Dark.
So dark.
This place had become "dark" in that way.
[Release of Binding Control Sorcery No. 3, No. 2, and No. 1.]
And in the darkness, the devil whispered sweetly.
The laughter of an enchanting madman echoed through the cave.
[Approval recognition due to the activation of Situation A, "Cromwell."]
Before long, that laughter distorted into the rough breathing of a beast.
Like the panting of a starving dog.
All restraint was lost, all reason was lost, and only slick madness remained.
[Beginning limited release of ability use until the enemy force before me is completely silenced.]
And then, red.
Everywhere, here and there, all of it was red.
A crimson red that was ecstatic, disgusting, and alluring all at once.
Countless eerie dead eyes, reeking of blood, raced along the black shadows like a pack of wolves, tearing across the cave walls on all sides.
The starting point of that charge, its source.
At the center of it all was a single black silhouette.
The shadow of the man who had just been called a Magus.
"[Then I shall educate you. What it means to face the old nemesis of heroes: a true monster!]"
Rustle, rustle.
-Kraaaah!
-Kieeeeeeee!
Disgusting swarms of centipedes crawled out in a mass from within the shadow.
Crushing and trampling those loathsome hordes, a giant dog emerged into the world.
A grotesque beast made of dark, blood-colored shadow.
Someone had named it the Hound of the Baskervilles.
-Grrrrr...!
It growled low, letting out a beastly breath.
The foul saliva dripping from its jaws hit the ground and instantly gave off a vile smoke as it melted away, blurring the surrounding view.
An awful sight before her eyes, impossible to accept as reality.
"W-what is that!?"
The woman screamed as if vomiting the words out.
All that filled her question was shock, along with a primal rejection and fear of the unknown, of the incomprehensible revulsion right in front of her.
Like a newborn chick, she could only shriek at the top of her lungs.
Because...
There was nothing else she could do.
"Ugh... AAAAAAH!"
Bang! Bang!
The warrior swung the weapon in her hand blindly.
She smashed and scattered the filthy nightmares before her with the iron ball of the morning star.
But that was nothing more than tossing a pebble into a bottomless swamp.
She slashed at the blood-colored shadows with a sword she had picked up.
But that was nothing more than cutting the moon reflected on the surface of the water.
Spears, axes, daggers—she swung every weapon she could get her hands on, trying to drag herself even a little farther from that darkness.
But there was nowhere to run. No place to escape to.
-Grrr...
After watching that weak, futile struggle for a moment,
Whoosh!
"Huh...?"
In an instant, the beast vanished from her field of vision.
At the same time, one side of her body felt strangely light.
And then this warmth... what in the world was it...
"A-ah...!"
When she reflexively turned her head, it came into view without fail.
The part that had already disappeared, leaving a hollow absence behind.
And the filthy, horrifying sound of eating that reached her ears.
Crack, crunch, chomp, gulp!
-Kerrrrrr...!
Was it because the meal after so long, the tender texture of flesh and the scent of blood, was simply too intoxicating?
The nightmare reflected in her eyes was smiling happily, unlike before.
For some reason, it was grinning in a way even she could easily tell was blatantly pleased.
And then, as if regretting it, it licked the blood at the corner of its mouth with a disgusting tongue...
"Hurk, ueeek!"
A primal wave of disgust and revulsion rose up in her throat on its own.
No, more than that, perhaps her internal organs had simply broken down completely from sheer terror.
In the end, unable to hold it back, she vomited everything in her stomach.
But that sort of thing...
Such a trivial matter was not something "he" needed to know about now.
[Hey, what are you so stunned for?]
At last, the Magus revealed his face from inside the monster's black mouth.
Standing before her, as she flailed helplessly in the face of a confusion she had never experienced before, he spoke without hiding his mad laughter.
[You've only lost an arm, haven't you?]
Come at me!
The fight isn't over yet!
Wake your comrades sleeping on the ground!
Rise up, roaring like beasts!
Drag out all the warrior's pride, stubbornness, and rage!
Hurry and pick up your weapon and counterattack!
[Now then, the night begins from here!]
Hurry! Hurry, hurry! Hurry, hurry, hurrrrrrry!
[The real fun is only starting now, isn't it? Hurry, hurr...!]
"M-monster!"
[...y?]
And then, at last.
She could no longer endure it and spat out all the fear that had been welling up inside her.
And then the mad laughter stopped, followed by his blank expression.
A brief silence settled between them.
[...I see. So that's how it is.]
Within his field of vision, a female in the shape of a "human" came into view.
Weak. Pathetically weak. Common, utterly common.
A frightened, miserable, utterly ordinary face belonging to some human nobody.
[You were never "her," after all.]
A strangely disappointed, almost sorrowful tone slipped from his mouth.
For a moment, the monster before her seemed so changed that he looked like a human being just like her.
As she unconsciously began to feel relieved at his sudden change,
[Then I have no business with you.]
He would only use her as dog food.
The instant those words ended,
"N-no...!"
Crunch!
Her vision went dark in an instant, and her consciousness went out with it.
Leaving behind only a single disappointed sigh from a man.
Changing locations slightly, to a certain chamber inside this natural cave.
"Die, Tiona! And become my strength!"
"No, Bache! I'm not dying! I'm not dying, and I'm not killing anyone!"
Here, two women, a master and disciple, were charging at each other.
One was trying to escape the deathly fear that still clutched at her neck, and the future with her own blood that would make that fear real, with poisonous hands.
The other, unable to smile, was throwing the fist of conviction, determined to live while smiling for the sake of those she had sworn to protect.
"Haaah!"
"Yaaah!"
They hurled fists at each other, thrusting poison needles, spewing poison, evaporating and releasing that poison in turn.
Their fierce momentum, with not an inch of compromise or retreat, was the very definition of standing firm in battle.
But no matter what, every conflict has an end.
"What!?"
The attack suddenly stopped landing?
It wasn't as if Bache had weakened in the meantime.
Nor had she suddenly let sentimentality between master and disciple make her soften her hand.
The reason the balance between the two evenly matched fighters had collapsed was none other than Tiona.
As she was wounded, taking damage from Bache's poison, and losing blood inside her body, drawing ever closer to a state of near death...
Under the influence of the skills [Berserk] and [Intense Heat], she became faster and stronger than she had been one second ago, than she had been just a moment before.
Yes.
Just like the kind she loved.
And like the kind "that person" always said he loved, over and over, like a habit.
"I'll smile and get through all the pain and suffering! All of it!"
Just like the [Hero] in the stories.
Boom!
"Ghk...!"
Truly foolish and stupid.
And because of that, more stubborn than anything else.
At last, Bache was defeated and collapsed.
With a strangely relieved smile on her lips, her consciousness also sank gently into a dreamlike darkness.
"""You are the true warrior."""
"""You are the true warrior."""
"""You are the true warrior."""
Along with that, binding curses began to ring out from all around.
Their ritual, one that drove the victor to the back of the loser and forced death upon the defeated.
Watching that scene of a custom that could only be called sinful with delight, the goddess Kali spoke with expectation.
"Well done, Tiona. You are the victor of the ritual."
Now then, take Bache's life.
A cruel divine command, impossible to believe as words spoken about a child she had cherished so much only moments ago.
As expected, Tiona shook her head and refused the goddess's order.
Because she was no longer a warrior of the Amazon tribe, but an adventurer of Orario.
"No."
"Tch. You've changed, Tiona. You, who would even kill your own friend with your own hands for the sake of your older sister... how did you end up like this?"
But the place where you sisters can be is only beside each other.
"I'll bring Tione, who's out at sea, and even you back to the Amazon tribe."
And I'll take that man you used as bait along with us.
At Kali's words, which sounded as if she were showing a bit of mercy, Tiona finally remembered an important fact she had forgotten while dealing with old matters.
Fighting Bache was one thing, but that wasn't the original objective.
At some point, priorities had been reversed.
"Ah, right! I was so fired up I forgot! Kali, where's An right now? We need to hurry and rescue him!"
At those innocent words, which were therefore absolutely sincere, Kali was genuinely dumbfounded.
What kind of ill...
"Sigh, Tiona. There are things you forget and things you don't. How could you forget that?"
"Hehe, it just kind of happened?"
"Well, it doesn't matter. In any case, we'll all be going back to the Amazon tribe soon enough. Just wait a little longer."
"Mm-mm, no."
Tiona shook her head once more at the goddess's assurance.
"We're not just the two of us anymore."
Boom!
As if answering her words, one side of the cave wall shattered to pieces and a silhouette stepped into the chamber.
A man small yet immense, a man whose entire body was made of muscles like rock.
The greatness of his name and fame was so widely known, even across the sea in the distant Amazon tribe, that everyone could tell his identity at a glance despite this being their first meeting.
"What!? The old man!?"
"Huh? Gareth!? When did you get here? I thought it'd be Ais or Lefiya, or maybe someone else!"
"Well, sorry I'm not who you were expecting."
If we're going to save that Magus fellow too, then swapping roles around isn't a bad idea.
At the arrival of this mighty warrior, who said it all in a flat, unconcerned tone, the expressions of everyone in the Kali Familia were instantly painted with frustration.
Among them, the most troubled of all was their goddess, Kali.
"Ugh, to throw ashes on a meal that was already done! What bad luck."
At this rate, I'll have to bring out my divinity and strip away your freedom...!
Just as she was about to say that and act on it,
"Hey! Think I'd just let you do that, idiot!"
"Eek!"
Startled by an unexpected attack from behind, Kali let out a surprisingly cute scream.
Standing on her back and stomping her down was a goddess with a single eye, looking down at her smugly and laughing.
No need to hide it.
As everyone knows, it was the goddess Loki.
"Does the stone floor taste good, you damned brat?"
"Loki!? And Hestia! Did you come here after getting directions from Njord!?"
"You picked the wrong fight, you fool."
"Give it up, Kali. Your love for your children may be sincere. But you have no right to force that twisted way of life on them."
"Grr, damn it...!"
At the appearance of the two goddesses who had come to stop her, Kali ground her teeth in frustration.
But then she smiled again.
"However, Tione is already in the palm of my hand."
That child is mine to take.
As she boasted, her plan had not yet completely failed, nor had it completely ended.
But this time, Loki laughed it off as if it were nothing and said,
"Ah, there's no need to worry about that anymore."
"What did you say?"
The trickster of the heavens explained confidently.
"Our strongest knight has already gone to rescue he... huh?"
But then.
-Saa...
A chill!
Something vile brushed strongly down her spine and the back of her neck.
At that sudden cold sensation, everyone in the chamber instantly turned serious, and the tension was driven to its peak.
Not only the battle-hardened first-class adventurers, but even the gods present here.
"W-what is this...?"
"D-don't tell me...!?"
Loki, puzzled by the tension that kept rising regardless of her own will.
By contrast, Hestia's face went pale for a completely different reason.
If... just in case... no, there was no sign of that yet, but...
"N-no."
No, Magus-kun.
Following the goddess's despairing murmur, a piercing scream rang out from one of the cave passages.
"Kyaaaaaah! N-no! Stay awayyyyy!"
As expected, everyone's gaze flew there at once.
"H-hah, hah... s-save me!"
Save me, Kaliiii...!
Crunch!
Before everyone's eyes, the pitiful sacrifice was swallowed in one bite, leaving behind only a mournful scream.
By a blood-colored hunting dog larger than a wolf, more disgusting than any monster.
-Grrrrrrrr...!
By a hound of blood that looked as if it had crawled up from hell.
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