Ryuu Kusari no Ori -Kokoro no Uchi no “Kokoro”

Chapter 4 Part 9
"Hey Kevin, is it really alright?"

One of Kevin's party members calls out to him.

They go through the forest. Their purpose is to subdue Mad Bear.

Mad Bear, as the name implies, is a big bear demon beast, a monster equivalent to Rank C, but his worries are not about Mad Bear.

"Ah?"

"It's about our conversation at the guild. You said that the Triclopes are wandering around."

He was worried about the Triclopes that were recently seen in the forest. An extremely dangerous demon beast of rank A and it might be near them. If we look closely, we can see that the eyes of the other members are shaking and they feel anxious.

"Oh, it will be alright. They are usually in the depths of the forest, and the adventurer probably saw a stray one out of their flock. Because I'm here, No matter how strong the Triclopes are, if there is only one, it won't be a problem."

"…… Well ... that's true……" 

However, unlike his worried members, Kevin doesn't seem to be worried. Certainly, he is one of the most talented students in the school. He is confident in his own ability. His demeanor was sometimes seen as arrogant, but his appearance did not change as usual, so his party members interpreted it as unnecessary worries.

"Hey! What's wrong? You can go home if you're scared."

"I, I'm not scared! I, I'm alright!"

"Hmm! All right then."

Kevin moves forward while sneering at the members who are still feeling uneasy. Kevin never changes his arrogant behavior, but in a sense, he is a powerful and strong leader. He is the only one who can become a spiritual pillar of his party members.

"Hmm?"

Kevin, who was walking ahead, suddenly stopped and began to squint his eyes and look around. His silver-haired ears, which are characteristic of the Silver Wolf tribe, are moving restlessly, and his nose seems to be drawn by something.

"What happened? Kevin?"

"Something is coming........."

When one of the members who was skeptical about the situation asked, Kevin announced that someone was approaching.

At that time, soldiers in armor appeared with a rustling sound from the bush in front of them.

The Arcazam crests is engraved on their shields and armor. Definitely, they are Arcazam Guards.

"Are you Solminati students?... Haven't you heard the report from the guild? It's dangerous here. Go back to the city right away."

"Huh! Why do I have to listen to what you say?"

When the guards caught Kevin's figure, they urged him to return to the city, but Kevin, the party leader, dismissed the guards' warning.

His arrogant attitude may have offended the guards, and the guards' tone changed to a harsh one.

"We are in charge of this matter. The enemy is that Triclopes. It is not the one that students can manage."

"That's the story for those trashes. It has nothing to do with me." 

The soldier warned with a stronger tone than before, but Kevin's attitude did not change. It further turned the nerves of the guards for the worst.

"Even if you are there, you'll just die in vain. Leave this place to us and go home for today!"

"Huh! There's no reason for me to listen to someone who can't get stronger without a group."

"Cut it out! If you want to say your childish selfishness anymore, I'll detain you and put you in prison !! "

"That's interesting! Just try it.....”

"That's as far as you go ... "

“!!”

"Jihad-dono ..." 

When he finally thought he was going to scuffle with the guards, a warrior carrying a sword larger than his height on his back broke in between the two. Black hair mixed with white and traces of scars deeply carved on his face.

Although he is about 40 years old, the body visible under the silver armor is further covered with muscles, and his sharply piercing eyes full of vitality of a youthful man like in his twenties.

Jihad Roundel.

A knight who belongs to the Silver Rainbow Chivalric Order, and is one of the leading swordsmen on the continent, and has the title of "Jaw Drop".

He also teaches at Solminati Academy and is the strongest knight in Arcazam.

This time, the Silver Rainbow Chivalric Order, who received information from the guild that they saw Triclopes, sent him to support the Arcazam Guards in consideration of the danger.

"I'm sorry, Mauzu-dono. My student caused such an inconvenience."

"N, no. It's not Jihad-dono's responsibility ..."

"The mischief of the students is the mischief of the teacher. I will be responsible for supervising these students, so please forgive me."

Jihad bows deeply to the captain of the guards, Mauzu, and states that he will be responsible for whatever happens.

Captain Mauzu, who was active during the great invasion 10 years ago, is terrified, because the swordsman, who was making his name famous on the continent, is bowing to him now. 
They are free to enter the forest, but even if they die there, they are at their own risk. It doesn't matter whether it's students or ordinary people.

Nevertheless, if someone like Jihad went that far, even Mauzu couldn't help but yield.

"... I understand. I'll leave them to Jihad-dono."

"Thank you. .... you guys. I don't mind if you follow me, but in case of emergency, follow my instructions. Do you understand?"

After Jihad thanked Mauzu, he turned to Kevin and others and reminded them again.

The students nodded obediently and no one shook their heads, perhaps because they understood their current situation.

"Kevin, you understand, right?"

"Oh ... well, that's fine."

Jihad asks Kevin to remind him once more.

Kevin admits that Jihad is a much stronger man than himself, and listens honestly to what Jihad says.

"It's good then. Let's go ..."

Kevin obediently follow the instructions, there is nothing more to say. Jihad begins to walk toward the depth of the forest, followed by Kevin, Mauzu, and the others.

Into the pitch-black darkness, the darkness that seemed to continue forever.

==================================== 

 

The three-eyed and one-eyed giants rush towards the boy.

The walls of meat that lined up shake the earth, rushing in like a tsunami.

A huge cluster of mayhem rushes in such a number that can cover one's field of vision.

Even a high-ranking influential person may be stunned by the intensity and bloodlust of the incoming giants.

However, Nozomu looked at the scene with cold eyes.

The fury that was smoldering within him until now, was like lava.

Nozomu's emotions that had been pushed exploded.

Moreover, now that he already knew more about the giants before his eyes, he is no longer scared with that level of mayhem and bloodlust.

"... 3, 4, 5 vanguards. The rest are three on the right, two on the left, and three Cyclopes at the rear ..."

Nozomu calmly ascertains the huge wall that is approaching him. Even though he can be turned into minced meat in a few seconds, his head thinks at high speed how to slash the giants in front of him.

Now that his remaining hesitation has completely disappeared and his power has been completely released, his extreme concentration has accelerated even his thoughts and extended his experience time infinitely.

In a thought-accelerated world, Nozomu devised in his head a number of ways to slaughter the giants. Only a few seconds passed in the real world.

A huge amount of Qi has already been sent to his katana, extremely compressed it, and a beam of light is clinging to the blade.

The distance between Nozomu and the giants is only a few meters. It is a distance that giants with doubled physical strength can traverse in less than a second.

The giants are just around the corner. Nozomu's death was imminent.

However, in an instant, Nozomu moved.

The ground at his feet was blown away. He accelerated, traversing a distance of several meters in an instant, less than a second. He appeared in front of the giants on the left side.

The Cyclops was surprised by Nozomu who suddenly appeared in front of it. The Cyclops hurriedly swings down the club it had in its hand.

Its muscles doubled by the "Demon Eye of Madness" squeaked, and the club growled and swung downwards.

Although it is inferior compared to the Triclopes, its club's strength could be said to be excessive to kill one person.

However, it was instantly knocked down by Nozomu.

The club that was supposed to crush Nozomu's skull was knocked down by the katana that Nozomu casually shook with only one hand, and was vainly driven into the ground.

Nozomu didn't even look at the club that he had knocked down. This time, he reinforced the scabbard in his other hand with Qi and launch it.

The swung-up scabbard accurately hits the elbow of the Cyclops, crushes the giant's joints into pieces, and the impact bends the log-like arm into a dogleg.

Furthermore, the top part of the arm that lost its support of the joint bounced up, and Nozomu slashed the defenseless torso. The katana's blade with *Phantom -Clad-* cut the giant's body into two parts, the upper part, and the lower part. Then he cut the other giants' body into two pieces together with its club.

Nozomu puts his foot into action without a pause and activates his Instant Move. Rush towards the 5 Cyclopes in the center.

The five giants in the center slammed their clubs one after another in an attempt to kill Nozomu, but Nozomu exerted a high-speed curve movement when he changed his *Instant Move* into *Instant Move -Curve Dance-*. He effortlessly dodges the clubs and runs past the giants. 

Nozomu's purpose is to use the physical disparity between his opponent and himself to set up maneuver warfare and defeat each individual.

Living things are unlikely to fight head-on with creatures larger than themselves.

But that doesn't mean that the smaller ones can't beat the bigger ones. That's because the smaller ones can use something more effectively than the bigger ones.

The physical disparity between him and the giant is certainly large, but on the contrary, if the body is too large and a maneuver battle is set up against an opponent who excels in mobility and reaction speed at close range, the reaction of the giants’ bodies and thoughts can't keep up with it.

Nozomu's current movement cannot be caught by the giants. Extreme concentration made his thinking accelerated and manifested physical abilities that surpassed even the giants. 

Nozomu left the five giants behind. With that momentum, he rushed towards the three Cyclopes to his right.
The giants were still unable to react to Nozomu who appeared in front of them in an instant.

Nozomu cuts the two giants that are completely defenseless standing in front of him with two slashes of bisection and plunges into the one remaining giant.

The giant tries to shake off and drive away Nozomu with its club, but Nozomu sees the club's trajectory abnormally slow, and Nozomu opens his mouth at a slow speed that seems to teach a child carefully.

He read the trajectory of the club, and when it completely passed his shoulder, he rushed towards the giant.

The giant stops the rushing Nozomu with its giant body.

Nozomu collided with a giant with tremendous charging power.

With just the momentum of his rush, Nozomu managed to push the giant who boasts an overwhelming weight compared to himself.

The giant's feet like a big tree, make 2 traces along the ground.

However, the overwhelming weight difference eventually stopped the rushing Nozomu.

The Cyclops, who stopped Nozomu's rush, tried to shoot his rock-like fist down in an attempt to turn Nozomu into minced meat, but ... the next moment, the giant lost its consciousness due to the shock wave that punched into it.

The giant's body was blown away with a bursting sound like an airburst. Nozomu was stopped by the giant and was supposed to be crushed by its fist, but he was there unscathed. The giant's chest, which was blown, sunk as if it had been hit by a hammer hitting a metal plate.

*Vibration Discharge*

An internal destruction technique similar to the Qi technique *Breaking Strike*. A physical technique that strikes using the perfect synergy of legs, hip, and torso movements.

Concentrate all one's power to the torso and strike a blow in an instant. The blow became a shock wave and penetrated the opponent's body. The internal organs were destroyed by the shock wave.

It is purely a physical technique, not a Qi technique, and does not need to care about the activation unlike the *Breaking Strike*. Moreover, it is a technique that is difficult to defend as it is released in perfect synergy.

Originally, it is one of the techniques for performing a martial arts battle while wielding a sword. Although it is more difficult than using a *breaking strike*, it is a very reliable technique in close combat where the sword cannot be swung.

The previous Cyclops received this technique on its chest. Its chest and its ribs were crushed. Furthermore, the impact that ran through the giant's body ruptured the capillaries of its heart and lungs, leading to fatal cardiac arrest.

*spurt*

Suddenly, blood spurted from Nozomu's shoulder. New blood is oozing from under his clothes as well.

This is not due to his previous battle with the Wild Dogs and Triclops. The reason is that Tiamat's power possessed by him and his power as a dragon slayer has been released.

Tiamat's power that Nozomu has acquired is enormous compared to the previous dragon slayers.

Such extraordinary power would not fit into one human being, even if he gained some aptitude. Surely, without his Ability Suppression, Nozomu would have been swallowed by that power.

Until now, whenever he released his Ability Suppression, Nozomu managed to control it, albeit for a short time, because Nozomu himself was trying to suppress the power from breaking through his body with all his might.

But now that his mind is completely out of place, he forgets even to control it, and his leaked excess power has begun to eat his own body.

Perhaps his survival instinct subconsciously refused to release it completely, and it controlled the power of the dragon slayer instead.

Otherwise, Nozomu's existence would disappear from the world in just a dozen seconds.

"""Ooooooooooooo !!!""""

The five Cyclopes that Nozomu left behind have caught up. Three of them swing down their club from the front, left, and right toward Nozomu.

Nozomu parries the club that was shot down from the front with his bare hands and at the same time, strikes the club that mowing down on his left.

A roaring sound rang out from the collision of two huge forces, and a shockwave spread out, but Nozomu intercepted the giant attacking from the right without worrying about it.

The moment the club that was swung out sideways was caught by Nozomu's katana, the club was unilaterally torn and divided into left and right.

Nozomu cut the giant's body which was dumbfounded by its club which had been cut. With that momentum, the remaining two Cyclopes that were taken aback were cut off with a single slash.

The three giants are divided into six parts and roll on the ground while spilling their internal organs.

Dozens of seconds. In such a short time, seven giants were slaughtered, exposing their corpses.

The remaining two Cyclopes plunge into Nozomu. Seeing their figures, he charged a huge amount of Qi towards his hand holding the scabbard.

The charged Qi tore Nozomu's arm from the inside, and blood spurts from his wound, but Nozomu slammed his fist on the ground no matter what.

Qi technique *Light of Extinction*

A torrent of light erupts and blows away the ground in front of the giants. The Cyclopes could not stop their momentum of the rush, and their body was burned down in the light and died. 

 

(With this, the Cyclopes are wiped out. Only the Triclopes left…………)

The Cyclopes are annihilated. Nozomu holds his breath. His whole body is covered in wounds. Despite the blood is flowing endlessly, he did not feel the pain at all.

Nozomu could only feel the bright red view spreading in front of him, Tiamat rampaging inside himself, and his fury.

 

(Yield yourself. Unleash it. Burn everything in front of you!)

Nozomu and "Tiamat" were in sync with each other like never before. Was the voice that resounded inside his heart really his own?

It was so blended that he couldn't tell if it belonged to him or not.

His heartbeat is beating faster and stronger than ever before. Every time his heart beats, Nozomu's life is leaking from his wounds. The engraved wounds are hot and blazing, but he feels comfortable with it, on his own. 

Nozomu glares at the remaining three Triclopes.

The Triclopes, who should have been immersed in their madness, were completely startled, and their crimson eyes were swaying in confusion.
However, he had nothing to do with the other party. Nozomu thrusts forward with an Instant Move while making a new wound on his own legs.

Out of three, two Triclopes rushed forward in a hurry, but it was already too late.

Nozomu is faster than the Triclopes swinging their club, and when he sneaks inside their space, he slashes their arms holding the club with a Qi-enveloped blade. The giant's arm fluttered in the air while still holding the club. He immediately launched another attack. Nozomu slashed the giant's chest.

Nozomu's slash cut through the giant's thick chest which is like an iron plate, it was slightly shallow and did not cause fatal injury, but that was enough for him.

A slash shot by Nozomu. The Qi-enveloped blade that cut through the giant's chest suddenly expands. At the same time, when the Qi on the surface of the blade stood up like a countless number of needles, it exploded along the sword surface.

Qi technique *One Billion Severance*

If *Phantom* is a bisection technique that kills the opponent directly, this *One Billion Severance* is a technique that scrapes the opponent's body. The Qi along the sword surface expands into innumerable needles and is released. A Technique that scrapes the opponent's body like a scraper file.

The Triclops, which its chest had been torn, had all its chest muscles and ribs scraped off by *One Billion Severance*.

The giant's lungs and heart who lost their support spilled, and the Triclops collapsed in front of him, blowing bubbles of blood. 

 

Nozomu immediately jumps into another Triclops. He grabbed the giant's face, broke his opponent's collarbone. He just flips his head and legs upside down and jumps over the giant's head.

Upon landing behind the giant, Nozomu strikes *Breaking Strike* on the back of the Triclops while sheathed his sword.

The Qi and shockwave that was struck spread to the internal organs of the Triclops, and as soon as the giant's belly explodes, its internal organs pop out and are thrown to the ground.

(This is the last one …………)

Nozomu faces the last remaining giant while dyeing his whole body red with the blood from his victims and the blood that has flowed out due to self-harm.

"Guaaaaaaaaa! Guoooooooo!" 

The roar of the last giant echoes in the sky with twinkling stars. Did it feel the fear of the monster-like being in front of it, or is it desperately trying to inspire itself as not to be swallowed by that fear? Is it saddened by the scattered relatives in front of it?

However, the giant's heart is unknown to Nozomu. All he has to do now is to slaughter the existence in front of him.

"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" 

With a loud roar, the Triclops plunges towards Nozomu. It was done without the help of its friends. The giant knew that what he was doing was crazy, he couldn't beat the existence in front of him.

However, the giant still did not back down. Was the reason revenge, madness, or instinct?

No one knows the reason.

Nozomu himself doesn't know, and this is a battlefield. He doesn't care about the reason of the other party while life and death intersect with each other.

Nozomu's hand is attached to the handle of the katana that was sheathed in his scabbard. At the next moment, one arm of the giant was slashed by the Qi technique *Phantom*.

"Ooooooooooooo !!!" 

But the giant doesn't care about its slashed arm. While squirting blood from its wound, tries to step towards Nozomu.

However, the moment the giant took another step, its other arm is slashed by *Phantom -Recurrence-*.

The Triclops lost both of its arms and was deprived of its way to fight. Still, the giant did not give up.

The Triclops starts running again. It charged straight toward Nozomu and was about to hit him.

(At least I will return a blow !!)

The giant was screaming and approaching, and it seemed to say so even if it didn't speak human language.

However, that thought did not reach Nozomu.

Nozomu pulls both of his hands and holds them on his hips. A large amount of Qi gathers in his hands and is compressed.

When the giant approached Nozomu just one step away, the technique is released.

Qi technique *Cannon*

The torrent of Qi that has been compressed is released in one direction and struck the Triclops that was approaching Nozomu. The giant's body is instantly blown away in the opposite direction.

The Triclops slammed to the ground. It lost both of its arms and managed to get up using its upper body, and what it saw was a monster wielding a katana. 

 

Nozomu sends a huge amount of Qi to the blade of his katana and compresses it extremely.

He took a stance of trusting with one hand and aiming with his other hand holding a scabbard. His appearance is just like a master of archery. The intimidating feeling emitted is incomparable to before.

The enormous power released from Nozomu's body makes the atmosphere squeak with a creaking noise, further damaging his own body, but Nozomu does not even notice it.

Nozomu's body descends for a moment, and the next moment, with the roaring sound of the ground exploding, he disappears. He reappears in front of the Triclops in an instant.

For a moment, the eyes of two intersected. The giant's eyes are no longer filled with madness color, the giant is just staring at the existence in front of it, and Nozomu's face changed slightly.

Those who kill and those who are killed.
A momentary encounter in a long life. 

 

Qi technique *Core Piercing*

Without knowing what the giant was thinking, Nozomu fired the nocked arrow.

======================================= 

 

Nozomu's POV

A corpse of a Triclops lies in front of me.

The *Core Piercing* I released almost penetrated the back of the Triclops and then exploded. However, it still blew the giant's spine along with his internal organs and made a big hole.

*Core Piercing*

A combination technique of the Qi technique *Phantom* and *One Billion Severance*. The extremely compressed blade was thrust into the inside of the other party, and then the *One Billion Severance* was activated.

The opponent who has been hit with an extremely deadly Qi technique is chopped up by the needles of Qi that has spread innumerably inside the body. 

I was wondering why this guy got rid of his *Demon Eye of Madness* at that time.

Did he give up knowing that he couldn't defeat me? Or was there something else?

I don't know. At least for me, I would struggle until the end. I don't want to die, the same was true when I fought against Tiamat.

But they didn't, they didn't struggle until the end. why………….

The figure that the last giant showed me.

Reasoning begins to return to my mind when I have doubts about it. 

 

"…………Ah……"

Suddenly my face was raised and my field of vision was dyed bright red. The tragedy I caused is spreading in front of me.

The corpses of the giants are scattered in front of me. Those who have their upper and lower body cut off, those who have a broken neck and have collapsed with their internal organs scattered, and those whose whole body has been burned. There were many others, but all of them exposed the corpses in a brutal manner.

The blood that flowed out of the corpses dyed the ground bright red, creating a large pool of blood. 

The red dream flashed back.

The ruined Arcazam, and the burning smell of people I familiar with.

What spreads in front of me and dyed me was the bright red of rusty iron.

Both of them sprinkled an indescribable smell of death.

"Guh~ !!! Guee~ee~e~e~e!!"

Everything in my stomach was pumped with an intense vomiting sensation. I couldn't stand it, I knelt down, and vomited everything in my stomach into the pool of blood.

A sour taste spreads inside my mouth, and stomach acid burns my throat.

"Gee, ugh, guh, oee ..." 

The feeling of wanting to throw up didn't disappear even after I threw out everything in my stomach. Even the gastric juice left in my stomach was exhausted, and only soundless air was exhaled from the mouth.

"I ...  become like this ..."

 

(I want to become strong)

I certainly thought so. I wanted to support Lisa's dream. I tried to become stronger because of that. After that time, only a reason to escape was left, but I still wanted to be strong.

Looking at both hands.

Hands dirty with blood and vomit.

The hands of a murderer who overrun and killed everything with fury.

Not like this.

I didn't want to be strong because of this.

Even if my reason was to escape, at least I didn't want to spread death like this!! 

 

"I ... I didn't want to be stronger... for such a thing ..."

My body collapses into the sea of blood in front of me.

Swallowed by the mistakes I made.

My consciousness is swallowed by the deep darkness.