After my younger sister died, I became a twisted.
I lived as a twisted person.
I chose this path.
To become stronger, I honed my abilities. I built up my strength and gained experience.
But it was never enough.
So, I started by destroying myself.
I abandoned my pride and bowed my head at the feet of nobles.
I became the dog of corrupt aristocrats.
Next, I killed beasts.
On orders from my master, I slaughtered the livestock of commoners.
The commoners, stripped of all their wealth, became slaves to the nobles.
Then, I killed people.
At Erden's command, I killed the very noble who had once ordered me to slaughter beasts.
I killed my master.
The noble's orphaned child became a devotee of Erden.
I killed the innocent.
This, too, was on Erden's orders.
I killed a commoner who, according to Erden, harbored the seed of corruption.
The man hadn't yet committed any crimes.
But I killed him anyway.
His entire family was condemned as heretics and executed.
Lastly, I killed monsters.
Newborn beasts.
Beasts that had stolen human bodies.
And so, I slayed them.
They screamed.
I severed their arms.
They wept, much like humans.
I tore off their legs.
Human blood splattered.
I gutted them.
They screamed for their families.
I beheaded them.
These were my master's orders.
It was the only path to power.
They were beasts.
So, I killed them.
I gained Erden's recognition.
I was granted the right to take the trial of promotion at Erden's temple.
Under the blessing of the holy goddess, the trial began.
And there, in my mind...
The past Havlon was recreated.
The peaceful Havlon where my sister had lived.
The condition for passing the trial was simple.
I had to massacre all the villagers.
With my own hands.
With the sword my sister had gifted me.
I had to slaughter everyone.
But I couldn't stop.
I had to become stronger.
I had to exact revenge.
I caressed my right eye...
And I carried out the massacre.
I started by killing the village guard.
The man who had first handed me a loaf of bread.
Then I killed the neighbor.
The man who had given me my first job.
I killed the village adventurer.
The man who had taught me how to fight.
I killed the village chief.
The man who had taken me in.
I killed the elder.
The grandmother who had always made me warm soup.
I killed, and I killed.
I killed the people.
And in the end...
I even killed my sister.
With my own hands.
I made sure it was quick.
So that she wouldn't feel any pain.
I beheaded her.
No tears came.
I felt no guilt.
I wasn't sad.
The trial ended.
I was greeted with applause.
With cheers and approval from many.
I became a platinum ranked adventurer.
I awakened my unique ability.
A laughable power that mocked me, a man with only one eye—
It was the ability to cut whatever I could see.
Yet, I was happy.
For the first time since my sister's death,
I laughed.
I lived,
with the approval of people,
making a name for myself across the continent.
And then, I learned the truth.
I discovered the true nature of Erden.
Everything I had relied on,
had betrayed me.
I had abandoned my humanity.
Abandoned my past.
Abandoned my heart.
And I ended up...
At the bottom of an abyss,
where no light could reach,
where there was no salvation.
I was in despair.
The path I had walked was denied.
Everything crumbled.
I had lost it all.
I filled my empty heart with a single emotion—revenge.
Revenge against Karpeng.
Against Erden.
Against this entire world.
But I was nothing.
A small, insignificant existence.
Erden was a power too immense to defy.
The world itself—
I couldn't even fathom confronting it.
I lived in despair,
waiting for death to claim me.
Then, I met Heinzel and Hermilla.
People who had walked the same path as me,
shared the same past,
and reached the same conclusion.
A tiny spark of hope ignited within me.
Adventurers of platinum rank, betrayed by Erden,
who had glimpsed the fragments of the world's truth,
gathered in Alrba.
And there,
I met a girl.
She reminded me of my sister.
She was blind.
She had no magic,
small in stature, and timid in demeanor.
There was nothing about her that fit the image of an adventurer.
The only thing that marked her as one,
was the enormous greatsword she dragged behind her.
Even that sword was larger than she was.
It made me scoff.
I knew the kind of life adventurers led.
I was certain she would die soon.
So, I followed her.
Just in case,
I could save her when the inevitable danger arrived.
But she was strong.
She cut down countless beasts, all on her own.
She didn't care about the minor wounds she suffered.
She was solely focused on taking the lives of the monsters.
She covered herself in blood without hesitation,
killing beasts for half a day without rest.
She didn't drink a single drop of water.
Her face was devoid of any emotion,
as she continued her hunt.
After a long time had passed,
she finally noticed my presence.
Even though I had been standing at a distance where she couldn't possibly see me,
a distance even her senses couldn't detect.
But the girl simply continued walking.
Perhaps she knew I wasn't a threat.
Or maybe she was so confident that she would win if I attacked.
Of course, I assumed it was the former.
Until now.
I no longer think that way.
With my senses, I watched the girl fight against Karpeng.
Perhaps, without her unique ability,
she might have lost.
I focused my senses on her,
capturing every moment as she hunted Karpeng.
Then,
with a sickening sound,
blood splattered across my face.
"Hgg..."
It was Rubia's voice, drenched in pain.
I expanded my senses.
Multiple arrows had pierced Rubia's body.
Every single one was aimed at me.
She was healing me,
while also holding off and protecting me.
I had to get up.
I had to pick up my sword.
But my miserable body wouldn't allow it.
I didn't let myself fall into despair.
Instead, I thought of what I could do in this situation.
I had to find the source.
I forced my senses to expand even further.
A splitting pain tore through my head.
My entire body trembled uncontrollably.
I clenched my teeth and endured it.
And then—
I found her.
A woman in a robe.
She controlled the wind freely.
It wasn't magic she wielded, but something else entirely.
Arrows flew from her hands.
From her side.
From behind her.
From above.
They came from every direction, all aimed at me.
But they struck Rubia instead.
She took the hit for me.
Seventeen arrows pierced her body.
Blood gushed from the hole in her stomach.
It wasn't enough that it poured from the wound—blood spilled from her mouth and nose as well.
I forced my body to move.
I filled the emptiness where my senses used to be with rage.
I replaced the pain with a desire for revenge.
I gathered my magic and sent it to my heart.
I made my blood pump faster.
I heated my body.
My fingers started to move.
At the same time,
the woman in the robe pulled out something familiar from her cloak.
It was the that horn—
the same horn that had once brought down Havlon,
the same one that had thrown Roholan into chaos.
And now, she brought it to her lips.
The movement in my fingers spread throughout my body.
A sound, like the sky tearing open, echoed all around.
Karpeng's savage roar filled the air.
I forced myself to my feet and charged forward.
Karpeng's claws pierced through the girl's stomach.
I grabbed the sword lodged in the ground.
The bloodlust meant to tear her apart exploded forth.
I expanded my senses.
I could sense it.
And if I could sense it, I could cut it.
I swung my sword.
I activated the unique ability I had gained after sacrificing everything.
The bloodlust crumbled under the force of my sword's slash.
Blood gushed from the girl's mouth.
My sword shattered.
Arrows fired from every direction, all aimed at me, at the girl, and at Heinzel.
I swung the broken remains of my sword again, deflecting the arrows.
I protected the girl. I shielded Heinzel.
I deflected Karpeng's claws, his bloodlust, the arrows, the rocks, the suffocating malice,
and even the droplets of blood in the air.
I defended my life.
I kept swinging.
Karpeng's arm swung toward me.
We were too close.
I barely managed to block it, but the bloodlust that followed slashed across my body.
I was hurled across the ground.
Gritting my teeth, I scrambled to my feet and swung again, shielding the girl from the arrows.
I swung once more to protect Heinzel.
But my sword was shattered, broken into nothing more than fragments.
Even the hilt crumbled to dust.
Karpeng's attacks came again.
Dozens of arrows followed.
Death was closing in on me.
But in that moment, warmth enveloped my body.
Everything was blocked.
It was Rubia.
Despite her body being pierced by countless arrows,
despite not sparing a thought for her own injuries,
she wrapped me, the girl, and Heinzel in her divine power.
The arrows buried themselves into Rubia's legs.
Into her stomach, her back, her arms.
They pierced her entire body.
And yet, her protective magic never faltered.
The girl staggered to her feet, pouring a potion over her wounded stomach.
She gripped her broken greatsword tightly and charged toward the robed woman.
In an instant, the woman's head flew off her shoulders.
The girl didn't stop.
She crushed the woman's body, pounded it into the ground, and reduced it to a mess of blood and bones.
Karpeng's attack then turned toward me.
His bloodlust surged toward Rubia.
But the girl rushed forward again, blocking Karpeng's assault.
Even as her flesh tore apart,
even as her bones broke,
she rose again to face Karpeng.
When her fingers snapped, unable to grip the greatsword,
she slammed her hand against the ground, forcing her fingers to curl around the sword's handle.
Even after being flung across the battlefield, beaten into the dirt, and trampled,
she stood up.
She continued to fight.
She pressed forward with sheer determination.
But the battle did not last long.
Her body was already too damaged.
The girl was no match for Karpeng anymore.
She fell to the ground, her body rolling in the dirt.
Yet even then, she got up,
rising to block another attack aimed at Rubia.
She stood to protect her.
Not out of a desire for revenge.
But simply to protect.
That's why she stood back up.
"To protect..."
I had forgotten.
I had forgotten the reason I wanted to become stronger in the first place.
I had been trapped in a nightmare, unable to wake.
But now, I remembered why I had desired power.
In the shadow of Karpeng,
I saw my sister, Lux.
I wanted to protect her.
I wanted to protect my family.
To protect Havlon, the place I called home.
I wanted to protect the world I lived in.
The warm spring days.
My younger sister.
That was why I had sought strength.
That was why I became strong.
"Khuhuh..."
Only now, at the very end, do I finally realize.
If Lux had seen me now, she would have laughed at me for hours.
At my waist hung an old, ordinary sword.
The sword I had never once drawn, even after reaching platinum rank.
The sword I had used to slay beasts, to kill people, to massacre the villagers, and to kill my sister...
In the end, I had killed even myself.
But there was once a time when this sword had guided me.
It had lit my path as an adventurer.
It was the sword my sister had gifted me,
smiling so brightly as she handed it to me.
I drew the sword from its sheath.
With it, I will redefine my world, my past, and everything that I had lost.