Red-Eyed Siblings (4)

It wasn’t easy.

That’s what Rectus thought as he protected the line of evacuees.

Despite Lost and Titan defending the walls by themselves, they still lacked both manpower and quality.

“Ugh!”

How many had he killed?

Rectus wondered as he fended off another demon’s attack.

‘Just three.’

He had killed three demons.

Even including half-demons who hadn’t fully transformed, the count was only five.

Yet he was already exhausted. The other soldiers couldn’t handle even one opponent.

This was already the result of redirecting the elite soldiers who had been guarding the walls to the interior.

Even so, it was remarkable they were holding out at all.

“Huff……”

Above all, he was running out of stamina.

He kept watch in all directions while evacuating the domain’s residents, and whenever an attack occurred, he had to rush to that location immediately.

If he didn’t, the soldiers would die.

All they could do was hold out, not defeat the enemy.

And if the soldiers fell to the demons, the domain’s residents would be next.

The problem was that Rectus was the only one who could properly face the demons.

The other soldiers might be able to do it if they combined their strength, but that was just a possibility, and they were currently too spread out while evacuating residents.

‘If only we had at least two more units…’

The current forces were barely surrounding the line of evacuees.

They were lucky to have formed ranks that didn’t leave any gaps.

Considering how dispersed the forces had been, the residents would have been slaughtered long ago if they hadn’t converged.

Their joining together had created a path forward. Even so, it was inevitable to feel that it wasn’t enough.

‘We need forces besides me who can handle demons exclusively.’

This wasn’t a problem he could solve alone.

Rectus recalled what Lost had said and gave a bitter smile.

It wasn’t wrong. No matter how strong Rectus was, he couldn’t solve the practical problem of numbers.

Even the apostle who had covered the entire Leze Viscounty with a barrier had brought a companion to help take down the magical beasts.

“Huff… Huff…”

After cutting down another demon, Rectus moved without rest.

Though he was out of breath and his legs felt heavy, there was no time to rest.

Within less than two minutes of facing a demon, screams echoed from another direction.

If he didn’t move quickly, not only would the soldiers there be wiped out, but demons would infiltrate the middle of the resident evacuation line.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if you were a demon too? Don’t you ever think that?”

“Gah?!”

Hearing a voice in his ear, Rectus, who had been blindly running toward the screams, rolled across the ground.

After urgently evading from his original position, he turned his head to see a sneering demon.

“You…”

Rectus felt his blood run cold as he looked at the demon that had appeared before him.

“Wow, Captain. I didn’t think you’d come this way at all!”

“Alce? How did you…?”

It was a demon he knew.

No, at least what Rectus had known was a human, not a demon.

He had been one of the Leze Viscounty’s soldiers who had taken leave to travel to the capital.

Though weaker than other soldiers, he had tenacity – Alce.

“Well, it’s nothing special. I just didn’t want to die, so I became a demon, and it turns out I have an aptitude for it.”

“What the hell have you done… Why, why did you…”

Considering the timing, Alce couldn’t possibly have become a demon.

At best, he could have become a half-demon, but advancing beyond that required time. Yet Alce had become a demon…

“…How many people have you killed?”

It meant he had compensated for his lack of power through human sacrifice.

“No, listen to me? I got behind your back. Behind you, the hero of the Leze Viscounty!”

“You’re completely insane.”

“Insane? No, this world has always been about survival of the fittest. I just complied with it and made a choice to stand above that law.”

“That’s not your own power.”

“What does it matter? The result is that I’ve become stronger. Captain, Lord Teska said that if you join our side, he’ll spare you.”

“And abandon the Leze Viscounty?”

“I thought you’d say that. I know this damn backwater has become your shackles. That’s why I came to destroy it.”

“You crazy bastard!”

Rectus couldn’t contain himself any longer and swung his sword. The soldier he had remembered was already dead.

What stood before him now was just a monster craving blood and power.

‘Can I do this?’

Though seemingly enraged, Rectus coldly assessed the situation.

A soldier who had once trained under him had appeared as a demon.

And with tremendous power, at that.

In the past, he might have been able to pass judgment, but in his current poor condition, it seemed almost impossible.

Without preparing for a prolonged battle, he could hardly see any chance of victory.

“No, Captain. Is this all you’ve got? Really? That’s strange… The captain I knew was truly amazing. How much did I tremble seeing you take down huge magical beasts by yourself?”

As Rectus had expected, he couldn’t hold out for long.

He was already at his limit from handling all the domain’s residents by himself.

“The captain is so cool. I respect you. Not just your abilities, but your upright character too. But seeing you like this breaks my heart. You did well for a human. But in the end, you’re just human, so this is as far as you go.”

“Puhaha! A piece of trash who sold his soul has no right to talk about humans.”

“Well, the loser can only blame others. I understand. It’s the desperate struggle of a powerless weakling.”

Crunch!

Alce stomped on Rectus’s head as he tried to get up, sneering.

Once, he had been a powerful figure who Alce had hardly dared to look at directly.

But now that powerful figure lay crushed beneath his feet.

How lamentable.

“I won’t kill you. I want you to become a half-demon too, Captain. The captain I respected was stronger than anyone. You understand my feelings, right?”

“Khuhuhu…”

Even with his head being stomped on, Rectus’s body shook as if he couldn’t hold back his laughter. Had he foreseen this?

There was something the apostle who had recently visited the domain had said out of nowhere.

-Perhaps you think that a loser can only express blame? Because this world belongs to the strong?

It had seemed random.

But with the words that followed, he understood what the apostle meant.

The blame a loser expresses.

It wasn’t unsightly.

It meant they were desperate about the match and felt frustrated.

Are those who can lightly accept defeat and laugh it off first-class?

No, that’s wrong. The more frustrated you are, the more you can learn from defeat.

You need to be so frustrated that you can’t compose yourself to move forward.

“I will not conform.”

“What? What are you suddenly saying…?”

“Half-demon. That’s not happening. Fuck, I’m going to rip that mouth of yours apart while remaining human, if only out of indignation.”

“Have you lost your mind?”

“What, did you expect me to gracefully accept this? Listen, you bastard. After serving in the military for years, did you really expect such refined behavior from me?”

Crunch!

Rectus turned his head, pushed away Alce’s foot that had been stomping on his head, and bit his ankle.

Due to the leather shoes, Alce didn’t feel pain or even notice, but he felt an unsurpassable disgust.

“Tsk!”

Bang!

After being kicked away while clinging to Alce’s ankle, Rectus managed to stand by stabbing his sword into the ground.

“Captain, you know what? We’ve been here for 20 minutes already. Don’t you think it’s too quiet? Aren’t you curious what happened to the domain’s residents while you’ve been so incompetent?”

“I don’t care, you bastard. They would have managed well on their own. Am I the only one in this domain?”

“Haha…”

Alce burst into hollow laughter at Rectus’s attitude, which seemed to have let go of everything.

He regretted who he had been following all this time.

Alce now began to emanate viscous demonic energy and glare at Rectus, as if he no longer had any lingering attachments.

“Fine. Let’s end this. I must have misjudged you.”

*     *      *

Viscount Leze was a coward.

In the past, when magical beasts had pierced through the Leze Viscounty’s walls and invaded, he had simply closed his eyes and given up on everything.

But perhaps God still wanted to give him a chance. By coincidence, Rectus, who had been visiting the domain, took command and successfully repelled the magical beast assault.

Appointing him as a knight then was clearly the greatest success in Viscount Leze’s life.

“What’s… the situation?”

That’s why Viscount Leze couldn’t help but tremble in fear.

An ogre outside the walls.

Demons inside the walls.

After hearing reports of chaos both inside and out, Viscount Leze immediately anticipated defeat.

“…We’re all going to die.”

This was hopeless.

To make matters worse, reports suggested that even Rectus wouldn’t hold out much longer.

Viscount Leze valued his own life dearly. If he had to place all the domain’s residents and his own life on a scale, it would surely tilt toward himself.

“Tell me, what is your duty?”

“To protect you, Viscount.”

Viscount Leze asked his guards with a terrified expression.

He knew they didn’t want to be here.

Yet the fact that they said such things meant they would comply with the situation.

They wouldn’t betray him. Viscount Leze could be certain of that.

“Then you will protect me and my property. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Viscount.”

“Then follow me.”

Viscount Leze immediately set off.

Surprisingly, his feet, which had seemed frozen, began to move steadily once he took the first step.

Like that, Viscount Leze reached the storehouse beneath the lord’s castle.

This was where he had desperately accumulated wealth in this backwater.

After entering the place filled with various paintings, ornaments, and gold coins, Viscount Leze opened the storehouse door and paused.

“…”

Viscount Leze seemed to be checking the atmosphere for a moment before quietly turning around.

“You have a duty to protect my treasures. You understand? I think you all know, but I am a very greedy person.”

“…No matter how many times you confirm, our resolve won’t change.”

“Yes, that’s how it should be.”

Viscount Leze anxiously went through the confirmation process several times before finally entering the storehouse.

“Then you must help me even if I crawl into danger.”

Viscount Leze took out a staff he had kept in the storehouse.

It was something he had once tried to learn magic with but had abandoned in the storehouse after failing to break through the 3rd circle.

“I must go protect my property. Given the situation, I won’t be able to take everything, so I’ll have to take what’s most valuable.”

“Viscount, that means…”

“I’m sorry, but my greatest treasure isn’t here. They should be moving to the evacuation point by now. I can abandon everything else, but not that.”

Viscount Leze thought.

That Rectus being there at that time was indeed God giving him an opportunity.

His enthusiastic reception of the priest who had recently visited was also partly out of gratitude.

“Let’s go, to protect my treasures.”

Viscount Leze valued his own life dearly. If he had to place all the domain’s residents and his own life on a scale, it would surely tilt toward himself.

But because Viscount Leze was a greedy person, he decided to take everything on the scale.

*     *      *

Seeing Alce begin to emanate an ominous aura, Rectus tensed up and readjusted his sword.

‘I’ll probably die here.’

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t worried about what was behind him. But there’s no point in not moving forward because of worry.

You can’t develop if you always stand in place, looking only behind you.

Rectus was learning to gradually put his worries aside.

As a result, the shackles binding him were falling away one by one.

Woooong!

Slowly, gradually.

Rectus’s aura, which had been stagnant for a long time, began to blaze.

A precursor to breaking through a wall. Preparation to move forward.

“Help Sir Rectus!”

“No! Eliminate the demons first! We’ll do our duty!”

And as if timed perfectly, the voices of unfamiliar soldiers were heard.

Reinforcements had arrived.

And Rectus knew where these reinforcements had come from.

He could see a plump nobleman inside, frantically waving a staff.

“Can apostles see the future? It’s quite miraculous.”

Now there was no need to worry about the evacuation line of domain residents.

With the reinforcements that Rectus had been desperately longing for, he could fully focus on this moment.

And so, all the shackles binding him fell away.

“Tch, can’t even do your job properly.”

Alce looked at the source of the commotion before turning back.

He saw Rectus in a stance, holding his sword with both hands.

The knight’s posture that Alce had admired. Alce smiled brightly at the sight.

He takes the same stance. Covers his sword with demonic energy instead of mana.

A situation where blue-burning mana and black-burning demonic energy contrast.

Alce grinned and declared.

“Captain, I can’t play around anymore. Let’s end this.”

Thud!

Alce charged. Belatedly, Rectus also rushed toward Alce.

In physical abilities, Alce had the advantage.

In terms of mana versus demonic energy, remaining stamina – Alce had the upper hand in all aspects.

Using the same techniques learned from Rectus, there should be no variables.

No, there shouldn’t have been.

The moment Alce’s sword and Rectus’s sword clashed, Rectus’s sword mingled with aura and blazed like a blue flame.

Slash!

A sound difficult to associate with metal striking metal.

Metal is cut off as if it were a piece of wood.

Alce was shocked to see Rectus’s sword, which had easily cut through his own, now flying toward his neck.

It was no longer just a sword.

Rectus’s sword, which should have been just a wick for the blue flame, had completely integrated with the aura as if such boundaries had disappeared.

A symbol of absolute destructive power, with the sword’s nature fully harmonized with destructive energy, cuts off Alce’s neck.

Even as his neck was being severed by that brilliant blue sword, Alce murmured as if in ecstasy.

“Aura… blade?”

The knight of the Leze Viscounty.

It was the moment Rectus reached the master level.