The Empire’s vast swamp area.
The place where the madman has settled is also called the area of madness.
It closely resembles the world where the madman lived, making it seem utterly uninhabitable for humans due to its harsh environment.
The treacherous terrain and muddy roads reject the approach of carriages and wagons.
Not only is it a place where a large army can’t enter, but even siege weapons like annihilation cannons can’t set foot.
Though the terrain isn’t ideal for defense, it had been neglected due to the hassle of deploying troops, but things are different now.
What if superhumans, equipped with excellent mobility and skilled in one-versus-many combat, infiltrate all at once?
“Someone is climbing the cliff and jumping over the rampart!”
“What do you mean? How can someone climb that cliff…?”
“……”
*Thud.*
As the sound of footsteps echoed, two guards turned around, their faces paling instantly.
They probably thought this place was a natural fortress.
It was time to show them how wrong they were.
“Schlus Hainkel?!”
“For the sake of the Majin!”
One guard’s body turned bright red as blood started gushing from his nose and eyes.
As the internal circuit heated up, about to explode, I seized the guard’s neck and hurled him backward.
He flew in a parabolic arc, crashing into enemy lines, creating a massive *boom*.
“Guh…! Haaah…!”
The other guard was already sitting on the floor, wetting himself in fear.
Someone must survive to relay this horror.
I decided to send one carrier of fear and turned away from the guard.
“Huh…?”
Flames were already rising from the village.
The infiltrators—Trie, Pelaine, and Hertlocker—were rampaging and setting fires.
Panicked fanatics burst out of the barracks towards the village, but it was futile.
They shone even more in the chaos of a one-versus-many skirmish.
Especially in the nighttime ambush, it seemed even the fanatic officers were frightened, turning wild at their orders.
*Whoosh…!*
What remained was mana.
To add firepower, I unleashed flame magic, setting the barracks and village ablaze.
*Coughing* erupted everywhere, and people fled, burning.
“Kill everything you see! Show no mercy! If you’re careless, you’ll die!”
These were the bastards conducting self-destruction terrorism against innocent civilians.
There was no reason to spare them just because the situation had reversed.
Before the full-scale war with the Majin, the area had a high probability of turning into an Asylum stronghold, and I had warned countless times to evacuate unless they cooperated with those bastards.
Yet, continuing to stay meant these people were just collaborators with Asylum.
There was no room to differentiate between civilians and combatants.
Due to a pathetic sense of sympathy, that guy might hug my leg and self-destruct.
If I had to choose between thousands of Asylum-affiliated civilians and one of my comrades, I would choose my comrade without a second thought.
“Run away! Flee!”
As corpses began to pile in the village, the bastards realized they couldn’t fight and started to flee one by one.
All of us had charged in at peak condition.
We could keep cutting down enemies until dawn.
In that sense, deciding to retreat was the right call.
“Now’s the time. Launch a surprise attack.”
-Order confirmed.
If only there hadn’t been an ambush on the escape route.
The fleeing fanatics were swiftly struck down by flying spearheads from the bushes.
The ambushers numbered only about 120, but that was more than enough for a surprise attack in the narrow passageway.
It was something closer to a massacre rather than a battle.
The enemies’ barracks and homes were rapidly engulfed in flames, with countless bodies strewn around, unrecognizable.
In an instant, a stronghold home to thousands had been laid waste.
“Gather the prisoners.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
The captured prisoners numbered around 500.
It had been over an hour since the battle began, but the madman had yet to show himself.
Did they need more screams?
Just as I was pondering whether to spread the sounds of prisoners dying with communication magic, it happened.
*Boom…!*
“You’ve finally come.”
With the sound that split the air, the jungle shook violently.
The ground flipped, creating a massive crater.
From inside, mud-covered, emerged the madman with a fierce gaze.
The Madman.
[Quest: Survive for 10 minutes against the Madman’s attack.]
[Difficulty: ★★★★★]
[Reward: 12 shop coins]
Survive, my foot.
I came to kill.
*
“You demonic bastard…”
The world was ablaze.
As flames blazed fiercely, threatening to dry up all the water of the swamp, the madman ground his teeth.
What was engulfed in flames wasn’t just buildings or trees.
What appeared to be a black pile of charcoal was undeniably a mountain of corpses.
He had killed and burned those who had just been screaming and running for their lives.
“Are you even human?! Schlus Hainkel!”
“……”
Beyond the thick smoke.
I saw a familiar silhouette.
Not just familiar, but one I could never forget.
He had crushed my heart, and yet he was back…
The madman felt the phantom pain of his missing right arm and grimaced.
“Didn’t you think it would come to this?”
“What?”
“You should have anticipated this when you took Tilpitz’s hand. You knew you’d lose everything. Or did you not? I will take away everything precious to you.”
Precious things?
Those humans here?
That was nonsense.
I was simply here for revenge for my right arm.
I shouldn’t care how many humans died here.
It had to be that way.
“Look closely, madman. This is the result of your actions. These people are all dying because of you.”
“Shut up! You murderous bastard!”
It was sheer nonsense.
He had massacred them and then blamed me for it.
Claiming it was my fault for taking Tilpitz’s hand.
For attacking Schlus Hainkel.
Even if it were all my doing, was it really that cruel?
By now, blood tears were streaming down the madman’s face.
In his sight, nothing else existed.
Only the motions of Schlus Hainkel were tracked.
‘He definitely has enhanced combat ability.’
Tilpitz had said.
Schlus Hainkel could become fast and strong enough to overwhelm the Majin, but it seemed that power was fleeting.
She had said it would be about one second at most.
The incredible speed that had overwhelmingly beaten Tilpitz would not show itself now.
Rather, the madman was charging in with such formidable might.
Still, how far lacked he compared to the Majin?
I was considering diving right into him to rip out his heart again when—
*Thud…!*
“A spear?!”
Out of nowhere, a dark spear shot up from the ground.
That massive spear tore through the madman’s side, shooting into the sky.
It was a mistake.
In focusing solely on Schlus Hainkel, I completely missed the other spell being cast.
“Graaaah!”
Barely escaping the spear, a subhuman charged at me with a loud roar.
Now an annoying beast was looking down on me and joining the fight.
I immediately thrust my left arm, seizing the subhuman’s face, but—
“Uagh!”
“What power…?!”
Before I could crush its skull, the madman’s wrist broke under the subhuman’s grip.
Even trying to shake it off was futile.
The subhuman held tightly onto the crushed wrist without a hint of letting go.
“Kang…!”
Ultimately, I blasted the subhuman’s solar plexus with my foot, finally managing to send the brute flying.
But damn, too much time had passed.
I also lost my left hand.
Who would have thought I’d suffer such wounds from some little minions instead of Schlus Hainkel?
To face Schlus Hainkel in this state would be suicide.
I had to run away immediately.
“Where do you think you’re running?”
“……?!”
In a flash, breaking the sound barrier, a quiet voice whispered into the madman’s ear.
Together, his vision spun around.
He thought he had dashed straight out, but he found himself flipped upside down, feet no longer touching the ground.
Unable to control his speed, the madman tumbled around for quite some time before finally stopping.
“A…ah…”
At the end of his roll stood Schlus Hainkel.
Wielding a glowing blue sword.
When he turned his head, I spotted my severed left arm rolling on the ground.
Both lower legs had been chopped off, blood squirting everywhere.
In a final desperate attempt, I tried to unleash magic spells, but all were intercepted in an instant.
“What’s 10 minutes? It didn’t even take 5 minutes. What the hell is this? So boring.”
“What are you talking about…? You win, Schlus Hainkel. Kill me.”
I had lost.
The defeat wasn’t because I underestimated Schlus Hainkel.
It was rather that I was too wary of him.
The problem was underestimating his comrades.
I thought all the humans besides Schlus Hainkel were mere rabble…
But I didn’t anticipate that a mere handful of humans could do this.
“But remember! Killing me will only strengthen the Majin! The remaining Majin will absorb my power, and they will reach a realm you humans can never dare to touch!”
“I don’t need you to explain.”
As Schlus Hainkel stepped closer, the emptiness in his gaze sent a chill down my spine.
Killing one Majin only makes the others stronger.
So, there’s no way to kill recklessly.
Was he planning to keep me alive just to torture me?
Sad to say, Majin didn’t suffer from mental torture from mere physical injuries.
“What are you…?! Ugh!”
Schlus Hainkel’s hand plunged into my chest.
Piercing through skin and breaking ribs, it plunged inside.
In an instant, his grip seized something, and I began to suffocate as if trapped.
“Hehe. Planning for revenge? Going to pop my heart out to kill me?”
“I told you. I will take everything precious from you. There’s still one left.”
“……?”
It was a strange sensation.
As if one could see right through to the inside, such a bizarre feeling.
That’s when the madman realized.
Schlus Hainkel was trying to interpret the structure inside my heart.
He was attempting to grasp the power held within the Majin.
No use.
It’s not a force that a human can comprehend.
Normally, I would have sneered, saying that.
But—
“Argh! No! Stop it!”
“Stay still.”
“AHHHHH!!!”
Strangely, I lost all that composure now.
Instead, fear filled me completely.
The terror of potentially losing my power consumed me.
Writhing helplessly, without limbs and having been castrated up to my lower abdomen, I could do nothing to hinder Schlus Hainkel.
“Congratulations. You’ve gained a new life.”
“W-what…?”
“I just freed you from your curse of immortality. Consider it a blessing.”
“……”
With blood dripping from his right hand, Schlus Hainkel stood up with a satisfied look.
Staring open-mouthed at that face, the madman could only wear a bewildered expression.
A wave of debilitating weakness washed over him.
Suddenly, his whole body turned cold, and unbearable pain crashed down upon him.
“Ah… Ahhh…!”
The madman’s desperate scream echoed.
His eyes rolled back as he shrieked until he fainted.
