[One Year Ago, the Residence of the Von Einzbern Family]
The chill of winter drifted, a blanket of pure white snow lay upon the ancient castle.
Inside the castle, a dark emptiness pervaded, the oppressive silence unsettling enough to raise goosebumps.
A young woman from an ancient family of magicians knelt on the ground, trembling with fear. Cold sweat trickled from her forehead, as if terror had taken root in every inch of her being.
Fear…
Trembling…
Despair…
The confidence she had in her beauty, the carefully prepared words she planned to use before the Von Einzbern family, and the valuable leverage she held—
All seemed like nothing but a cruel joke.
Her mind went blank, incapable of thought…
In the instant she saw that brutal figure, she realized her fate as a sacrificial pawn.
She lowered her head, unable to shake the nightmare-like figure at the head of the round table, a haunting presence that lingered in her mind.
On the throne, the Purging King looked down at her, a wide smile on his face.
"So, what is it you've come for?"
"I… I wish to form an alliance with you, to gain the Von Einzbern family's tactical support."
She lay prostrate on the ground, her voice trembling as if her very soul had been frozen.
The man pondered for a moment, then descended from his throne. Taking a silver coin from his hand, he smiled. "The Orpheus family seeks aid? Very well, I agree."
"Thank… Thank you!!"
She looked up, her eyes wide with disbelief as tears flowed, overwhelmed with gratitude, bowing repeatedly.
Whoosh.
Suddenly, the sound of the coin spinning at high speed echoed in the air.
A beautiful glint of light fell as it landed.
Instinctively, she caught it.
—It was the coin's back.
She froze, staring up in stunned disbelief.
"Another untrustworthy one…"
The King of Tyranny said coldly, "Dispose of her, Berserker."
"ROAR!!"
Beside the Purging King, a hulking, disheveled giant let out a menacing roar, radiating an aura of raw brutality.
With a stone axe raised high, he brought it down in a powerful swing toward the girl's despair-filled eyes.
BOOM!
With an explosive burst of air, the grand Von Einzbern Castle slowly crumbled.
Amidst the rubble, in a pool of blood among shattered walls, lay her beautiful body, severed in two.
The man watched it all, unshaken.
The world fell silent.
Nations.
Peoples.
Countless onlookers were left stunned, staring in horror at the blood-soaked sky.
Chiba City, Disaster Countermeasures Bureau
"Deciding life and death with a mere coin toss…"
"What does he think life is worth?!"
Isayama Izumi seethed with rage, unsheathing the sacred blade, Lion King, and slashing at the sky.
—SWOOSH!
A fiery, crimson slash shot towards the heavens, dissipating before it could reach its mark.
But it was enough to slightly ease her fury.
Soji Town, Shrine
A divine sword embedded in a stone hummed as a green-haired ghostly girl emerged from its spirit, stomping her tiny foot in frustration.
"To think Berserker would fall into the hands of such a man… A waste, aiding a tyrant!"
Tokyo, "The Lord of Phantoms," Nura Nurarihyon
"A truly wicked little magician."
"Had he lived in my world, I'd have personally—"
In the face of widespread outrage, the sky panned down, gradually revealing the true face of the ruthless Purging King.
Still clutching Berserker, the man murmured by the edge of a pool of blood.
"Nothing like a Berserker…"
He was dressed in dark clothes, with a head of unkempt hair and hollow eyes marked by dark circles, as though he hadn't slept in years. His left eyelid drooped, while his right eye was open wide, the larger eye empty and soulless.
He exuded an air of exhaustion, with an aura of faint despair lingering about him.
Nearby, two blue-and-pink-haired maidservants, their chests pressed together, exclaimed in shock.
"Rem, Rem, Lord Subaru is playing with Berserker again. How pitiful."
"Sister, sister, Lord Subaru is at it again. So inhumane!"
Their voices were perfectly in sync, like two pastel-colored radios broadcasting from the same station.
The Purging King glanced at them with quiet disdain.
In an instant, the two maids huddled together in a corner, gripping each other in fear.
"I'm scared, Rem. Feels like Lord Subaru might chop our heads off any moment now."
"Terrifying, sister. Feels like Lord Subaru might slice us in two with one blow."
Though artificial creations of the Von Einzbern family, they looked as lively as high school girls.
The vibrant, youthful maids were admittedly a bit noisy.
[As he calmly raised a finger to his lips and blew a soft breath.]
"Shhh~"
In an instant, the ruins of the Von Einzbern Castle fell into utter silence.
Even the birds soaring above dared not make a sound.
—Such was the authority of the "Purging King."
He was the current head of the Von Einzbern family, commanding an elite army of artificial beings, unstoppable in battle, whose prowess had once dealt devastating blows to Japan's four great conglomerates.
Killing purely out of whim, he had already claimed 127,602 lives.
His notoriety was unmatched, earning him the title of the "Tyrant of the Magician's World!"
And his name was—Subaru Natsuki.
---
"A tyrant... me?!"
In the celestial realm, a shut-in otaku gaped in disbelief.
What kind of alternate universe had turned him into this ruthless character?
A commander of a supernatural army, wiping out conglomerates with a flick of his fingers, and an ultra-violent criminal responsible for over a hundred thousand deaths…
Did he lose his family or something?
While others become ten times stronger through darkening, did he somehow become a thousand times stronger?
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