Master and Slaves

I steeled myself and opened the door.

"——!!"

A horrific scene spread out before me.

Human corpses and the bodies of grotesque creatures filled the space all the way to the door on the far side.

I stood frozen, stunned by the sight.

This was the kind of scene I had only seen on TV.

The kind I had only seen on the internet.

A scene that had existed only on the other side of a screen was now right in front of me.

And then came the smell of blood and the stench of burnt flesh.

Those odors insisted that this was reality.

The sheer gruesomeness made my stomach churn.

I covered my mouth and forced down what was trying to come up.

"Ah... Aaaah..."

Beside me, Tilia staggered over on unsteady feet.

She looked down at the corpse lying halfway down the stairs.

His right hand was black and rotting.

His body had been reduced to charcoal.

His left hand was stretched toward us, and his face barely retained its original shape.

"Dei...l...-san..."

Tilia looked down at the corpse collapsed at the bottom of the stairs.

He was missing his left arm.

Everything from his chest downward was gone.

The sword in his remaining right hand was snapped at the base, and his sturdy armor had been brutally torn apart.

"Ro...yd...-san..."

They hadn’t run away.

They must have fought desperately to protect this place where Tilia was.

Did they say they were going back just to reassure her?

...

I pulled Tilia into my arms.

"Uuu... uuuu... kuuu... uaaaaaaaahhh!"

Tilia wept against my chest.

I gently patted her back.

"We’re definitely going to make them pay."

Tilia kept nodding through her tears in response to my words.

...

"Are you okay now?"

"Yes... sniff... I’m okay now."

I handed her a thick cloth from my bag.

Tilia wiped her tears and gave me a smile in return.

It was painful to see, but we had to keep moving.

I wanted to bury the bodies, but we didn’t have that kind of time.

For now, I took Dale-san’s ring from his left hand and Lloyd-san’s necklace and put them in a bag.

Then we carefully walked toward the door on the far side, trying not to step on any of the corpses or remains.

Still... just a moment ago I was on the verge of throwing up, yet now I feel strangely calm.

I guess seeing Tilia lose her composure made it impossible for me to do the same.

From here on, we’ll probably see even worse scenes.

We might even have to kill people.

The Demon King might be a person, or something close to one.

If I fall apart, I won’t be able to protect Tilia.

I have to stay strong.

When I reached the door, Tilia caught up right behind me.

Her face was still pale, but her eyes were firmly fixed forward.

"Alright, I’m opening it."

"Yes."

After hearing her reply, I placed both hands on the door and slowly pushed it open.

It looked like a heavy stone door, but it wasn’t that heavy.

I only opened it enough to see outside.

There were no presences outside.

I opened it a little further, drew my sword, and stepped out.

I concentrated, checking for any presence around us.

No one was there.

I signaled Tilia to come out.

While keeping her hidden behind my back, I advanced along the wall.

My left gauntlet and the greaves on both legs clattered noisily.

For a second I thought maybe I should have gone with leather instead, but I quickly pushed the thought aside and focused on detecting enemies.

"Where do we go?"

"If we keep going straight, there’s a staircase on the right. We’ll go up there."

"Got it."

I moved forward, feeling reassured by Tilia’s clear, unwavering answer.

Something was coming from ahead.

A figure was walking toward us through the darkness.

Feeling Tilia behind me, I gripped my sword with both hands and took a stance, holding it at eye level.

"Kishaaaa—!"

What leapt out was a winged demon.

Its body, however, was made of stone.

It resembled the gargoyles I knew.

It flew straight at me.

Fast. But I could read the distance.

I timed it, stepped forward, and swung down from above like in kendo.

The gargoyle-like creature was cleanly sliced in two and fell on either side of me.

"Haa... haa... haa..."

I was breathing heavily from my shoulders.

I had simply brought the sword down from above.

It cut through smoothly without much force.

So why was I this exhausted?

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s keep going."

At this rate, the future looks rough.

After catching my breath, I continued forward.

Sure enough, there was a staircase on the right, just as Tilia had said.

"Beyond these stairs is the great hall. The door on the other side should lead to the King’s Chamber."

I slowly climbed the stairs.

An arrow came flying from ahead.

I snatched it right in front of my face.

If I dodged, it might hit Tilia, so I reacted on instinct.

I had seen the arrow clearly, but I still broke out in a cold sweat.

A humanoid figure descended from above.

It had goat-like horns on its head and an ugly male face.

Wings sprouted from its back, and its muscles were bulging.

It had a tail, and its legs reminded me of a horse, cow, or goat.

If its face was sheep-like, would that make it a classic demon?

The demon-like creature swung its sword at me with its right hand.

I parried the downward slash with my blade.

The demon’s sword embedded itself into the stairs.

I reversed my grip and swung upward in a reverse diagonal cut.

Purple blood sprayed from the creature’s flank.

I immediately used my left hand to pull Tilia to the side.

The demon-like creature tumbled head over heels down the stairs.

I readjusted my stance and dashed up the stairs, scanning the area.

It was exactly as Tilia had described—a large hall.

There were two doors: one on the left at a slightly lower level, and one on the right at a slightly higher level.

The left door was wide open, and more of the same demon-like creatures were pouring out from beyond it.

The right door was closed, and in front of it, on the raised section, stood two knights in black armor.

I ran toward the left door and cut down a demon-like creature that was trying to swing its sword sideways at me.

With the same momentum, I stabbed another creature that was trying to enter from outside and shoved it back, then closed the door and dropped the bolt.

I glanced back to confirm Tilia was following, then slowly walked toward the other door.

There, I faced the two knights standing imposingly.

I lowered my sword into a low stance and slowly closed the distance.

They might be human.

But they were confirmed enemies.

If I didn’t defeat them, I couldn’t proceed.

For some reason, despite all the fighting I had done, I wasn’t breathing hard like during the first battle.

I exhaled softly and drew even closer.

As soon as I stepped onto the raised section, both knights attacked at once.

I dodged the left knight’s overhead strike, then used my sword to deflect the right knight’s horizontal sweep upward.

I twisted my body to avoid the left knight’s thrust from below and brought my sword down from above.

It sliced him cleanly in two from the center of his helmet down to his crotch.

"Look out! Master!"

Tilia’s scream came from behind.

I had already grasped the remaining knight’s movement.

I couldn’t see it because it was behind me, but I could sense it.

To reassure her, I raised my left hand toward Tilia and swept my right hand sideways.

My blade sliced horizontally through the knight’s armor.

The knight’s upper body fell backward, still holding its sword in an overhead stance, while its lower body fell forward a moment later.

I flicked the blood off my sword and sheathed it.

...What the hell is this power?

I could see where my opponents would move, as if I could predict the future.

I could sense enemies in my blind spots, as if I were looking down from above.

I stared at both of my hands.

When I had swung the sword in the treasure vault, it felt "disgusting."

Now it felt "terrifying."

I was afraid of myself.

"Master!"

Tilia ran over and hugged me tightly.

"You really are amazing!"

She clung to my neck and rubbed her cheek against me.

"Hey, stop that. There might still be enemies around."

"Ah, sorry. You’re right."

When I scolded her, she quickly let go and scanned the surroundings.

I looked at the fallen enemies.

Inside the armor was nothing.

They were probably living armors.

I felt relieved that I hadn’t killed any people.

But then I felt disgusted with myself for thinking it was okay to kill non-human creatures.

I turned around and looked at the large door behind us.

It was heavy and somehow ominous.

The Demon King Geizer we were looking for was probably beyond this door.

I hadn’t actually spent that much time doing anything.

I was summoned nearby and immediately headed out to defeat the Demon King.

It had only been about one or two hours at most?

Maybe not even an hour.

What a short adventure.

I felt no particular emotions about it.

But this was the final objective.

Before I knew it, I realized I was getting excited.

"Tilia, just like we planned."

"Yes, Master."

I drew my sword again and held it in my right hand.

Tilia held her staff with both hands, clutching it to her chest.

I opened the door with my left hand and peered inside.

The room was filled with light.

I could see lavish decorations covering every surface.

At the far end, on a raised platform several steps up, sat a large figure on what appeared to be a throne.

"There are no traps. You may enter."