Chapter 0.5: The Beginning
- Whoosh!
The heat was intense.
The building before my eyes was ablaze.
Inside and outside the building was a scene of utter chaos.
"Ahhh!"
"Save me!"
People caught in the raging flames were running around, their bodies on fire.
In my hand, I held a sickle, dampened by something.
The sight of the sickle, stained with blood instead of herbs, was nothing short of terrifying.
"Ahhh!"
"Help, help me!"
Those who managed to escape the burning building rolled on the ground frantically, trying to extinguish the flames on their bodies.
But the fire that had already engulfed them was not easily put out.
They perished in agony as their flesh burned.
Despite the horrific scene, I felt no guilt.
No, I didn't even know what guilt was.
[Cough, cough...
Promise me.]
[What do you mean?]
[Promise me you will never reveal your true nature...]
[...
Grandfather.]
[Did I teach you to be like this!]
[...
I understand.]
The promise I made with my grandfather before he passed away kept echoing in my mind.
But that promise was not kept.
No, it was a promise that couldn't be kept.
'I'm sorry, Grandfather.'
I cannot stop until I find 'that guy' who made my grandfather suffer so terribly.
Even if the end is the reality my grandfather feared.
The more blood I see, the harder it is to control myself.
I wonder what expression I'm making now.
Even as I watched this gruesome scene of burning flesh and rampant blood, I could feel the corners of my mouth twitching.
This was clearly the emotion of joy.
'True nature...'
Is evil truly my nature? At least it feels more liberating than the person my grandfather taught me to be.
It's like being freed from shackles.
"Hoo."
It doesn't matter.
Thanks to the smell of blood, I'm getting closer to clues about 'that guy.' Now, I just need to deal with the remaining survivors and leave.
I moved towards the few survivors with the sickle in hand.
As I took one step, then another, they looked at me with eyes full of fear.
That fear wasn't unpleasant.
If anything, it tickled my murderous intent even more.
- Step!
As I took another step, someone among the frightened survivors shouted at me.
"Scythe Demon!"
Scythe Demon...
It's a nickname I earned while tracking down traces of 'that guy.' I killed anyone even slightly related to him, and soon people began calling me Scythe Demon.
They say it's because of the marks left by the sickle on the corpses, and it seems I've unknowingly gained a notorious reputation.
In just a month, no less.
It must be because I started targeting slightly larger villages instead of mountain hamlets.
Thanks to that, I've learned a valuable lesson.
'I should burn everything.'
So as not to leave unnecessary traces on the corpses.
Or maybe I should stop using the sickle altogether? Whatever, I'll think about it later and just kill them all for now.
- Swish!
I raised the sickle towards a survivor crawling on the ground.
"Eek!"
The survivor shrank back with a pale face.
Regardless, I swung the sickle,
- Thud!
"Ugh!"
Something struck my abdomen with tremendous force, sending my body flying backward.
Even after rolling on the ground several times, the force didn't subside.
It was only after rolling for a while that I finally stopped, and I vomited due to the strange force that turned my insides upside down.
"Ugh."
- Waaah!
As I was vomiting, I heard cheers.
It seemed to be the shouts of the survivors who had been terrified.
Even though I still felt nauseous and couldn't muster strength in my body, I struggled to lift my head.
'What on earth?'
As I wondered, I saw someone raising their hand.
That person was responding to the cheers of the people as if they were a hero.
Then they boldly shouted.
"Indeed, Scythe Demon. To withstand my three-star power."
'Three-star power?'
What nonsense is this person spouting? The only thing I could understand from what they said was the nickname Scythe Demon.
"Cough... Cough..."
I forced myself to hold back the urge to vomit.
I didn't know who this person was, but one thing was clear: they were dangerous.
I tried to force myself to stand, but my legs wouldn't support me.
"Your evil deeds end here, Scythe Demon!"
The person slowly walked towards me.
'Dangerous.'
I gritted my teeth.
If I couldn't move, my life might be in danger...
- Swoosh!
'!?'
What was that? They seemed to be walking slowly, but suddenly they were standing right in front of me.
'Fast.'
How can a person move so quickly? It was unbelievable.
"Hmm."
The middle-aged man let out a groan.
I hadn't noticed from a distance, but he had a long scar above his left eyebrow.
In his right hand, he held a black sword that looked as if it had been burned, and its sharpness was extraordinary.
'I have to escape.'
All my senses were warning me.
No matter how much I struggled, I couldn't do anything to this person.
Then the middle-aged man spoke in a low voice, his face now cold and different from before.
"I wondered who was digging around, and it turns out it's a teenage brat who hasn't even shed the smell of milk."
He felt like a completely different person.
But more than that, something else caught my ear.
'Digging around?'
In that case, this person...
- Grab!
"Ugh!"
Before I could think or do anything, the man grabbed my neck.
Even though I was seventeen, my body was not lacking compared to an average adult male.
Yet he lifted me so easily.
I looked at his hand and wrist, but there was no change in his muscles.
How was he lifting me like a feather? As I wondered, the man frowned.
"You... haven't learned martial arts."
"Mar...tial arts?"
"You don't even know what martial arts are? Ha!"
The man was astonished.
What is this martial arts that he's reacting like this?
"Interesting. A guy who hasn't even learned martial arts survived my strike..."
"Cough, cough, what are you talking about..."
- Thrust!
"Ugh!"
My abdomen burned.
The man's black sword had pierced through my abdomen.
He smiled slyly and spoke in a voice filled with murderous intent.
"It's better to kill you now to avoid future trouble."
- Pull! Thrust!
"Ugh!"
As soon as he pulled the sword from my abdomen, he stabbed my left chest.
As the sword pierced my chest, immense pain surged, and blood gushed from my throat.
"You should have lived quietly. Why did you have to provoke your own death?"
"Hak... Hak..."
The man tossed me to the ground as I gasped for breath.
Then he turned around, raising his black sword, and shouted.
"The Scythe Demon's evil deeds end here. Everyone, rest assured!"
He acted like a hero again.
The survivors, unaware of his true nature, cheered with joy.
The wound in my chest was painful, but the sight of his hypocritical behavior made my anger boil.
I had finally found someone who might be my enemy, only to be defeated so easily.
I wasn't even a match for him.
'Grandfather...'
My vision slowly blurred.
Am I going to join my grandfather without even avenging him? He would surely scold me for breaking my promise...