The Sword Demon Tears People Apart

Medea held on with all her might.
Her arms were trembling.
Her bleeding side felt hot.
Huk-, the wolf’s cold breath crept in.
It was as chilling as the breath of death.
Oppa….
She didn’t even have the strength to say it out loud.
She wedged the gun into the wolf’s jaws, somehow enduring.
Flone was already sprawled on the ground.
Was she still alive?
She couldn’t tell.
An eternity, or perhaps just a moment.
As the wolf’s jaws drew closer, doubt crept in about her resistance.
What would come after enduring like this?
Would Oppa come?
She couldn’t know that either.
Medea gritted her teeth.
She felt like she might burst into tears at any moment.
She just wanted to let go of everything.
It would be easier to give up.
She couldn’t find a reason to keep struggling like this.
Amidst the fear, pain, and confusion, only one face came to mind.
Smirking mischievously, smiling as if dumbfounded, smiling fondly as if she were cute, for no reason at all…, just smiling warmly.
His face.

No…!
Was this an auditory hallucination?
A hallucination created by herself, heard in a flash of memories.
Even if it was a hallucination, it was fine.
Spending the last moment with him was romantic in a way.
Swish-!
Ash scattered before her eyes.
The wolf’s form was gone, and a green bead fell onto her chest.
“Ah…”
It’s pretty.
Even the dull and insignificant ash looked beautiful as it scattered.
Would the traces left after my spark goes out be as beautiful as this ash?
Maybe he’ll hold my corpse and cry his eyes out.
You should have accepted me when I was alive.
Serves you right.
“Hey, hey! Wake up!”
As she was letting her thoughts drift hazily, something suddenly appeared before her eyes.
It was his face.
You bastard.
“Hey! Kid!”
“…You bastard.”
“What the hell?”
He frowned deeply, then laughed as if sobbing.
“Haa…. Thank fuck, at least…”
Zeron rummaged in his pocket and took out potions.
He poured one bottle on the kid’s side, made her drink another, and after some hesitation, fed the remaining one to Flone.
Flone’s chest was caved in as if hit by the wolf, but luckily, she was still alive.
Once we get out, I’ll have to wring the Principal’s neck or something to make him listen properly.
We almost got fucked over without knowing anything.
Zeron sighed in relief and examined the kid’s body.
Fortunately, the wound on her side didn’t seem like it would leave a scar.
“…Pervert.”
Perhaps because he had lifted her clothes at the side.
The kid bitched with dazed eyes.
“Yeah, yeah. Looks like you have the strength to talk.”
He lifted her up and held her tightly in his arms.
Small and delicate.
She still looked so young to him.
She’s not even my daughter, but honestly, I’m not sure I could cherish my own daughter more than this.
The daughter of the woman I truly loved, and the friend I really like.
Of course I’d cherish her more than someone carrying my own unpleasant blood.
Zeron briefly felt the warmth in his arms.
The sentiment was quickly broken as the kid kept squirming and twisting her body.
“…Oppa.”
“Yes, dear.”
The kid reached out and pulled his cheek.
Of course, it didn’t stretch like her cheek would.
But the kid grinned, seemingly pleased about something.
“…Idiot.”
And then, smooch-
With a feeling like a feather lightly landing on his lips, the kid’s head dropped.
“…You always choose to do things you’ll regret.”
Zeron lifted the kid and Flone, tucking them under his arms.
His creaking body screamed in protest, but he didn’t care anymore.
A faint smile appeared on his lips.

Zeron no longer hurried.
Thump-, with a light leap, his body extended like a gentle breeze.
Of course, there were still many Voids.
His hands were sealed, but that wasn’t particularly problematic.
Thump-, he kicked off the ground to approach, and Kwahak-! He swung his leg wide as if slashing horizontally.
As three Voids turned to ash and scattered, the remaining three lunged.
Their jaws aimed for both legs, the neck, and the right arm.
Taking a step back and pulling his right shoulder back, Kwak-! The Voids bit the air.
Swinging his leg in time, all four turned to ash and disappeared.
“Hmm~”
Somehow feeling good, he started humming.
Zeron moved forward, crushing without fail the beads he had named life orbs.
At the subtle pleasure of his body recovering, his pants suddenly bulged.
Wonder what kind of fuss the kid would make if she saw this.
Just thinking about it gave him a headache, so he intervened in his blood flow to return it to normal.
The location of the exit?
How would he know?
He just believed that if he kept moving forward, he’d find it.
How long had he walked like that?
It felt like about two hours had passed.
Well, to say he walked might be inaccurate given his speed, but anyway.
“A door?”
What appeared before Zeron’s eyes was a door.
A door that anyone could see was artificially made.
Since the Voids were said to be remnants of a destroyed world, he figured people who lived there before must have made it.
He opened the door with his foot.
Creeak-, with a loud noise, the scene beyond the door was revealed, and
Whoosh-
The fresh scent of mana swept over his entire body.
“Oh…? This is…”
Around that time, as if regaining consciousness, Flone let out a groan.
“Ugh…, it hurts…”
She wriggled and twisted her body, then realizing she was tucked under an arm, her eyes widened.
“In-Instructor Zeron…?”
“Yes. Keep sleeping. You’re not fully healed yet.”
Because potions aren’t omnipotent.
She’d probably need another week of recovery to be completely fine.
Of course, that’s not bad, but considering the price of potions, it’s a bit ambiguous.
Those potions are really fucking expensive.
“Ah…, did you come to rescue us…? What about Medea…?”
“On your other side.”
“Ah…. Thank goodness…”
Flone’s eyes welled up with tears as she went limp.
“I…, I shouldn’t have collapsed…”
“That’s right. When we get out, you should receive some training from me.”
“Y-yes…?”
“Seems like you’ll be hanging out with the kid quite a bit, so it would help if you got stronger.”
Zeron said as he moved forward.
“That aside, this isn’t really the time for casual chat.”
“Pardon?”
“Look at that. Doesn’t it look fucking strong?”
Flone raised her head blankly.
Given her position, she looked like a floundering fish.
And what appeared before her eyes was…
“A monster…?”
Yeah, it was exactly a monster.
The Voids they had seen so far had forms close to animals, but this was something that could only be described as a monster.
A giant eyeball.
Hundreds, maybe thousands of tentacles starting from it.
A life form made up of only an eyeball and tentacles, at least Zeron had never heard of such a thing.

“Sh-shouldn’t we run away…?”
“It’s fine. I’m stronger.”
“But you’re carrying luggage…”
Flone pondered for a moment, then wriggled her body.
It seemed she wanted to get down on the ground.
“Hey, stay still. It’s hard to carry you.”
“I’ll fight too. I can’t just be a hindrance anymore.”
“Fighting together would be more of a hindrance, you know?”
“Eep.”
Just as Flone was about to make a crying face, the giant eyeball moved with a squelch-.
“Wow…, fucking disgusting.”
That giant eyeball looked down at Zeron.
Flone swallowed her breath in indescribable fear.
The overwhelming killing intent seemed to make her mind go blank.
“In-Instructor…, we really should run…!?”
Thump-, Zeron’s body shot forward.
Countless tentacles rushed towards him.
“Kya…, hup!”
Flone, who was about to scream, covered her mouth.
Because it would be a hindrance.
Zeron smiled slightly, as if finding it admirable, and said,
“Watch carefully. This is what I always talk about.”
Thump-, with another leap, the tentacles brushed past him.
It was as if the tentacles were avoiding Zeron.
“Dodge what you can dodge.”
But there were many tentacles.
The remaining tentacles rushed towards Zeron, who had soared into the air.
“Deflect what you can’t dodge.”
Zeron leapt while lightly pushing away the side of an approaching tentacle.
Kwang-! The tentacle collided with another tentacle, and Zeron moved forward.
“Block what you can’t deflect, and for what you can’t block, take the hit where it hurts less.”
No tentacle touched Zeron’s body.
In less than a minute, Zeron stood before the giant eyeball.
“But I’m so fucking strong that I don’t need to do any of that.”
Zeron twisted his waist.
A red energy enveloped his foot.
He imagined himself holding a sword.
Unity of body and sword.
The sword is the body, and the body is the sword.
It means that just kicking with your foot isn’t much different from slashing with a sword, fuck it all.
───────────────!
A giant crescent moon rose.
That’s how Flone felt.
She etched the scene into her eyes with her mouth agape.
A red crescent moon.
That ecstatic slash cut the giant eyeball in half.
And then, Kwung-!
As if ignorant of power control, the crescent moon carved a huge scar in the cave.
No, a kick.
No, a sword strike…!
Flone’s wide-open eyes sparkled with stars.
“Wo-wow…! That’s amazing!”
“Of course. I am pretty amazing.”
“Medea actually has really high standards!”
“…Is that a backhanded compliment?”
“No! It’s praise!”
Zeron smirked and crushed the life orb in the ash with his foot.
Kwaduk-! With that sound, a wave of pleasure swept through his body.
“Hmm…”
“Ah…”
“Ah…”
It got a bit awkward.
*
Zeron swallowed his slightly embarrassed feelings and moved on.
The eyeball monster was slightly weaker than that huge turtle he had taken care of before.
It was unavoidable that a tent had been pitched, you know.
Consoling himself like that, he approached the area behind where the eyeball monster had been.
There was an altar there.
“Hmm…”
And the scent of mana that had been flowing since he opened the door to this place.
It was seeping from a blue orb on this altar.
“What… is this?”