It was around noon when we came across a small village in an opening within the forest. It wasn't large, but how it was placed made it easily missed by untrained eyes.
If you were to judge the number of residents, you would guess around two hundred people from the number of houses.
It was then when I realized the smell of death in the air. Just then, my [Intuition] activated and warned me of the danger. I left everyone besides Dhammi-chan at the carriage to guard the Sisters, Blacksmith-san, and Alchemist-san. I used [Phased Array Radar] to search the town. After the preliminary search, it seems that there was only a single human remaining within the town. Dhammi-chan confirmed this with her senses.
I drew out my halberd. At the same time as an extra precaution, I activated an ability from my Silver right arm called [Beowulf's Fury] which heightens the defensive power of my arm.
It's necessary to remain vigilant. Once we entered the village, the appearance only served to justify my precautions, the sight was worrisome.
Pieces of meat were splattered on the ground and on walls as pools of dried and clotted blood covered the ground. The resting pieces of bodies, limbs, and other parts of human bodies were scattered every which way. Even upon the roof tops, human remains were visible. When we got further in, we found several corpses closer together with what seemed to be makeshift weapons. Behind these corpses was a pile of bodies ripped to shreds, but not just any bodies...
"The children too, huh..." I said to myself. A chill went down my spine as I said this. Dhammi-chan also seemed to become anxious. We both continued on high alert.
The wounds caused to each of the corpses were either puncture wounds, or slashes. This wasn't the work of some form of giant monster, so the true nature of this situation cannot be presumed, only serving to further increase the tension.
After moving further in, we reached near the location of the 'survivor' that we had detected earlier.
It was a youth, his body was covered with a murky liquid that seemed to be toxic and smelled terrible. He gazed at the sky with a blank look on its face, as if lamenting its deeds.
This youth, it seems like it isn't some ordinary villager... He wore a light silver steel armor that protects the body, though damaged, it still reflected the sun brightly. Around the waist were several decorations, it seems that the Kingdom's coat of arms was also present.
When taking into account the quality of the equipment, as well as the type, it's likely that this thing is or was a member of the cavalry for the Kingdom.
It's highly possible that he was a deserter of some kind. It's also possible that knights from the Sternbild Kingdom were responsible for the destruction of the village, not a monster. Perhaps the true cause had already left the scene and this youth was left in its place.
When I considered this, I decided on gathering more information.
When I got closer, I noticed that this young man was crying and holding something.
A corpse... The youth was holding the top half of a mangled corpse of what seemed to be a woman. He was embracing the woman while crying in a crestfallen manner. Most of the organs and blood from this corpse had already fallen out of the woman and were on the ground below.
This woman was probably someone important to this youth.
At this time, however, the eyes of the youth instantly shifted towards me, the wind suddenly began blowing. I felt the burning embers of hatred impacting my body, it seems that these feelings are a mix of sadness and rage.
As I thought this, the young man abruptly laid down the corpse and began to moan in such a way as a beast.
As this happened both [Phased Array Radar] and [Intuition] began to sound a violent alarm.
When this happened, I thought "Oh... Dangerous", changing my posture to a defensive stance while at the same time securing the safety of Dhammi-chan.
The young man's gaze turned back to the female corpse on the ground, and drew the blade from his waist.
His eyes remained vacant, as if all meaning had been struck from him. It is not the eyes of one who has lost his mind, but lost the will of life.
That said, something abnormal had begun to take hold of this youth's mind.
A dirty, thin black magic began to swell around the youth's body.
When this magic was released, the speed of the youth increased greatly.
I recognized one of the youth's jobs right then and there [Job-Berserker].
I have this job too, so I might be able to defend well enough.
The youth charged, running similar to that of a beast, his intentions obvious.
He wanted to kill me.
His blade comes near my neck and is guarded with my Gauntlet.
Once this happens, something flowed into my mind:
[Yatendouji has invoked (Heresy Nemesis)]
[Following hostile action against the [Heretic／One Who Has Awakened the Psalms] the start of [Eschatology: War of Conquest] has been declared]
[Until confrontation between two aware of the Truth of Their names, Yatendouji's abilities will be increased by 300%]
[Special skill [Heresy Nemesis] will last until the conclusion of the battle]
These words abruptly appeared in my brain.
As this occurs, another impact is felt on my gauntlet.
It's too late to just dodge, I made my attack.
The conflict was over in less than five seconds.
[Conclusion has been reached]
[Special Ability [Heresy Nemesis] has been released]
[Yatendouji has obtained victory]
[Gods of which blessings pertain have granted a reward to the champion]
[The following item will be received by Yatendouji]
[ Sunlight's Soul Sword, Hisperiol has been granted]
I wanted to say a few things about that announcement, especially the result, but the young man collapsed in front of us.
His physical capacity is probably higher than normal. It's crazy how it had increased so dramatically, the amount of time the power could be maintained wasn't that great though.
His attacks were strong, but they were simple and easily dealt with. Since this was the case, it was a simple matter to handle him without killing him.
To begin with, the young man had already suffered considerable damage and was quite unstable.
Even though the [Heresy Nemesis] had been activated with enhancements with several abilities and my Silver Arm's power, I couldn't hold back too much as a precaution. Too many variables leaves me with little room for that much mercy.
Regardless, I wanted to avoid killing this youth.
So, I reached out with my silver arm and struck him heavily in the abdomen. After the connection, the already injured youth didn't remain standing for long. In that berserk mode, he was ignoring all of his wounds. His body gave way quickly and he fell unconscious.
I mended his more severe wounds, but decided to leave his limbs broken to avoid more conflict. It was decided between myself and Dhammi-chan to wait until he awoke.
That said, we didn't have to stay put, both myself and Dhammi-chan set out to start processing the corpses and materials within the village.
Since the bodies weren't fresh, we set out to make graves for the dead.
In this world, those who die can become skeletons or zombies if their corpse is left in the open. Even in war, if a body isn't dealt with, it will become a zombie or skeleton.
I did loot some meat as the cost for the service, the rest was buried. It only took roughly fifteen minutes to do this.
I clasp my palms together and pray for them.
On top of the meat, I also decided it would be best to recover any usable goods such as the tableware and such.
This village was already seriously ruined. If it remains in this state, there is very little chance of it being used again.
Fortunately, there was at least some daily products to be salvaged. I was somewhat pleased that we managed to replace our daily living products without cost; it's fairly important to maintain these.
That said, after everything was collected and the corpses were buried, only another twenty minutes had passed.
I was in the middle of cleaning myself off when the youth stirred. I'll admit that I was caught off guard and jumped in reaction. I was expecting some form of attack, but his body seemed to have slowed greatly and a great deal of his hostility was absent. It seems that I'm being ignored as he rambles about not getting to say his last goodbye. He also seems to be ignoring the fact that he was embracing the upper half of that woman's corpse. All of a sudden, the young man was crying again. After he had settled down a bit, I managed to drag out the youth's story.
To summarize the information I was given, the youth is a simple commoner that was born in this village. He was born with [Blessing of the God of Sunlight].
News of his blessing eventually got out, and a messenger came to the village demanding the youth. They were given less than a month to send him. He was to be allowed to enroll in a school that trained knights and strategists of one of the princes of the Sternbild Kingdom.
In this world, a particular strength that creates great warriors depends on their blessing. There are different levels from transcendence to mediocre.
The youth told me of a scale of measurement of how powerful one's blessing could be. There seemed to be [Blessing Retention], which is a weak blessing that doesn't always grant abilities. The scale goes up to the levels of [Blessed Demigod], which gives many abilities to the extent of one being a prophet to their god. There are also cases of [Divine Blessings] that are much rarer than usual blessings. These grant the holder greater power, faster abilities, and much more force.
I omitted the 'in' because they don't really matter to me personally. All of our members have the rarest class of Blessing anyway.
This man had apparently claimed that he would return to this village and live with his childhood friend. That friend being the woman that he had clung to earlier.
The youth kept in contact with the woman and had been trying to return for some time. According to him, they would have been getting married right now in a different situation.
He was caught up in some political issues, but since he had gained his standing with a certain level of effort and held confidence within the army, it wasn't something easily dealt with. He wasn't able to get much free time.
He still failed every now and then, but he was happy overall with his life.
That is of course, before yesterday.
It would seem that when he was getting close to the village, he could hear the sounds of a struggle of some sort. Rushing in, he found the bodies of many of the villagers. A scream let out for help, and before his eyes was his childhood friend. The attacker was an [Arutirumu], a centipede-like creature. Her lower body was cut into a thousand pieces and eaten in an instant.
Of course, the woman was probably killed instantly from that.
After that, he seems to not have a very clear memory. The villagers had apparently managed to inflict a certain level of damage to the Arutirumu during the attack. In his rage, he used his military training and used his [Blessing of the God of Sunlight] to use solar rays to startle the creature.
It would seem that after it was startled, it was afraid of the youth. It's belly was swollen after eating many of the residents and turned out to be quite weak. It would seem that the creature must have managed to escape from him.
After that happened, the youth had begun to embrace the corpse of his childhood friend who was growing colder as time went on. It was then that we had happened upon him, and from there is history.
This can be said to be quite the common tragedy in many worlds. There isn't much that I can do in a situation like this really. Words of comfort are not easily created and I couldn't think of any that suited the situation properly.
I asked whether or not he was aware of where that creature was, upon asking, I received some hateful eyes from the youth.
It was an uncommon material and likely had a blessing, I definitely wanted to capture this creature. I used [Intuition] because I was curious as to whether or not I should attempt to take advantage of this youth.
I talked to the youth and offered him the strength to destroy the Arutirumu if he was willing to serve me for the rest of his life.
This deal seems quite like that of a devil's contract when you think about it. I like the idea of totally owning someone.
The young man asked me what gave me my strength and whether or not I would be able to actually kill the Arutirumu.
Since I never saw the creature, I cannot be sure, but as things are now, I took the time to nod.
There was a period of silence, but suddenly the youth grabbed my hand.
"If you are able to give me the power, I will pay anything."
Hearing this, I held out one of the cuffs and placed it on his ear without hesitation.
With this, the deal was struck.
This youth, or rather, let's call him the Avenger. His target is the Arutirumu. In exchange for the power to kill it, he has given me a powerful subordinate that has dedicated his life to that of an Avenger and my subordinate.
Not bad. There isn't really any loss here.
From now on, things are more than likely to become more interesting.
[ [Yatendouji]'s [Fate Stealer] was invoked]
[Because the fate of [Psalm] of Avenger status (Sigurd Ace Sven) was placed under the control of the [Yatendouji] the [Psalm] will be included in [Yatendouji]'s world of [Black Eclipse Demon History]]
[Because this was built on the desires of [Psalm]'s current conflicting status as [Lead Hero of Light], the status was permanently deleted]
[Because of [Psalm]'s change, the following abilities of [Psalm] are temporarily frozen]
[Illuminating Light of Revelation]
[Cavalier Guardian]
[Usurper]
[Merciful Maiden]
[Witch of Mystic Flame]
[Current statuses of Merciful Maiden and Witch of Mystic Flame are already in the awakened state.]
[When the carrier's servitude was established to Yatendouji, it is now possible to release the frozen special abilities.]
[As [ Cavalier Guardian ] and [ Usurper ] were not in the awakened state after the carrier was placed under the control of [Yatendouji], they are now under the control of the master, given that the conditions are met]
[Psalm [Lead Hero of Light] has now been released from control, is now left to the discretion of the night and is seized by [Yatendouji]]
[Further releases of locked abilities of the Avenger (Sigurd Ace Sven) is dependent on Yatendouji]
Hearing that, I was immediately interested.
Even if this Avenger from the announcement was the same individual I fought, it would seem that this guy was quite the important individual in fate. His fate was engaged in this mysterious world, and is something that I've interfered with.
Since the announcement declared it, I shouldn't have to worry about future complications.
Well, this was quite unexpected. I'll admit I was surprised, quite surprised. Since there was quite a bit of information, I'll just summarize it.
Apparently, the Avenger, my latest subordinate named Sigurd Ace Sven according to the announcement, was an important character to another god, and I removed him from that god's control.
Hmm, the new abilities I was granted came to mind. While not given directly to me, I seem to have some ... control over if the Avenger can gain them, or rather, regain them.
I decided I wasn't going to release the Avenger for now though.
It was good to get a little more information on the Avenger though.
Still, it would seem that myself and the Avenger are perhaps special.
He.. She.. eh doesn't matter. A strong opponent consumed is delicious meat.
Well, I don't think I'll attack the Avenger, though if the time comes, the meat should be delicious.
The Avenger asked if I should be offered anything since the Avenger was now in my service.
I simply replied not at all since I recovered various supplies from the village. I wasn't going to inform him about eating some of the meat though.
After that, nothing much else happened.
I did try to analyze the new sword I received, but I had some difficulty.
________________________________________________________________________________
Object name - [Sunlight's Soul Sword, Hisperiol (Superior)]
Category - [Unknown, Sword]
Grade - [Unknown]
Class abilities -
[Pagan Damnation (Heresy Nemesis)]
[Sunshine Convergence]
[Blessing of the Sun]
[Light's Hero]
[Capacity Expansion]
[Locked]
[Locked]
[Locked]
[Locked]
Features - Yatendouji achieved victory against historical figure in -(Conquest War)- Unknown-grade sword was obtained upon victory.
Description - Three forms of those known as gods exist within the world, <<■■ / ■■ / ■■ >> where this blade is one of the ■■ . The blade is imbued with light and tempered in flames near that of a sun, it shines like sunlight.
Yatendouji is the only one capable of viewing this information.
Yatendouji is capable of touching this blade only due to obtaining the subjugation over the previous owner.
Only Yatendouji and those he has given permission to touch this sword are able to do so. Any person who touches it without permission will have an unimaginable disaster befall them.
Because it's a ■■ it is completly impossible to destroy it, except by a very special method.
Additional information is possible, do you wish to attempt to view this information?
__________________________________________________________________________
The only thing I could think of was,
"Wow, this thing is amazing!"
Due to this, I felt as if I had gotten all the closer to solving the mysteries of this world.
But...
There is one thing I was unhappy with..
At this moment, I couldn't eat this thing at all...
I couldn't believe it, but no matter how many times I bite it, the blade doesn't even chip...
My pride was admittedly hurt a little bit.
Especially with the fact that I couldn't read certain bits of the information.
I wonder if I would become able to eat it if I unlock those other abilities within the blade.
At any rate, I put it into the item box.
I'll also admit that I was pretty anxious about the notion of these mysterious psalms of [Shutellbelt] as well.
From all of the messages and notifications, I can only discern that the Heroic Psalms that were guiding the little hero here were deleted from the Divine Psalms [Shutellbelt].
Does it mean that the Divine Psalms aren't complete anymore..? If they are deleted and cannot be restored, I'm sure something bad will happen...
Wait...
Perhaps what I just did was something pretty disastrous...
Well, I can't say I really understand any of it at this point, so no point thinking about it at all. If something happens, I'll just leave it at saving the Tomboy Princess and her little Boy Knight.
Really... If there's a disaster set upon the Sternbild Kingdom because of this, I don't really think that I'd care.
After that, Avenger poured oil around the village and burnt it. Something like a mass funeral for the villagers and the whole village.
Along with Avenger, I offered a prayer with Dhammi-chan.
After that was complete, I introduced him to Redhead and the rest of the group.
They were quite surprised at the village suddenly erupting into flames, but had been preparing lunch because I had contacted them stating I was on my way back to continue on our way to the base.
Avenger had quite the serious look to him, but because he was originally a commoner and not a noble, he didn't put on any airs.
He turned out quite easy to talk to so everyone enjoyed his company for awhile.
I thought it would be a good opportunity for Auro and Argento's education, but I'll hold off on that for later.
Today we camped upon the peak of the mountain. Because of that, the night was cold and not that great for sleeping outside.
Though, it wasn't that big of a deal for us.
The Skeletons can change their bones to create a space where everyone can sleep in. It blocks the wind so everything is fine.
On top of that, I grabbed some warm blankets, and with Kumajirou and Kurosaburou with us, there isn't any way for us to be cold.
Surrounded by a blanket and between these two cuddly creatures, I was just about to drift off...
[World's Psalm [Legend of the Black Eclipse Demon] part 5 [Kingdom Revolution] advances]
[One more of the conditions has been cleared]
[Clearing Chapter one [Obscure reality], Chapter two [Omen of a Sun], Chapter three [Beacon's Song], and Chapter four [Fang of the Destructive Eater] has unlocked chapter five]
[World's Psalm [Legend of the Black Eclipse Demon] chapter 5 [Kingdom Revolution] can be started. Will you begin chapter 5?]
Eh...? Well, I'll go with
[
[The next occurrence will be during the automatic activation of Chapter 5 when the natural conditions are cleared]
[Current success chance is at 38%]
Oh, ya, I think I'll just sleep for now...
Starting whatever that is early is bound to cause trouble.
Day 116 Sidestory: Avenger's POV
Finally, finally! This day has finally come! When I think back, before the day our fate changed when I gained [Blessing of the Sun God], I spent every day striving to make her, Aina, my wife.
Precisely because we weren't able to freely marry, I used that fact as my heart's support.
Even at the school, which raises strong soldiers in the Royal Capital, when I was oppressed, despised and envied by many of the nobility. Even when noble daughters approached me with ulterior motives, sticking to me, making me feel terrible. In order to increase the veterans even just a little bit, even when I had to drench my whole body of the enemy's blood on the battlefield. Even that time when I cut off the head of a young soldier, crying while running away.
I was able to overcome everything because Aina was there...
I was able to fight because I knew Aina was living in this world. I couldn't lose.
The Nobles that were overcome with jealousy, were granted my forgiveness. For the Noble daughters with ulterior motives, I addressed them with a calm, firm look and words that were not lies. When I would become paralyzed on the battlefield, I would only concentrate on killing the enemy. Even if they begged for their life in front of me, I was able to kill without a second thought.
Aina was the pillar of my existence.
My heart had been protected by Aina's presence.
That's right, on those days there were many things I was afraid of. Born as only a farmer, the I of that time... I was living too comfortably at the center of the country.
Things that you couldn't even think of in the village, were common in the royal capital. The bad oppressive atmosphere, hardened by lies replied with more lies, was definitely at the royal capital. Therefore, in order to get Aina, whom I could trust from the very bottom of my heart. To bring Aina as a lover to the royal capital, I had continued to fight.
And finally, my efforts rewarded, the king allowed us to marry.
I have obtained the right to make Aina my wife.
That said, we're not going to marry immediately, since such procedures and preparation take time, that's why I'm going to pick her up today.
So I hurried, even just a little more, and can't keep my feelings suppressed. I'm currently just over the field, riding my horse as fast as I can.
On my way, I encountered a flame-wielding "Fokkurufu", and a bear that had the head of a boar, a "Rough Raccon Boar" I decapitated the heads in one go, and left the corpses behind.
I think even the bones of the corpses wouldn't be left by monsters, and even if they become undead, they would hardly be a threat if they're missing their limbs and heads.
By eliminating the threat of "Tachifusagaru" and other such monsters, I hurry in order to arrive early even by the smallest amount of time in the village where I was born.
And at the verge of reaching the village, there was an unpleasant smell.
It was a smell of blood that I was so accustomed to.
While I was thinking, "Why the smell of blood?", I had a bad feeling.
My premonitions had hit the mark.
When I entered the village, I saw a sight I had grown so accustomed to, and the trembling in the deepest part of my heart spread.
Only half of a head was on the ground, it was Ajiru, a hunter. He is a middle-aged man who had a bright personality, and often lifted the atmosphere. Now he had an expression of anguish while sinking in a sea of blood and organs. His eyes were widely opened, they held a deep grudge, and were overflowing with tears of blood.
Embracing only half their bodies, an elderly couple is dead, D'occi and Buhr. They were two people that fought a lot on a daily basis, but if you look at the corpses, they were really in love. Their facial expressions were peaceful, which soothed my grief.
A girl that just turned 10 years old, Ayla, has a hardened face with expressions of pain and despair, the only thing remaining relatively intact is her right arm, it is the only part not cut thousands of times, barely connected by the skin and trapezius muscle. And in the small hand of Ayla's is clasped the hand of a smaller child than herself, she might have been running up until the point when both she and her younger brother, Egeru, died. Only the held arm, up to the elbow, remained, so I could only guess if it belonged to Egeru or not.
On the roof of the only pharmacy, there is a woman who has her intestines spread out, everything gone below the lower pelvis, her name was Sharei. She had just married with one of my three younger brothers, Mujia last year, even though there were reports that she loved only herself, she's died while smiling with feelings of hatred. Meat chunks, similar to human beings at the bottom of the corpse, may be two children of her.
---- ~Tsu !!
I yelled her name with a loud roar in the village.
I had sent a letter in advance and told her that I will pick her up, and my letter got replied, so Aina definitely ought to be here.
If Aina dies, I would die, too. Organs with this hand, that can only be Aina. The eyeball lying at the feet, that can only be Aina. The body soaked with blood, that can only be Aina.
So my mind became mad and I could no longer consider anything.
- Aina, where are you! ~Tsu !!
Expression of Aina that fill's my mind, her gentle voice, her casual gestures, her sweet smell, her soft skin, 'you can rest assured' relieved warmth, a number of years and stacked memories.
I went to the location that is open and is the center of the village shouting, and looked around.
Small sound. If you look there, Aina's small shadow was there. Her body was trembling little by little from fear, blood makeup is decorated in blue shark face. Her used-to-be-beautiful clothes was stained red with blood, but are some places damaged, I don't cares as long as Aina is alive.
But Aina is a smile of relief that saw me, it was remember the impatience to to come running up to me under.
I saw it before coming here, a large hole in the ground inside the village.
The monster that struck the village is a kind of the type to move underground, its kind tracks the target on the ground by vibration.
Even so I raised a loud voice from earlier, it can find you If you're here.
Yet Aina comes running. The possibility that she is targeted increases.
I told Aina to stop of course, but because of her fear, Aina just would not stop coming towards me. And if it brought Aina quickly even a little if that happens, the only choice was not going to be far off.
Luckily the distance is not so far. I also start running. Immediately hurried to go the distance.
And stretched fingers and fingers, we slightly touched. I sighed naturally and smiled to each other from the relief.
- The next moment, something jumped out of the ground.
In front of my eyes, the lower body of Aina is lost along with fresh blood. Her upper body comes flying as if propelled towards me. Dakitomeru. The blank face that stares at me from the arm. Eyes lost their light. Red spewing from the upper body of the cross section. Weight and warmth of organs spread in the hands. Lost and go heat.
What had happened, I did not know. Aina was in my arms, with her lower body lost. Even looking at the face of Aina, even with a hug, she did not react with flutters. What happened next, I did not know.
- ~~OOOOOOHHHHH~~OOOUAAAAAAAARRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!
Although I feel as somewhere far away from events, when the heavy cry went up a strange distorted sound from my vocal cords, an important part of my spirit was broken.
I thought I saw Aina seeking help in the red-colored sight. Of course, such things are illusions. Aina will not move anymore in my arms.
It was painful, unbearable, and sad, the Evil Bug centipede-type that I saw, I absolutely hate it. I thought from the bottom of my heart that I would kill it.
After laying Aina on the ground, I roar like a beast and unshealth my sword.
This guy is the enemy of Aina, and I will kill it.
· Sigurd has lost those who he loves.
· Sigurd's spirit has been contaminated with negative feelings.
· Sigurd's became the avenger.
· I was successful in defeating the Evil Bug centipede-type.
· Avenger has runaway with sadness.
· Avenger was attacked by Aporou after he came.
· The runaway Avenger has been conquered by Aporou.
· In order to avenge Aina, Avenger agreed to serve under Aporou with promise of a greater power.
· Avenger of Psalms has been incorporated into the Psalms of Aporou.