I glanced behind me.
Neril was continuously twirling her left hand back and forth.
That magic—I remembered it.
‘Sound adjustment magic.’
It amplifies desired sounds in specific locations and erases unnecessary ones elsewhere.
Among Neril’s arsenal of destructive magic, this was a rare and practical spell.
Our conversation—mine and Terce’s—must now be booming like thunder to the gathered crowd.
The horrified expressions of the audience proved it.
On the other hand, the crowd’s noisy murmuring didn’t reach us at all.
Click.Neril gave me a thumbs-up with her empty right hand.
Feeling reassured more than anything else, I turned back and continued.
“About Dway Markro. You remember him, right?”
“You—!”
“Shall I be a bit more specific? Not like anyone can hear us whispering here anyway.”
The secret I had uncovered was so old there was no way to find physical proof.
But in this world, nothing is more solid than a confession.
Sure enough, Terce lowered his voice with a cautious look.
“How much do you know?”
“Everything. Let’s start with how you murdered the lord’s son… the young master, by some undisclosed method.”
“……!”
“I don’t know the exact method, but during the young master’s funeral, you locked yourself in a room alone and started laughing hysterically. You’d dismissed all your subordinates, but you let your guard down.”
“…….”
“‘Kuhaha. Finally dead, dead! In the end, I had to do it myself—what a persistent bastard. But it’s over now. This domain is mine!’”
Terce’s face twisted more disgustingly than ever.
Regardless, I continued in a quiet tone.
“That’s what you shouted, isn’t it?”
“…….”
“Dway disobeyed your orders to come inform you that the lord was looking for you. And he overheard that outburst.”
“…….”
“He tried to report it to the lord immediately, but you caught him first and imprisoned him. After that, he was never seen again in the territory.”
I narrowed my eyes and asked in return:
“What did you do to Dway?”
“Heh. That fool probably became food for wild beasts ages ago. Sneaking out at night and carrying a body that size wasn’t easy.”
“…….”
“How did you find out about this?”
From here, I would have to bluff a bit.
I licked my lips and spoke.
“Before you captured Dway, he had already told everything to one of the soldiers—someone he trusted.”
“……!”
“Don’t worry. That soldier knew how to value his own life. After seeing his superior Dway meet such a senseless end at your hands, he fled the territory.”
“…….”
“And became a mercenary.”
“So that’s how the story goes, huh.”
Terce nodded, seemingly convinced.
Shing.
The bastard slowly drew his sword.
Unlike before, I also drew a proper longsword and took a stance—no more fistfights or daggers.
“That man was a close friend of mine. For a long time, we fought side by side, trusting each other’s backs.”
“Tch. As if mercenaries know the meaning of camaraderie.”
“Well, even he died during a mission eventually. Before he died, he told me—take revenge on the warlord who deceived people and killed the superior he once admired.”
“Ha! So that’s why you came to challenge me?”
No. That’s all a lie.
But it fits the picture well enough, doesn’t it?
I took one last glance at the spectators.
They were no longer shocked—they were angry.
They were venting their fury at Terce, who had stolen their beloved young master from them.
Of course, not a single word of their shouting reached our ears.
Neril’s magic is amazing as always.
[And your sneaky little schemes are just as amazing.]
‘Heh. Thanks for that.’
[Haa…]
‘Anyway, I guess the interrogation and confession part is over. That guy’s aura has changed.’
Clang.
Terce pointed his sword at me and said,
“Now I have one more reason to kill you.”
Who’s killing whom?
Even before the regression, when you stole the life force of two million people, you still couldn’t kill me.
Not that I plan to kill you, either.
BOOM! BOOM-BOOM!
Xenia couldn’t believe her eyes.
It had only been a few minutes since she’d learned Terce’s shocking secret.
She thought nothing could surprise her more—but the duel playing out before her eyes now made even the Martial King’s crimes seem trivial.
‘I missed it? I actually missed it just now?’
That was already the third time.
Though it wasn’t as fast as the ridiculous technique he had used two days ago, and she could follow most of Mide’s movements overall—
She still lost sight of him three times.
He blocked the Martial King’s massive strike with a casual kick.
She even heard the crunch of Terce’s wrist breaking from where she stood.
She’d seen up to that part—yet somehow missed the moment when the Martial King staggered back five steps, coughing blood.
“Graaagh! I’ll kill you!”
“Whew. That was a jolt. If killing with your voice were a thing, I’d be dead a hundred times over by now.”
“You bastard!”
“Ah, I’ll drop the formalities now, okay? Not that I’m asking for permission, so don’t answer.”
Swish.
Mide slashed his sword again.
The Martial King flinched and blocked with his great sword across his body, but Mide twisted mid-charge like a salmon swimming upstream and cut into the man’s side.
Slash.
Blood sprayed from his flank.
‘Fourth time. I missed how he landed that attack at the last moment again.’
Beads of cold sweat were forming on Xenia’s forehead.
Then Neril spoke.
“Hmm. Seeing that confirms it. He really was holding back two or three moves when we fought.”
“You mean back in the Quelk territory?”
“Yup.”
“You’re oddly calm about the fact he was going easy on you.”
“I’m not like those hot-blooded warriors who cry about being underestimated and demand full strength. Mide’s stronger than me, and he liked me, so he held back. I’m proud, honestly.”
Xenia bit her lip in silence.
The duel was nearing its end.
The Martial King staggered, drenched in blood.
Mide approached him slowly and calmly.
Xenia muttered without realizing it.
“I thought I could beat that Martial King too.”
“…….”
“But I couldn’t have overwhelmed him like this. Just who is he?”
“They say he’s the next Hero.”
“…….”
“Funny, right? I thought so too at first. But the more time I spent with him, the more I started to believe it. From ‘maybe he could really become a hero’…”
She hesitated for a moment, then said with conviction,
“To ‘If he isn’t the Hero, then who could be?’”
“Is that why you’re with him? Forgetting everything you have done until now?”
“Kid. That girl, Ophelia…”
“…….”
“Never mind. I hope I get the chance to tell you about her someday.”
Xenia, annoyed by Neril’s evasive tone, snapped back.
“Still, Mide’s way too calculating for a Hero.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
“…….”
“He’s insanely strong and smart. That’s basically your definition of a perfect hero, right?”
Xenia fell silent.
Then a moment later—
She whispered, so faintly even Neril standing beside her couldn’t hear it.
“That’s certainly true.”
It was at that moment.
“Uwaaahhhh!”
A scream, louder than any before, tore through the air.
It came from the Martial King’s throat, his voice trembling.
Mide had sliced through the Martial King’s abdomen cleanly with his sword!
Xenia’s expression turned into someone who had been caught off guard and taken a hit.
“Ah. He really did it.”
“From the way I see it, you didn’t seem all that intent on stopping him either. Don’t you despise scum like the Martial King? Just like you despise me.”
“I…”
“Well, either way, it’s too late now. Since it’s come to this, join the act.”
“Act?”
“I’m going to pull the Gem of Desolation out of his stomach. I’ll handle concealing it from the spectators. You heal the Warrior King.”
“Why is Mide trying to heal him instead of killing him?”
Neril simply shrugged.
“Well, some things don’t change.”
Oh, so that’s the Gem of Desolation.
I spotted the glowing red gem inside the split-open stomach of the bastard.
It was buried in partially digested food waste, but its presence was unmistakable.
[Enough gawking—just take it out and close his stomach. The stench is horrendous.]
‘Wait, you can smell?’
[Is that a problem.]
I lightly struck the back of his neck.
He stuck out his tongue and fainted.
By then, Neril and Xenia had come up behind me.
“Still not done? Hurry it up. Casting an illusion over an area this wide is no small feat.”
“Sorry. Almost there.”
Ugh.
The gem’s all slippery with stomach acid—harder to find than I thought.
Xenia muttered anxiously.
“God, forgive me for taking part in this horror.”
“While you’re at it, could you include my name in the prayer? Just as a bonus?”
“Oh, really! I seriously can’t stand you.”
“I get that a lot. Hmm?”
Tap.
At last, my fingers touched the gem.
The moment I grasped it—
Vrrrrr.
The gem suddenly began to vibrate violently.
“Ugh.”
Startled, I instinctively pulled back.
The gem slipped from my hands—but it didn’t fall!
It hovered in midair, as if suspended by an invisible thread.
Then—
Fwoosh!
It flew at Terce’s chest faster than anyone could react.
Wriggle wriggle.
The gem burrowed under Terce’s skin.
I recognized that sight.
‘Damn it!’
[Isn’t this just like that thing?]
‘Yeah. The False Demon King’s Core that fused with Kaeld. It looks exactly the same.’
Though there was one key difference.
The Idria that possessed Kaeld had a mind. She calmly mocked me, Kaeld, and our companions.
But this thing—this one has no such restraint.
“Grrrgh…”
Terce growled like a beast, drooling.
“Get back! It’s dangerous!”
At my shout, Neril and Xenia leapt dozens of steps back from Terce.
“What is that thing?”
Then Neril spoke gravely.
“He’s going berserk.”
“What? Why?”
“Whoever gave him the Gem of Desolation engraved a message into it. If someone other than Terce touches it, it must fuse with Terce and trigger a rampage.”
“…”
I didn’t bother asking how she knew that.
From our previous conversation, I already suspected Neril had a deep connection to the Fourth Demon King, the Demon King of Desolation.
What mattered now was how we would deal with this.
“If he goes berserk, then—”
But my question didn’t need an answer.
“GRAGHHH!”
With a BOOM, Terce stomped the ground.
A mini-earthquake rippled outward.
The ground cracked open, and even the spectators felt the shockwave.
“Huh? Wh-What’s going on?”
“Weren’t they still dueling just now?”
Neril clicked her tongue.
“The illusion’s broken. He dispelled my magic with sheer force.”
“Well, it’s the result of twenty years of slowly gathering vitality from the people in his domain all going off at once.”
“…What do you want to do? I recommend we run. I don’t think anything short of a real Hero could stop this.”
“What are you talking about?”
I shrugged and replied.
“I am a Hero.”
Neril and Xenia’s expressions turned oddly complicated.