Chapter 57 : Agro-Man

Crackle! Crackle!

Sparks flew from the points where Ravi and Lenis’s attacks landed, and cracks began to form on the chests of Sophia and O’Brien.

Normally, they wouldn’t have sustained this level of damage, but because fragments of the power of the Lightsaber I had bestowed were mixed into the two’s attacks, their strikes were far more effective and powerful than anyone had expected.

“Ugh… W-what is this… My body…”

“This can’t be… This makes no sense… The power granted by the Clients…”

The cracks on their bodies grew wider, and soon, their blackened, mutated forms began to collapse uncontrollably.

“No… No…! This can’t be happening! How could someone like me lose to a mere imitation of a human—!”

“Damn it… The mission… has failed…”

Their blackened bodies crumbled into pieces, and even the untainted parts of their forms disintegrated, leading to the deaths of Sophia and O’Brien.

All that remained in their place was a fine, dark, shimmering powder.

▶ These are the remnants left behind by the fallen high-ranking officers of the Black Shadow Mercenary Corps, who had embraced the power of darkness. They can be purified using the power of ‘One Who Resists Fate.’ ◀

I swung my Lightsaber toward the black powder, and the lingering ominous energy was washed away, leaving behind a now pure, white, shimmering powder that drifted into the air.

At that moment, I saw a vision within the light radiating from the powder.

“Well, what will you do now, half-wit crusader? You don’t have the luxury of attacking me without cutting down your comrade. Will you slay her in order to kill me? Or will you hesitate and run until you’re eventually killed?”

“Alvis…! Cut me down! I… I can’t… I can’t fight this off! If this keeps up, I won’t just kill you—I’ll kill Elfin and Lenis, too! If cutting me down means you can stop him, then do it!”

Vector had transformed into a monster, and Ravi was being restrained and controlled by his power.

At that moment, I heard a voice—one I had never heard before.

It felt as if something was crackling and distorted, like a signal scrambling on a bad TV screen.

If you leave things as they are, you will be swept away by the fate of destruction… You have no choice but to cut her down.

That is the only way to defy the fate of ruin.

That’s an illusion! You must not take the easy path—there is another way!

For some reason, I heard two voices.

One urged me to cut down Ravi.

The other pleaded with me to resist that choice.

The voice telling me to kill Ravi was louder.

When I refused to strike her down—when I dodged her attacks or even took the hits without retaliating—the louder voice only grew more insistent.

Hurry! You must cut her down! That is the only way to resist the fate of destruction!

At the same time, I was struck by a forceful recoil and dropped to one knee.

Don’t be deceived! This is not what it means to resist fate!

“I already told you—that’s not a choice for me!!!”

In my vision, I screamed back.

The louder voice continued to insist that killing Ravi was the only way to defy fate, but it couldn’t overcome my firm resolve.

Gradually, it faded away.

Then, the faint voice, now filled with joy, spoke:

Ah… Finally, someone who truly understands my will… I’m sorry I couldn’t help you sooner, but I will lend you my strength now.

At that moment, the output of my Lightsaber surged.

The weaker voice, which had seemed on the verge of vanishing entirely, now fell silent.

The scene shifted abruptly, and the battle I had just witnessed unfolded before me again.

Ravi and Lenis were being pushed back by Sophia and O’Brien’s attacks.

Just as I was about to step in—

You mustn’t.

Watch their battle… Trust your comrades and wait.

Witness their growth…

Even so, I moved to intervene.

The moment I did, the voice tightened its grip around me.

You must not interfere in your comrades’ battle! That is the only way to change the predetermined fate!

Wracked with pain, I collapsed to my knees.

Trust your comrades and wait! If they cannot overcome this trial, then they were never capable of answering others’ trust in the first place and are unworthy of fighting alongside you!

Then, a much smaller, fainter voice cried out desperately.

No! That’s not what it means to trust and wait for your comrades! Don’t give up!

As I continued trying to intervene in the battle, the backlash intensified, and I coughed up blood.

Even so, I refused to give up.

The fainter of the two voices grew louder and clearer, while the initially loud voice gradually lost its strength.

It was the same situation as when I had fought Vector.

As I persisted in my determination to join the battle, the faint voice spoke to me quietly.

You never gave up… Even though continuing to interfere could have killed you through some unknown force, you still intended to press on?

“Damn it… Do you even have to ask?! If I stand by, they’re going to die! Do you think this is the first time I’ve seen something like this?! If you want to keep yapping, go ahead! But I’ll never give up on saving them!”

At that moment, I had the strange feeling that the faint, formless voice was smiling.

The loud voice from before had completely disappeared, leaving only the faint one behind.

I give praise to your unyielding will… and a curse upon my own powerlessness for failing to help you from the start… Please, never give up.

You are the one I have finally found—the true understanding of my will…

Soon, even the faint voice vanished, and the vision ended.

Even though the vision I had witnessed wasn’t short, when I opened my eyes, I realized that not even a second had passed.

The purified, radiant white powder slowly drifted toward Ravi and Lenis, absorbing into their bodies.

The two of them widened their eyes in shock.

Using my vision ability, I examined them—they had clearly grown stronger, their levels having skyrocketed.

I approached the place where Sophia and O’Brien had died and picked up the insignia of the Black Shadow Mercenary Corps that they had been hiding.

“Alvis, are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m perfectly fine now.”

Seeing Ravi’s concern, I smiled and reassured her.

Just moments ago, I had been in such excruciating pain that I was coughing up blood, but now, it was as if all the agony had vanished without a trace.

Meanwhile, the severe wounds Ravi and Lenis had sustained—Lenis even having been impaled by those black tendrils—had mostly healed thanks to the Lightsaber’s power, allowing them to move without issue.

However, there was no time to revel in our victory.

The physical conflict between the Empire and the Carat Dutchy had already begun, and we were caught right in the middle of that chaos.

On top of that, since we had killed Sophia and O’Brien—who had been disguised as Imperial soldiers—the full wrath of the Empire was now focused entirely on us.

The Imperial forces perceived us as soldiers from the Carat Dutchy, and if we left things as they were, the conflict would escalate even further.

If we wanted to keep Carat out of this mess…

I came up with an idea and quietly called over Ravi and Lenis.

“Ravi, Lenis—cover your faces. Even just covering your mouths will do. And from now on, don’t say anything—just pretend to go along with whatever I say. I need to redirect the Empire’s fury toward me.”

Without hesitation, they pulled up their collars to conceal their mouths.

I then attached the Black Shadow Mercenary Corps insignia to my weapon and hung the remaining one around my neck like a necklace before stepping boldly in front of the Imperial soldiers.

“There they are!”

“Those bastards killed our soldiers!”

The Imperial soldiers, having witnessed us killing Sophia and O’Brien firsthand, pointed at us and shouted.

One peculiar thing was that their bodies had completely vanished, meaning the Imperial soldiers only knew that ‘mysterious intruders from the direction of the Carat Dutchy had killed Imperial troops,’ but they had no idea that those intruders were actually high-ranking members of the Black Shadow Mercenaries.

Since their bodies disappeared, there were no faces to identify, which naturally erased the evidence.

In other words, if I played my words right, I could manipulate the situation however I wanted.

I stepped forward in front of the Imperial soldiers, laughing exaggeratedly while revealing the mercenary insignia.

“Hahaha! You fools! You’ve worked so hard, fighting the Bunny Tribe all this time! But the things we’ve been preparing are now reaching completion, which means you’re no longer of any use to us! Just stay here, tangled up with those rabbits, killing each other all day long in pointless battle! Soon enough, your empire will fall into the hands of the Black Shadow Mercenaries!”

At my words, the Imperial troops all froze.

They were shocked at the revelation that they had been played by the Black Shadow Mercenaries.

I had simply blurted out whatever came to mind, but from their perspective, it sounded like, ‘We were being used by the Black Shadow Mercenaries, and whatever they were scheming is now coming to fruition.’

Even though it was a completely baseless statement, the soldiers, still reeling from the chaos of battle, had no time to properly analyze the situation.

“B-Black Shadow Mercenaries…? What are those crazy lunatics doing here…?”

“Look over there! That guy’s got the mercenary insignia!”

Hearing their shocked reactions, I smirked inwardly.

As long as their aggression was directed toward me instead of the Carat Dutchy, my plan was already a success.

The Imperial unit commander, now furious, shouted at me.

“You bastard…! Were you hiding in the Carat Dutchy just to deliberately incite this conflict?!”

“Of course. I didn’t expect you to react so violently after losing just five soldiers, though.”

“W-What…?! Are you saying it wasn’t the Carat Dutchy that killed our men, but you?!”

“Hahahaha! Do you really think those rabbits would have the guts to do that? You people were even dumber and more reckless than I expected, so everything went perfectly. Good work, Commander. But now, it’s about time we made our exit. We have plenty more to do. Hey, bring that one over.”

I glanced at Ravi, giving her a wink and a small nod.

Understanding my meaning, Ravi wordlessly leaped up onto the walls of the Carat Dutchy, where Elphin lay unconscious.

She lifted him onto her back.

Then, she quietly whispered to the Carat soldiers nearby.

“Everyone, from now on, don’t call me ‘Princess.’ Just go along with whatever Alvis says. Right now, he’s taking the Empire’s wrath upon himself to protect us all.”

“B-But…”

“There’s no time to explain. Please, just trust him.”

To further sell the act, Ravi slammed her fist against the stone floor, making it look like she was attacking the Bunny Tribe, before returning to our side with Elphin.

The Imperial commander, now livid, drew his weapon and roared at me.

“You murderous scum…! You think I’ll just let you run away?!”

“You’re going to chase us? Be my guest. This battle might be over, but elsewhere along the border, your Imperial troops and the Carat forces are still locked in bloody combat, unwittingly furthering our goals. The Vector Baron in the Kingdom is already dead by our hands, and Arvones has burned!

Once your Empire falls, the Carat Dutchy will naturally be at our mercy.

Then, the Black Shadow Mercenaries will rule the world!”

“You think things will go your way?! I won’t let that happen!”

“Struggle all you like, worms. Let’s go, everyone!”

With that, our act was complete, and we all turned, charging straight toward Imperial territory.

Once the commander reported back, the Empire would realize they had been wasting their efforts against the Carat Dutchy and would pull back their forces to pursue us instead.

With Sophia and O’Brien, the masterminds behind this operation, now dead, the mercenaries spread across the border would be left leaderless and in disarray.

If the Imperial troops withdrew, those mercenaries would have no choice but to retreat as well.

As we fled in the direction of the Empire, Ravi lowered her head slightly and spoke softly.

“…Thank you, Alvis.”

“No need for thanks. You played your part well despite the urgency.”

“But… where do we go now?”

I thought for a moment before reaching a conclusion.

“We’re heading to the Lunia Church. I need to have a word with the goddess. There’s something I absolutely need to find out.”