Part 2
The hall remained silent as Ulises thought, as fast as he could, about what to say. He didn't know how tolerant that man would be.
At that moment, Kaede broke the silence.
"S-sorry, Lord Yamato…" she said, calling his attention.
"Don't be stupid… don't talk to him," Ulises thought.
"Yes… what do you want to ask me?"
"Those three bracelets…"
"They belonged to Yui Kamishiro, Junya Mori, and Nanami Chiba… if that's what you want to know."
"What a stupid question… Kanzaki didn't have one of those."
"They were given after…"
"It doesn't matter… maybe Yui is still alive."
"Kaede… are you still thinking about the German?" Haruto commented with disdain.
"I had a vision… where he was still alive."
Those words made Yamato slightly shift his gaze.
"L-Lord Yamato…" Ulises tried to intervene.
But he didn't pay attention to him.
"A vision…?" he asked, with slight interest.
"I know it sounds strange… but we had a companion. His name was Rei Kanzaki," she explained.
"They unjustly condemned him to a place called 'the Pit.'"
At that moment, Sei looked at Yamato. There was a brief exchange of glances.
"It was all our fault…" Kaede added, lowering her head.
"He deserved it…" Haruto added coldly.
She looked at Yamato again.
"In my dreams… and in my friend Hikari's… we were able to see him. He kept murmuring a place called 'Mist Valley.'"
Yamato's interest grew slightly.
"That's why I decided to join this expedition… I wanted to know if he was alive."
"Even if the hope is small… I need to know."
"You, who know these lands… have you seen a blond young man named Rei Kanzaki?"
Yamato remained silent for a moment, as if analyzing every word.
He removed his hood, revealing his face. On it, an expressionless gaze, devoid of human emotion.
"Yes… I met him a long time ago. Although he's already dead."
Everyone froze.
"It's the German!" the two boys exclaimed at the same time.
"Rei…" Kaede murmured, looking at him as if it were a miracle.
"I never liked that nickname… but at least you remember Kanzaki's face." Yamato continued.
"Now, regarding—"
"I knew the German would go crazy and kill us all…" Haruto interrupted.
Seiryu tried to intervene. He knew it was a serious offense, but Yamato stopped him with a slight hand gesture.
"You bastard… you killed Junya and Yui."
Yamato looked at him in silence.
"I won't repeat myself… so listen carefully, Haruto. If you interrupt me again while I'm speaking… I'll kill you."
"As I was saying… General Montero. The world is about to embrace a change."
"And I'm looking for people like you, who will serve that change."
"You've already seen it in Mermur. The city is more prosperous since it's been under our control."
Ulises kept thinking about what to do as he listened.
Yamato deployed several panels showing the fallen soldiers on all fronts.
"You're right… I don't lack military power."
"I could wipe out Valheim and turn it into ashes today, if I wanted."
Ulises didn't doubt his words.
"But this world needs 'correction.' I believe there are people who deserve to be saved…"
"Not all humans are vile and corrupt, like your king… or those three at your side."
"What I offer is—"
"I always knew you were a damn genocidal maniac!" Haruto interrupted.
Beneath him, as if it were an extension of Yamato's shadow… The nanobots condensed into a metallic blade.
A simple cut.
Haruto's body split in two.
Blood splattered onto his companions.
There was no time to react.
"Aahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Kaede's scream echoed throughout the hall as she collapsed to the floor in fear.
"You bastard…" Riku held himself back from moving.
Ulises, on the other hand, forced himself to remain composed.
He knew that man was not playing.
"Don't just stand there! Use your escape scrolls!" Ulises ordered.
Riku tried to activate it, but it didn't work. In his hand, it looked like nothing more than a piece of old paper.
"What… what's happening? Why isn't it working?"
"An anti-magic barrier…?" Ulises thought.
"I think you're not understanding your situation," Yamato commented calmly.
"You're in my domain. I decide who enters… and who leaves."
"Those scrolls won't be of any use to you."
"Your lives belong to me from the moment you decided to enter the mist."
Enraged by the brutal murder of his companion, Riku spoke to Yamato, his voice trembling.
"I don't get it! If you have so much power, why don't you use it for good?"
"If we defeat the Demon King, we can go back home!"
Yamato walked toward him, with the same calmness as always.
"And what would 'doing good' be…?"
"Letting people starve while you live and eat like kings?"
"Sending anyone who thinks differently into a hellish abyss?"
"Beating your companion because his mother is a foreigner…?"
"I don't think so."
Then he turned his attention back to General Montero.
"You came and attacked my home…"
"Kazuki is attacking Mermur right now, a city under my command."
"Did you really think there would be no consequences?" he added, pointing at Haruto's corpse.
His two former companions understood it at that moment.
None of this was a game.
Rei had become something… they had to fear.
And someone they themselves had provoked.
"I'm sorry… we were just following orders." Ulises replied.
"I don't understand… no matter how hard I try, I can't see his stats…"
As General Montero tried to use his special ability, Evaluation, a floating panel appeared next to Yamato.
"Warning! Evaluation skill detected."
"Automatic nullification."
"Amazing, General… Even on the verge of losing everything, you still try to gather information."
"I'll do you a favor. Just because your risky move was interesting to me."
"Do you want to see my stats?"
A large blue panel opened behind Yamato.
"Yamato – Rei Kanzaki"
"Race: ?????"
"Age: 17 years"
"Profession: Nano-Engineer"
"Level: ?????"
"Attack: ????"
"Magic Power: ????"
"W-what… does that mean…?" Ulises muttered, unable to understand what he was seeing.
"There are no stats to see, General…"
"Not even this world can classify me," Yamato added, bringing his hand to his ring finger.
"But if you want a glimpse of my true power…"
He removed the ring for just an instant, and his power became visible for a fraction of a second…
The aura of his power expanded beyond the hall… piercing through the mist, reaching even the capital of Valheim, where some people felt a chill run through their bodies, as if it were a sign that something very bad was happening.
Ulises fell to his knees.
He vomited.
His mind couldn't process it.
That was beyond any known scale.
Kaede and Riku didn't understand what was happening, but when they saw Ulises like that… completely broken…
They knew it wasn't anything good.