Attack on the Ryan Barony (2)

“Black fox, come out now. I’ve cleared everything in front of us.”

“Ah, yes.”

At Titan’s words, Linea, who had been hiding in the shadows of the building, scurried out. She first closed the eyes of the guards who died with their eyes open.

“Aren’t you going to ask why I killed them?”

“Because they deserved to die?”

“Hmm.”

How can she not even blink at such things?

To Titan, Linea’s behavior seemed somewhat eerie. She looked like something pretending to be human.

She shows anger and emotions.

But sometimes it feels like she doesn’t see humans as humans.

She just shows kindness to people as if that’s what she’s supposed to do.

“I still can’t understand why you’re coming along. I could handle this much more simply by myself.”

“…Isn’t it because you can’t remember people’s faces, Titan? We can’t have you killing people who shouldn’t be killed, right?”

Titan shrugged his shoulders. He had nothing to say to that.

Titan still has trouble distinguishing human faces.

“Catch them!”

“Make them pay!”

Before Titan could even make an excuse, and while Linea was looking at him with exasperation, soldiers came pouring out from inside the mansion.

“They’re starting to gather. Tell me, which ones among them need to be spared?”

“None of them.”

“So I can kill them?”

“Do you need my permission?”

“No.”

Crunch!

Only then did Titan draw his weapon. His favored hammer gleamed with a dull luster.

And the moment Titan’s arm holding the hammer swelled up.

“Die, vermin.”

BOOM!!!

First came the thunderous roar.

Following that were the sounds of rocks and stone fragments falling.

And belatedly came the agonized groans of people.

But it wasn’t over yet. That attack just now was merely a knock to open the door.

A strike to destroy the mansion walls that stood in their way.

The family’s soldiers who tried to block them were merely caught up in it.

Thud!

Titan took a step forward with the same irritated manner as before.

His presence spread out like a heavy reverberation.

Everyone fell silent.

“A while ago, I smelled blood at the hunting grounds. I like the smell of blood. It’s the trace of life-and-death battles.”

“I hate it. Though it’s unavoidable for a doctor, someone getting hurt is never a good thing.”

Linea followed behind Titan with a demure attitude.

Titan doesn’t think about protecting Linea.

Linea knows this too.

Titan finds Linea bothersome, and Linea has no particular interest in Titan’s existence.

“But blood spilled by those who aren’t warriors… That’s unacceptable. It shouldn’t happen.”

Yet even these two could share the same thoughts right now.

“Especially if it’s the blood of children.”

The reason Titan couldn’t make cold judgments and got angry was because the blood scattered in the magical beast territory that day was children’s blood.

“Your blood, who made those you should protect bleed…”

Splat!

Titan crushed the heads of those lying on the ground one by one with his hammer.

Originally, he doesn’t kill warriors who’ve lost their will to fight. What matters isn’t having power over the opponent’s life and death.

Therefore, his current actions showed no respect for his opponents.

Titan shook his head as he saw the new knights appear. Their skills were on a different level from the nearby soldiers.

But Titan rather smiled as if pleased, grinding his teeth.

“What a disgusting smell.”

The opponent doesn’t deserve respect. The opponent isn’t a warrior.

Titan didn’t even recognize them as people.

“Humans who hunt humans, now it’s your turn to be hunted.”

The opponent isn’t human but beast.

No need for mercy in his actions.

Crunch!

Titan’s muscles swelled up once again. The only difference this time was that his arms were holding a spear instead of a hammer.

Titan doesn’t get overconfident. No matter how worthless the enemy might be, he shouldn’t think he can handle everything easily.

The target should be the leader.

That is, the one shouting loudly in the middle of the knights.

RUMBLE!

With a sound like thunder striking, Titan’s spear flew.

That spear, as thick as a pillar to match his build, instantly pierced through the center and crushed his target.

No, rather than pierced, it would be more accurate to say it pulverized him.

“Hooh…”

The knight who had been acting as commander died from that sudden strike.

He died, but he had reacted.

The reason he died so pathetically despite that was because he tried to block rather than dodge.

The mansion was behind him.

No mana was imbued in the spear.

Because of that, he overconfidently thought he could block it.

Whoosh!

Titan immediately jumped in.

If the opponent had reacted to his spear, he couldn’t stay still.

Though he couldn’t block it, the fact that he reacted is undeniable. Not only was he the strongest knight, but the rest of the knights must be close to his level too.

That’s why he won’t miss this chance.

He needs to cause as much chaos as possible in this moment when their command structure is disrupted.

A warrior and a hunter.

Strategic yet instinctive judgment.

Splat!

Titan’s first attack after jumping in was rather modest compared to his previous attacks.

But that was enough.

There was no need to use more force than necessary to blow off the head of one confused knight.

Titan had already committed murder. When he crushed the guards’ heads, he confirmed how tough humans were.

From now on, he’ll focus not on overwhelming power, but on achieving the best results with minimal force.

Bang!

Titan roughly pulled out the spear that had been stuck in the ground after piercing through the commander earlier.

The dirt and gravel that flew up momentarily blocked the knights’ vision.

Clang!

“Ugh?!”

This time Titan’s hammer swung upward, striking an opponent’s abdomen.

A perfect surprise attack following the flow of the scattered dirt and gravel. Already more than three knights had fallen pathetically.

Whoosh!

After dealing with the third knight like that, Titan spun while swinging both his spear and hammer horizontally at the same time.

Nothing was hit. Probably no more surprise attacks would work.

But he had turned the situation into chaos. The opponents’ formation was shattered along with their commander, and the rest had become a disorganized rabble who lost their systematic movement.

From now on, he’ll rule with violence.

BOOM!!

The first was a strike containing overwhelming power like shown before.

Even though they dodged, the knight closest to the shockwave from hitting the ground was knocked unconscious and sent flying.

Thud!

A dagger Titan threw lodged itself between the neck of that fallen knight. Overwhelming power, precise technique, stealthy surprise – Titan didn’t discriminate between any methods.

Clang clang clang!

Titan deflected the sword swung at him with his spear shaft.

The power was extraordinary.

The aura power that Titan wanted to know about was crystallized on that blade.

Of course, until just before blocking it, Titan hadn’t even thought it was aura. Yet he could deflect it to the side because confidence was written on the opponent’s face.

“Destructive indeed!”

Even though he deflected it, Titan smiled at the tingling sensation running up his palm. It’s powerful force.

Even a sword wielded by such a weak knight had this much power in it.

How wonderful it would be when he could handle that power himself later.

“However…”

Whoosh!

Titan spun and swung his hammer. The hammer, with powerful force added to the body’s rotation, fell onto the sword of the knight with aura crystallized on it.

“It’s not a power I can’t handle.”

CLANG!!

Titan’s strike shattered the knight’s aura-imbued sword into pieces.

As if that wasn’t enough, the hammer that dug into the knight’s body eventually shattered the opponent as well.

A phenomenon created purely through physical strength, without any miracles.

“Next!!!”

Titan shouted with high spirits.

At that shout, the knights began to stumble backward.

In that brief moment, more than half the knights had lost their lives.

It’s natural for their fighting spirit to break.

“Next, you say? You damn monster. You’ve really done it now.”

But there was one whose spirit hadn’t broken. The knight who appeared from inside the mansion had his expression deeply furrowed.

And the moment he appeared, the atmosphere changed. Titan could sense a strange expectation rising from the knights who had been cowering in despair.

The presence Titan felt from the opponent seemed incomparably stronger than the knights he had dealt with earlier.

“Who are you?”

“Did you come all the way here causing trouble without even knowing who I am?”

“No, I think I know.”

Probably the one who had been teaching all the knights here.

The very embodiment of the Ryan Barony’s military might, which had grown as a knight family.

“The real leader. Am I right?”

Titan’s target that needed to be beaten to death.

To that, the middle-aged knight answered with a crooked smile.

“Yes, I am Tross Ryan, the master of this mansion.”

*     *     *

At the time when the attack on the Ryan Barony was taking place. Unfortunately, Burke wasn’t at the mansion.

He was waiting at the meeting place for Lost’s group for today’s lesson, which would be the last day.

Not far from his mansion, Burke Ryan kept sighing with complicated feelings.

“Hm?”

But even to his ears waiting there, the thunderous sounds reached.

He tilted his head at the earthquake-like sounds coming from far away.

Just then, the conversation of passing people reached Burke’s ears.

“Did you hear? They say a monster appeared at the Ryan Barony and it’s chaos.”

“Aren’t there lots of knights there? And it’s still going on this long?”

Vibrations with an awkward rhythm that seemed unsuitable for an earthquake.

The rumors that happened to reach him.

And the moment he realized the center of those vibrations and thunderous sounds.

“No way…”

Burke was running.

He took the path that would take minimal time from his position to the Ryan Barony.

Weaving through alley after alley, jumping over low walls.

‘What is this explosion? Bombardment? A mage? Surely not Duke Forys…?’

Burke felt anxious.

It was visible even from far away.

With each explosion, dirt clouds rose up and the mansion’s sides were gradually crumbling from the aftershocks.

He didn’t care what happened to his arrogant and foolish father.

His stepmother and half-siblings? If they died, it would be for the better.

He might even applaud that.

But his sister was different.

Burke’s weak and kind sister was the only one he could call family.

That’s why he was still bound to the hateful Ryan Barony.

“Please be safe…”

Burke increased his speed. Not much further now. Just a bit more and he’d see the mansion’s main gate.

That’s when Burke entered the next alley.

“What?!”

The path that should have been wide open was blocked.

A translucent ice wall was blocking the path, emitting a cold chill.

“What is this…”

Only then did Burke come to his senses.

An inexplicable chill ran through him.

“Ugh?!”

Dangerous. He shouldn’t be here. With that thought, Burke turned to go back and.

“…”

There he met an unidentified being wearing pure white clothes, with pure white hair and a pure white mask.

“Burke Ryan, illegitimate child of the Ryan Barony and hunter of five years.”

“…What are you?”

The surroundings were unusually quiet.

Though it was an alley, it was still daytime yet there was no one walking around.

“You were planning to build up money, power, and authority to escape from and take revenge on the family that oppresses you and your sister.”

“I asked what you are.”

“I wonder what method that would have been?”

The man laid out Burke Ryan’s personal information one by one.

“Earn money as a hunter, gain a connection to Duke Forys through Allen Wise’s introduction, and perhaps appeal to his mercy with a petition?”

“Did that crazy woman hire you to kill me again?”

“Or were you planning to build up strength bit by bit and challenge Tross Ryan to a proper duel?”

“How many like you do you think I’ve dealt with? Do I look like someone who would yield to such threats?”

The two spoke words that didn’t mesh with each other.

The man in the white mask just laid out Burke’s situation while Burke suspected this was something that had repeated several times in his harsh life.

That’s why he was late to notice.

“No matter how much I think about it, I still can’t understand what you were thinking.”

“…Lost?”

That the figure before him was familiar.

That pure white hair, those golden eyes visible beyond the expressionless mask. It was chillingly different from the Lost that Burke knew.

“However…”

Lost manifested holy power in his palm. Not to borrow someone’s power, but just to show that light to his opponent.

A heresy inquisitor must not show emotion. Their work is something they cannot be proud of before God.

So they must not show any emotion. That’s why they wear expressionless masks and carve inverted cross marks like brands.

But Lost’s voice now couldn’t follow that rule.

“You should never have become a half-demon.”

“…”

It was bitterness.

Lost’s light was illuminating Burke. Yes, it was just light.

Yet Burke frowned and covered his face as if the light was blinding, as if it bothered him.

The eyes visible between his fingers had changed from brown to a blood-red color.

Half-demons’ eyes turn red when they use their power. That’s the most common way to identify them.

Lost hadn’t given up his doubts until now.

Thinking that it might not be yet, that it could have been his mistake.

That there might still be a chance.

“You…”

But now everything was clear.

That the person called Burke was already dead, and that shell was just a puppet moved by demonic power.

It was easy enough to understand why he made such a choice.

As Burke had said earlier, he must have suffered from assassination threats many times.

So he would have needed power.

Power to protect himself, to protect his sister, to take revenge on them.

“You should have remained an innocent victim.”

But there was no power without a price.

The day would surely come when he would wield the power obtained to protect family to kill family instead.

“Victim? Remain a victim? You’re saying I should have just endured it all?”

“…”

Burke began pouring out his indignation. He spat out with bitter resentment about what his situation had been like.

These were emotions Burke had suppressed for years.

“What do you know? You think you know everything about me just because you know a few pieces of information? You don’t know anything about the pain, the emotions contained in each of those experiences!”

“Yes, all I know are just a few lines of written information.”

Burke shouted with emotion.

It must still be vivid to him. Those contemptuous gazes even from mere servants who looked down on him.

The attitude of other family members who looked at his sister with suspicious eyes just because she was different from others.

The numerous assassins he had to face just for being illegitimate.

The dirty schemes that began to bind him when he built up strength to survive.

These aren’t things one can dare claim to understand, nor should they.

“But there’s something I do know well about you.”

“Stop spouting nonsense.”

Not now, but in the past.

Lost had become Burke’s friend. He had shared in his troubles.

He could understand how much effort he put in for his sister.

“I know that you dedicated everything for your sister. That’s exactly why you shouldn’t have become a half-demon.”

“If I hadn’t become a half-demon, I couldn’t have endured until now!”

“Why do you think you couldn’t have endured? Even when you were weaker than now, you survived through evil! You could have continued to do so!”

Though everyone knew this was just discussing possibilities.

But Burke couldn’t easily deny it. He felt conviction.

Because Lost, who should know nothing about him, was certain he could have done it.

Half-demons hate humans.

It’s an urge that grows stronger as time passes.

“You chose the easy path and threw yourself away.”

Burke has many enemies.

There will probably come times when he’ll have to kill someone.

He killed those who needed to die.

But if what remains isn’t hesitation but exhilaration, then he’s become not an avenger but a monster.

“By becoming a half-demon, you’ve already destroyed every possible future that could have unfolded with your own hands.”

Perhaps after much effort, he could have escaped from the Ryan Barony.

He might have found clues to cure Claire’s illness.

Nothing could be guaranteed.

Anything could have been possible, and anything could have failed. At least it was possible to make such assumptions.

But all those possibilities were erased when Burke became a half-demon.

“You damn bastard.”

So Lost moved.

He had to put an end to this foolish man who sold his soul.

That was the only thing he could do for Burke, whom he once considered a friend.