."
He lit a cigarette.
Rosa extinguished it.
He lit another.
She extinguished it again.
Tai's aura erupted…
the forest screamed, trees wailing, spirits shrieking in agony.
Rosa covered her ears, trembling.
Tai's voice was cold, merciless:
"Queen or my wife's mother—it is all the same to me. Extinguish that flame one more time, and I will incinerate you and your forest."
Her voice shook:
"The trees will burn. The air will choke."
Tai's gaze cut through her, sharp and contemptful:
"If you don't care about souls, will you die or not?
Or don't you accuse the holy forest?
Or your holy barrier?
Or the thousand to be exterminated?
If you understand my words... don't interrupt me."
Silence.
She did not answer.
Tai left.
He walked to his ruined home.
Rain fell heavy, drowning him in its weight.
He screamed…
a scream torn from grief itself.
He collapsed, sobbing, laughter breaking through the cracks of his despair.
Since Miko's death, he had not slept once.
Every time he closed his eyes, she appeared in his dreams.
His voice was broken, trembling against the storm:
"I never thought I would live this pain again.
I believed I left it behind… when I was a…."
The rain swallowed his cry.
The world fell silent.
Only Tai remained…
a man carved from grief,
a monster born of sorrow,
a shadow that could never wake from the nightmare.
(The end of chapter)