Ryuu Kusari no Ori

Volume 3 Chapter 3.3

The Outburst of Hatred Part 3

Translator : PolterGlast

"Gah!?"

The shockwave that exploded blew Nozomu's body away, leaving countless lacerations on his body.

He slammed into a tree behind him and fell to the ground.

"......Ah."

A dumbfounded voice escaped from Lisa's mouth at the sudden event that took place in front of her.

I gotta help him ......

Forgetting all about the anger she had been directing at Nozomu, Lisa raised her hips to run toward him.

However, as she was about to reach for him, someone grabbed her hand from the side.

"Lisa, what are you doing here?"

"Ah, Ken. Nozomu is- ...... Kya!"

"Camilla, take Lisa out of here!"

"Wait, let me talk to- ......."

Ken stopped Lisa as she tried to approach Nozomu and pushed her body toward Camilla.

Camilla caught Lisa's body and took her hand, forcing her to walk away from that place.

After confirming that the two had disappeared behind the bushes, Ken approached the fallen Nozomu while breathing roughly.

"Kill him, we have to kill this guy right here ......."

[Ken, hurry up! Something's coming this way!]

With his face tensed up with impatience and nervousness, Ken raised his already-severed blade.

However, the blade that he swung down was grabbed and stopped by Nozomu, who suddenly raised his upper body.

"Wha!? Haaaaa!"

[Oooooooo!]

With a yell, Ken was thrown away by the powerful force of Nozomu's arm.

[Damn it, what a pussy! Even though it was so close!]

A rage-filled cry of anger came out of Nozomu's mouth. The voice was not his own.

It was somewhat feminine, yet its tone was filled with nothing but hatred and resentment. It was an anger that could only be satisfied if it killed everything that lived in its vicinity.

It was undoubtedly Tiamat's voice, sealed in Nozomu's body.

"U-, waa ......!"

[You ......!]

While Ken was flustered by the hatred of the Dragon King, Mefi suddenly shot a light blue ball of light toward the sky. The ball of light bursts in the sky above, scattering light blue elements all over the area.

"Mefi, what are you-......"

[I randomly taunted all the demonic beasts in the area.]

"Wha- ......."

*Guooooooo!*

While Ken was surprised by Mefi's action, a Mad Bear appeared from behind the bushes and attacked Nozomu. The danger level was B. It was such a threat that ordinary soldiers and adventurers would have immediately decided to retreat.

[Don't get in my way!]

However, the monster in the form of Nozomu turned the Mad Bear into pieces of meat with a single swing of its arm.

In the meantime, other monsters appeared and attacked one after another, but they were all brutally slaughtered.

[Ken, get out of here while you still can!]

Ken, whose face was tense with fear, forgot all about trying to kill Nozomu and fled in a panic.

Meanwhile, Tiamat, who had temporarily materialized, was unable to move after killing all the monsters that attacked her. Looking closely, one could see that invisible chains were wrapped around her body.

[I can't move! This boy, he is still trying to restrain me!]

Tiamat spat out five-colored source elements and tried to break the restraint.

*Crack, crack* ....... The chains cracked, and fresh blood poured out from all over Nozomu's body.

But even so, Tiamat still could not move from that spot at all.

[Even though I've given you the opportunity to fulfill your revenge, damn you, damn youuuuu ~~~!]

Eventually, the chains of Ability Suppression began to push Tiamat's consciousness back into the depths of Nozomu's body.

At the same time as she let out a resentful cry, Nozomu's body collapsed on the spot.

*Splash*, a flower of blood blossomed on the ground.

Nozomu's body was already at its limit due to the recoil of the Dragon King's power and the outburst of [Core Piercing].

[Wha, I felt the power of an unknown spirit and came over to check, just what's going on here?]

Then, a lapis lazuli-colored bird appeared. It was Razward, a lesser spirit contracted by Shina.

He saw Nozomu lying on the ground and landed beside him in a panic.

[This remnant ....... Spirit power? No way, but this is the power of someone far superior than me. And besides ...... -wait, this is not the time for that!]

For a moment, Razward was bewildered by the remnants of the Dragon King's power floating around him, but when he saw Nozomu's tattered figure, he immediately released his power. He began treating his wounds.

"So this is where he is ......"

Then another voice of a third party echoed.

A person wearing a deep hood. His face was unrecognizable, and the tone of his voice barely indicated that he is a man.

However, when Razward saw the hooded figure, his eyes widened even more than before.

[Y-you are-......?]

"Be quiet, lesser spirit. We cannot awaken the one who now resides in this man's body."

While Razward kept on with his healing, the hooded figure touched Nozomu's back, who was lying on his face.

"Hmm, it is sealed. I never expected a human to seal that dragon ......"

The hand on Nozomu's back emitted a white light.

The light, however, flickered unsteadily and then quickly faded away.

"I can't tamper with it. I see. No wonder I didn't notice it ......"

The hooded figure nodded several times, as if convinced.

He then checked on Nozomu's wounds and turned his attention back to Razward, who was still healing him.

"Lesser spirit, that's enough. If you put any more energy into him, I fear it may awaken once again."

[U-umm .......]

The hooded figure continued to speak quickly, leaving Razward who still could not hide his surprise toward the hooded figure.

"You seem to have made a contract with someone who lives in this town. I'm sorry, but I'm going to put a restriction on you. I can't afford to be exposed at the moment."

[Wha......]

The hooded figure held out his hand to Razward, and the same light that he had just directed at Nozomu was emitted.

Then a white ankle ring appeared on Razward's right leg and disappeared as if melting into his body.

"I forbid you to speak of what happened here and about me. Of course, not even to your contractor."

[Wa-, wait a second!]

"I have to hurry ......"

As Razward let out a cry of bewilderment and dismay, the hooded figure stood up and flashed his right hand in a single motion.

In the next instant, countless magic circles enveloped the hooded figure.

After the light subsided, the figure disappeared without a trace.

[What am I supposed to explain about this then? ......]

Razward, who was left alone in the Spasim Forest, let out a bewildered voice.

◆

In anger, I swung my blade at the monsters.

What I saw were jet-black shadows. They are enemies, wielding the weapons in their hands mercilessly, trying to harm me.

Releasing my Ability Suppression, I wielded my power as I wished, and laid waste to them.

Each time I slayed every single one of them, a sense of satisfaction welled up within my chest.

More, more, more. Let them bleed, let their screams be heard, and make them regret it.

It's all their fault after all .......

Before long, the jet-black shadows abandoned the battle, turned their backs, and began to flee in a panic.

There is no way I will let you escape, all of you, take your retribution.

Driven by my thirst for revenge, I started to kill the fleeing shadows one after another.

At that moment, two extremely fast shadows intervened between me and the fleeing shadows.

One was a slender figure holding a rapier with a handle that resembled jet-black wings. The other was a large figure, holding a greatsword that was taller than me.

They resembled people I had seen somewhere before. But this sense of déjà vu was overwhelmed by the surging rage and enjoyment.

Get out of my way!

Irritated, I pounced on the shadows that had stood in my way.

Sure, the two shadows were strong in their own way. But nowhere near as strong as I am now.

With a single swing of my katana, I split the large shadow in two, cutting it in half.

Then, I proceed to attack the rapier-wielding shadow with a slash.

This shadow, with its swordsmanship and ability, was able to block my slash with a number of blows.

But that was its limit. Just by turning from a horizontal cleave to an upward slash, the rapier held by the slender shadow was knocked away. As it was, I turned the tip of the katana and pierced through the slender shadow's chest.

See, just like this. How easy it is.

"No-, zo-......"

"Hmph ......."

The shadow whose chest was pierced reached out to me, but I pulled out the blade that pierced it and cut off its head.

The vision of the surroundings suddenly cleared up.

"Eh?"

What jumped into my vision were ruins blazing in red flames.

Burning flames illuminated the surroundings, and the shadows that had enveloped the figures were cleared away.

And then I came to realize what I had been slashing at.

Countless people were lying on the red ground. That was the true form of the shadows that I had just slain while enjoying myself.

Among those who were lying on the ground, there were also those whom I knew.

Anri, Norn, Tima, Somia, and Mars, without exception, were lying on the ground as corpses.

Strength drained out of my legs, and I fell to my knees. Then, like a child rejecting the scene in front of it, I looked down with my head in my hands.

"A-, aaa ......."

However, no matter how hard I denied it and closed my eyes, the smell of blood like rusted iron and the sound of crumbling buildings kept confronting me with the tragedy that I had caused.

At that moment, the head I had just decapitated rolled down to my feet.

Illuminated by the red flames, the face that emerges is of a girl I know very well.

Instead of the radiant smile she used to show me, she has a pale white face of death.

It was no wonder, because I had killed her with my own hands a moment ago.

"Uaaaaaahh!"

As my screams echoed through the collapsing Arcazam, my stretched shadow transformed into a gigantic six-winged dragon.

[If only you had let your anger take over, you could have had your revenge ....... But you chose to push my helping hand away. This is the price for you to pay.]

My shadow began to pulse. Soon, every bone in my body creaked and the shadow began to devour me from the inside out.

The sound of skin splitting, flesh tearing, and bone crushing echoed through the air.

And then my consciousness faded into the despairing darkness.

◆

"Uwa!"

He reflexively sprang up, and immediately afterward, he shrank back due to the intense pain that ran through his entire body.

At the edge of his pain-shaken vision, he saw his beloved katana stained with dirt. Whether due to tears leaking out or because of the darkness, his eyes were unfocused, the scenery was gray, and he could not perceive things well.

"What is this-......guh!?"

He reached for his beloved katana, which had fallen to the ground beside him. However, his whole body screamed just by doing so. It was as if every muscle in his body had been torn.

He felt the skin all over his body like it was ripping and snapping, and a strange, iron-like smell assaulted his nose.

Reaching into the pouch at his waist, he took out the potion he always kept on hand and poured it over his head. For some reason, the potion completely healed the wound that had almost closed up, but the weariness and the dull ache that enveloped his entire body did not go away.

He somehow managed to move his body, grab the katana and pull it closer to him. Then Nozomu noticed a strange feeling of discomfort.

"What is this?"

The blade of the katana was wet with something. The pattern on the blade, which resembles a clear stream, has somehow changed into chain-like patterns. It had not looked like this before.

What exactly happened here?

In a hazy state of consciousness, he wiped off the water from his beloved katana, put it back in its scabbard, and tried to stand up. The stench seemed to have intensified.

"Sure enough, I was- ......~!"

In the next instant, a vivid scene recurred in his mind.

Driven by the anger that welled up inside him, he synchronized with Tiamat.

Drunk with the excitement and thrill of revenge, he used his power and wielded his blade with glee.

With the intention of ...... murdering them.

What followed was an attack of intense self-loathing and the fear of being confronted with the fact that he could be so cruel.

"Upph......"

The feeling of nausea rising up within him, he involuntarily bent over while vomiting.

At last, color returned to his vision. At the same time, Nozomu realized what the strange stench was.

Fragments of something were scattered in the surrounding area. They were fragments of demonic beasts' flesh that were scattered all over the place.

The surrounding area was stained bright red and turned into a sea of blood.

The gruesome scene overlapped with the dream he had just had and crushed his heart.

"Ugh......guee......!"

Unable to bear the excessively heavy negative emotions, he involuntarily vomited up the contents of his stomach.

A sour smell pierced his nose, and stomach acid burned his throat.

However, even that discomfort was still better than the devastation that was engraved in his mind. The combination of his own actions and the nightmare scene convinced him. There is a good chance that he could cause that nightmare to unfold in reality.

*click, clack, clack* ....... An indescribable fear swirled in the depths of his chest.

"I- ......."

Even if he looked away, the scene ingrained in his mind would not go away.

He dragged his feet, stained with filth and dirt, and left the place as if he were running away.

◆

After escaping from the rampaging Nozomu, Ken and the others went back to the area near the west gate of Arcazam.

The surroundings were already dark, and lights were already lit around the gate as a lookout.

"Haa, haa...... we're safe here."

Relieved to see the lights of the west gate beyond the bushes, Lisa turned back to Ken abruptly as he was catching his breath.

"...... Ken, please tell me. What happened?"

"That guy, he attacked us all of a sudden ......."

Lisa intuitively sensed that Ken's words were a lie when she heard the slight rise in his tone of voice near the end of his nonchalant reply.

"...... Then what is this spirit?"

Quickly distancing herself from the two of them, Lisa looked at the lesser spirit floating beside Ken with suspicion in her eyes.

It was completely foreign for her. Moreover, Ken clearly seemed to be close to this spirit.

"It's my contracted spirit. It's a special, unique power, so I've tried not to tell anyone about it."

Ken's gentle smile is definitely the one Lisa has always known.

However, the distorted smile when he looked down at the restrained Nozomu. The look of hideous joy on his face was so frightening that she couldn't shake it off.

"Then how does Camilla come to know about this little spirit?"

Lisa shifted her eyes to Camilla. Being stared with suspicion, Camilla's shoulders shook.

Nozomu's eyes had not changed. Ken and Camilla's side, which she had never known.

Like flipping a coin, Lisa's doubts kept rising in her mind.

"That's ......"

"She found out about it by accident during our freshman year. I asked her to keep quiet about it."

Ken answered on Camilla's behalf, but Lisa's expression remained stiff.

"Nozomu got mad and attacked me, but I'm fine. I won't let him touch you, Lisa."

Lisa couldn't understand what Ken was saying.

That's not what Lisa wanted to hear.

What on earth are you hiding and why aren't you telling me?

That means that there are things that he doesn't want her to get to know ......

Ken's distorted face came to mind. That face overlapped with Nozomu's when he said his farewell to her two years ago.

"Lisa, everything's going to be okay now ......"

Ken suddenly stretched out his hand to touch Lisa's cheek.

*Slap* ...... Before she knew it, she was brushing Ken's hand away.

"Ah ......."

"Li-, sa?"

Ken's face was filled with disbelief as his hand was brushed away.

Lisa also froze, looking surprised at her own actions.

In front of her, Mefi, who had been silent until now, quickly moved closer to her.

[Hm~m.... You doubt us, don't you? Ken and us ......."

"That's ......."

The little light blue spirit peered into Lisa's eyes from a close distance. She smiled dubiously, as if she could see right through Lisa's heart, and then turned her cold palms toward her.

[I guess this can't be helped now. Ei!]

"Ah ......"

The next moment, the light emitted from Mefi's palm enveloped Lisa's head, and she collapsed on the spot without any effort. Camilla raised her voice in response to Mefi's sudden action.

"~, What did you do!"

[Don't be so mad at me. I was just trying to erase her memories of the last few hours.]

"~ !"

Mefi didn't seem to feel a shred of guilt for having manipulated someone's memory.

Camilla's face turned bright red from anger.

She tried to grab Mefi, but the little light blue spirit easily avoided her hand.

[It can't be helped, you know. She's almost sure of it. But don't worry, memories only get stronger through time, so if she doesn't remember, what happened today will disappear sooner or later.]

"That's not the problem here! Aren't you putting the cart before the horse!? We originally started this for Lisa's sake! ......"

"....... No, it's necessary."

"~, You!"

When Ken expressed his approval, Camilla gave him a look of disbelief and lunged at him.

However, the person in question had sweat on his forehead and would not make eye contact with Camilla.

"Nozomu is- ...... he's dangerous. He was about to kill Lisa for real. We should never let him near her."

Ken, biting his nails and mumbling repeatedly that Nozomu was dangerous, was behaving unusuall, even from the side.

"...... You don't care about Lisa. You just care about yourself."

"Keep your mouth shut. You're no different than me. You're just trying to save your own skin."

"Guh......"

Hearing what Camilla said, Ken's handsome face distorted into an ugly smile and he grabbed Camilla by the throat with one hand.

"About your blood, I can expose it to the authorities, you know? And without a doubt, they will take you back to your home country. And when that happens, your mother will be- ......"

[Ken, the princess is about to wake up.]

"Do you understand? If you betray me, it will surely bring you down with me ......"

As he was intimidating Camilla from close range while squeezing her neck tightly, Lisa began to wake up.

Mefi disappeared and Ken released Camilla as he pushed her away. Then he walked over to Lisa.

"Lisa, are you okay?"

"Aa ....... Why am I here? ......"

"You said you wanted to have a brief look at the exercise location since the Special Comprehensive Exercise was coming up, remember?"

"Is that so? ....... Eh? But I'm pretty sure the exercise site is-......."

"You look tired. You should go straight to bed today. You've been working too hard lately. Camilla, please take Lisa ......."

"...... Lisa, let's go."

Before Ken could finish his sentence, Camilla stood up, took Lisa's hand, and walked swiftly toward the west gate. It was as if she wanted to get away from Ken as quickly as possible.

As Ken stared at their backs as they left, he remembered Nozomu's figure earlier and gritted his teeth.

[Ken, what are we going to do?]

In response to Mefi's words, Ken pondered.

For him, his biggest problem is Nozomu. Although it would be impossible to overturn what happened two years ago even if he were to voice his objections now. But the current him is a pure threat, an object of fear for Ken.

"Mefi, what did you see inside him?"

[I-I don't know. But I sense ..... something dreadful was in there.]

"That would be dangerous. I have to do something, not just for myself, but for Lisa's sake as well ......."

Ken racked his brain in frustration.

What should I do to get rid of Nozomu?

What should I do so that I don't have to see that face again?

What should I do to get rid of that monster from Lisa's life?

Ken's distorted perceptions were becoming even more distorted by the mighty danger before him. But Ken himself is unaware of this.

Nozomu turned to Lisa to kill her with his immense power. Based on that, Ken justified the next act he was about to do.

[W-, what?]

Eventually, Ken's gaze turned to Mefi as he came up with something.

His eyes had a dangerous glint in them.

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