Nigoru Hitomi de Nani wo Negau

Walm, who eliminated a small group of enemy soldiers he encountered, turned his direction to the 6th layer in a straight line. He climbed the slope of the embankment with the support of wind magic, jumped over the wooden walls, and killed enemy soldiers he passed. His injured body was surprisingly light. Perhaps the pain had exceeded a certain level, he was numb to the pain, even broken fingers and ribs were a trivial matter for Walm today.

The soldier on guard warned the surrounding soldiers and shot an arrow at Walm, who disappeared into the darkness, but the arrow pierced a misplaced place. After all, they were in the 6th layer, which was wide and large, there should be a limit to the place where the soldiers could be deployed, especially if they wanted to save some power. As a soldier who helped build the 6th layer, Walm was familiar with the surrounding.

Walm didn’t have to deal with all the soldiers. Human eyes were dispersed after he blasted a soldier’s station near the wall. 

Walm split up the upper and lower bodies of the Craist soldiers who stood in the path, and finally found his goal.

The camp was crowded with soldiers. In the stretched tent, supplies and generals were resting, and the soldiers pulled a cloak on the ground and were sleeping on it. Part of the bonfire was still lit, and Walm confirmed the soldiers who perhaps had been drinking surrounding it. The attentive non-commissioned officers and veterans responded quickly to the turmoil and rushed to wear their equipment, but more than half of the soldiers remained unarmored, it was a scene that Walm wanted…

“What is it? What’s the fuss?”

“Undead, no, is it a sabotage by the enemy?”

“Get up!! Get ready for battle!!”

Most of the soldiers would have been able to react quickly during the battle, but in addition to the mind and body worn out by the fierce battles every day, the bed in the safe area slowed down the movement of the soldiers. Walm stepped into the camp and flowed the mana out of his body. The cold outside air at midnight quickly became hot and transformed his surroundings into an unbearable temperature.

“Stop hiiimmmm!!”

The sorrowful scream of the Craist soldiers echoed, but Walm wailed to overwrite it. 

“AAAAHH, aaaAAAHHH!!”

The soldiers with only a sword, spear, and dagger approached Walm in slow motion, but their figures disappeared in an instant.

The swollen blue flame rode on the hot air, burning the whole area and diffusing to the surroundings. A general who was covered by fire, rolled on the ground and burned the nearby tent, and the soldier who inhaled the blue flame burned his trachea and lungs, and fell on the ground in suffocation. 

Walm was well aware of what he was doing. Still, he couldn’t stop. The emotions that had been suppressed overflow as if the floodgate broke down.

A naked man and woman jumped out from one of the tents, and got burned. They must have been in the middle of communicating their love. Walm didn’t think it was because of the high tension before the big offensive, or because they felt relaxed by the atmosphere. It must be because there was no guarantee of tomorrow. When Humans understood their life wasn’t guaranteed, they would follow their desire, regardless of ranks you might be in the army.

However, luck wasn’t on their side. After all, a battlefield was always unreasonable, no matter where it might be. When you noticed, the people around you had died, and it would be your turn. Even, Walm had also tasted it.

“Attack him, attackkkkk-aaaAAA!!!”

“It’s not a normal fire, it’s the 《Fire of Hell Gate》.”

Walm continued to burn the camp while continuing to shoot out 《Demon Fire》. The Craist soldiers who should have attacked the enemy, were breathless even before trying, and so they tried to escape to a place without fire. There was no skill to use, no armament to rely on, no chain of command that should be there. Everyone there was equally afraid of the fire like a primitive human.

“Damn it, it won’t disappear, it’ll cling to you. Idiot, don’t grab me, stop!”

“Don’t roll on the ground, the fire will still cling to you. Run, keep a distance!!”

Those who tried to extinguish the fire of their comrades, those who tried to escape their subordinates, it was a scene that usually would warm Walm’s heart, but he kept shooting 《Demon Fire》. After all, what he was doing, had only burned one of the goals he had set in his mind――

◆

Yuuto had been having a hard time sleeping on the bed in the tent, as he had been ordered to support tomorrow’s battle with his magic. Yuuto, who had buried a huge number of humans with his “skills” in the past week, had put a heavy burden on his spirit.

Yuuto managed to do it well during the day. Even so, it was in the middle of the night, and when he was alone, the scene on the battlefield didn’t stop crossing his mind even if I didn’t like it. It had been burned on the eyelids after all. Blowing limbs, blood spreading around with a scream, intense murderous intent, and hatred directed at him. 

When he hit an individual with magic that wouldn’t even leave his limbs, the man was wearing a mask, but Yuuto was certain their eyes met at that time. It was as if the black eyes of the man wanted to tell him that it would never forget Yuuto. Yuuto didn’t think what he did was a wrong decision. If he didn’t kill him, many of his comrades and the knights who belonged to the Order of Reharzen, who was he indebted to, would also be harmed.

“Get a hold of yourself. You’re a man, aren’t you?”

For the new home, and for his companions, Yuuto couldn’t escape. 

Yuuto rolled over on the bed several times, and finally, he brought the thin bedding over his head. When the consciousness finally faded, Yuuto’s ears caught the turmoil.

“Did the undead escape?”

Human bodies might become undead. Yuuto had an excellent light attribute and had been engaged in the subjugation of the undead many times. Like humans, they were monsters with great individual differences, and their power fluctuated greatly depending on the body and how strong the human was before died. The resistance of the soldiers of the Highserk Empire after Yuuto helped the breakthrough of the layer was tremendous.

「”Kill the three heroeseeEESS!!!”」, Yuuto was deeply frightened by the enemy soldiers who shook his belly and approached him while his limbs had gone. It was still in his ears even after a week.

Furthermore, when he heard that the soldier had become undead, Yuuto was reminded of the horror of human willpower. Yuuto got up from the bed and sat down. If the others had trouble, he might be asked for help. He had no prior announcement, at which time the entrance to the tent was rushed open.

“Yuuto!!”

It was Makoto who jumped in. A childhood friend who shouldn’t lose her composure even during battle showed a strange appearance that could only be expressed as having fallen into a panic state. 

Yuuto took a breath.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

“A campground and a command post are being attacked!!”

“What about Ayane? Is Johanna-san safe!?”

The first thing that came to Yuuto’s mind was his other childhood friend, and the female knight who raised Yuuto in this world.

“I don’t know. The information is confusing. Over a wide area from the 3rd to 6th layer is burning.”

Yuuto couldn’t believe that the soldier would allow the enemy to invade. At the same time, Yuuto, who felt unpleasant at the word “burning”, opened the tent entrance. It was as if the whole layer was burning. The smell of burning came to the nose and the screaming of pain echoed. Above all, the flame was blue like the sky in the day.

“No way. Is it the user of 《Demon Fire》?”

“I don’t want to believe it, but I’m sure this blue flame is the 《Fire of Hell Gate》.”

Yuuto talked about its true identity. The user was definitely the one he killed. A blue color that would stick to something it touched, and burn. He couldn’t have made a mistake. At the same time, the reason came to mind. By connecting the words “blue flame” and “the 3rd layer”, Yuuto understood, that it must have taken about a week for the man to become undead――

“Makoto, let’s go. Ayane and Johanna-san is in danger.”

With a minimum of equipment, Yuuto jumped out.