Crepin Subjugation Battle (9)
I have killed someone before.
Now it’s a new story.
As Ed Rothtaylor, it’s been a while since I started struggling to survive in this gloomy world… The time spent in that world is still dozens of times longer than the time we lived in this world.
So, I am still just a stranger in this world.
In fact, the act of killing someone in modern warfare is such a simple thing that you may wonder if it is even okay to do so. All you need to do is align the sights and sights, stop breathing, and pull the trigger.
That’s how one’s life ends. It’s so simple and clean that it makes you laugh.
At first, there was no awareness that someone’s life had been taken like that. My hands are shaking because I did something so casually, but it doesn’t feel real, so I just end up in a dazed mood.
The really scary thing was when I went to bed that night.
The expression seen through the sight, the lively gestures, and the traces of life that disappear as soon as a single shot is struck. All that remains is a piece of meat.
The moment you realize that fact, the guilt that blooms like a nightmare eats away at your mind.
This happens to everyone on the battlefield.
I don’t feel it when I’m on the battlefield crossing the line of fire because I’m trying to save my life, but when I retire and move to a peaceful world… Those memories resurrect like ghosts and try to eat away at your mind.
It is a measles-like disease experienced by anyone who has lived on the battlefield for several years, and is expected to be overcome over time.
I also suffered from severe measles once, but I soon got over it, got my body together, met up with friends, joked around, watched some movies, played some games, and my way of thinking became brighter.
Now, I don’t do the stupid thing of being painfully reminded of those memories, but they still come up from time to time.
The feeling of guilt that comes after killing someone for the first time is a disaster that strikes everyone equally.
This is especially true in wartime situations. It is common to mentally escape from having no choice but to kill the other person. Because in order for me to live, I had to kill the other person.
That’s right, it can happen.
Mental escape is something everyone does, and it was the same for me.
Since the officers all understand this fact, one can gauge the fighting spirit just by looking at the faces of the soldiers as they rationalize little by little.
The problem is, they are the ones who went astray in the other direction. Perhaps these are the types I was most wary of and stayed away from.
──Because I thought that if I let my guard down, I could end up like that too.
If you run away because you had no choice, that’s possible.
However, there are people who rationalize it by saying, ‘I used to be this kind of guy’… These guys are really dangerous.
I actually enjoy killing.
He is a human being who feels pleasure in killing and stealing from someone.
So there is no such thing as guilt. I have no intention of being understood.
If you say that and run away from guilt, you will eventually start to think that you are a huge ‘pure evil’.
In this way, he is freed from the guilt that eats away at his mind, and after wandering around the battlefield for several years, he becomes a monster and retires.
If things go well, they get a job in the defense or security industry and manage to live a social life at a level where they are treated as idiots, but if things go wrong, they end up smuggling guns or hanging out in gangs and dying with a bullet lodged in their chin. .
When I look at those words, I too am reminded of the experience of being on the verge of becoming a madman… Goosebumps appear on my back again.
So, I fought against my guilt until the end.
As I lived like that, I became a person who neither carelessly tried to take responsibility for someone nor tried to save someone in danger for no reason.
I just didn’t want to deal with the heartache of failure… That’s such an absurd reason. Still, I think it is a reasonable direction in its own way.
Those who have gone astray are not just homicidal maniacs who enjoy killing and go crazy. Unable to bear even one burden of guilt, I ran away… They are just crazy cowards.
Therefore, there was a question I always wanted to ask my children who went astray.
… Do you still have that feeling you had when you killed someone for the first time?
* * *
Push!
It sounded like blood leaking. The evil spirit’s seal imprinted on Crepin’s left hand began to turn red.
The leaking blood fills the gap in the seal, and an ominous magical energy begins to bloom.
Soon, the magical energy enveloped Crepin’s entire hand, and the vast energy transformed his entire left forearm into an unpleasant lump of flesh.
Scream, push!
And a few tentacles sprout from his left hand and wrap around him. The crepin still has a human form, but if you only look at its left hand, it is no different from a monster.
In his right hand, he held a longsword with the family seal engraved on it. Unlike his left hand, which had changed into an unpleasant form, it was still in good condition.
“I feel powerful.”
Crepin spoke in a polite tone.
“I always wanted this kind of power. “The magic of immortality is not far away.”
After saying that, he clenched his grotesque left hand tightly.
──At that moment, the protection of the storm disappeared.
I couldn’t even feel the magic power. The pressure around me was gathered and compressed in a quick moment that was difficult to even perceive.
The trouble of deliberately waiting for the reactivation time of the Storm’s Protection was in vain. However, it has become clear that we must never let our guard down.
You cannot avoid Crepin’s attacks by moving in response to magical power.
It was the same in , but there was a fairly large gap between hearing explanations in-game and actually dealing with them.
I had to look only at the actual movements and predict what moves the opponent would use to avoid them. It’s similar to the idea of dodging bullets by looking at the direction of the gun’s muzzle. It may seem possible in words, but it’s impossible to do in person.
However, you can’t stop trying just because it’s impossible. I have already reached the top of this hell.
Either catch Crepin or I die. Since you’ve reached one of two situations, don’t act hastily or be overly cautious.
Kaaaaagh!
The roar of high-ranking wind spirit Merilda echoed throughout the grounds of Rosstaylor Mansion.
She swung her front paw and tried to hit Crepin’s body, but when Crepin twisted her left hand in a bizarre way, Merilda’s front paw was blocked by an unknown physical force.
He manifested the elemental magic ‘Wind Blade’ and flew towards Crepin, but as expected, he was neutralized by an unknown force just before he could approach Crepin.
Lucy said that she uses a type of magic that deviates from the normal magic power system. It was said that that was the power of Mevuller.
If it’s an indecipherable type of magical power, I know how to use one.
A dark red magical energy bloomed and began to surround the body. The magic power of the Aspect gathered at the tip of the finger was aimed straight at Crepin.
Crepin’s eyebrows narrowed for a moment. My pupils dilated for a moment as if I couldn’t believe that I knew how to use aspect magic, but I wasn’t in a situation where I was surprised.
‘Forced gathering’
The power of Aspect magic that surpasses all compatibility relationships is a power that is impossible to deal with, similar to Mevuller’s magic power.
It was difficult to think that only Crepin could use the power to overturn the odds.
In an instant, the crepin’s body is pulled in front of me. When I came to my senses, I saw a dagger pointed in front of me, but the tentacle grabbed my arm at an unbelievable speed.
―Crackling
I gritted my teeth and pulled my hand.
There are about five or six tentacles extending from his left arm. Everyone was squirming in their own way, trying to destroy everything around them.
I turned my body with all my strength and rolled towards the great sword stuck in the ground. In the process, he brought the tentacle to the blade of the great sword and cut it, shaking off the remaining debris and slime.
The tentacle’s reflexes are truly unbelievable. Victory in close combat cannot be guaranteed.
It was truly an Aspect magic that struck suddenly and without warning, but the fact that they were able to deal with it to this extent is astounding.
I gathered myself again and glared straight at Crepin.
The battle pattern of Crepin Rosstaylor, who was half-awakened, was always like this. Close combat is handled with tentacles extending from the left hand, and long-distance combat is handled with magic using the magic power of the evil god.
The general strategy was to move back and forth from a distance somewhere in between, and to respond by engaging in close combat the moment magic was used.
If you have that sense of distance, you can read Crepin’s response. Although close combat is infinitely powerful when fighting using tentacles, the reflexes cannot be developed at that level at the moment of manifesting magical power. Just take advantage of that gap.
“Whoa… .”
Crepin let out a long sigh and soon relaxed his body. Then, little by little, his body began to float in the air. It announces the start of a full-scale battle.
The sky above the mansion where the battle between Mebula and Lucy is in full swing. Little by little, his body floats more and more against the background of all kinds of dharmas that appear and disappear.
His collar, floating in the air like a ghost, flutters in the wind blowing across the rooftop.
“My son Ed Rosstaylor has always been a coward.”
Crepin knew everything. The fact that Ed Rothtaylor was able to see through Crepin’s dark intentions, but was unable to rebel against him in the end.
“I had no ambitions and just thought about living with my family and retainers. I wonder what it would be like to be the eldest son of a noble family, but as my son, he had an excellent temperament. “Useless ambition doesn’t help.”
At that moment, Crepin’s distance narrowed significantly and he held out his long sword. Even if it is a simple stab, it becomes a threatening surprise attack due to the movements of the body floating around thanks to Mebula’s magic power.
Sigh!
As I dodged by leaping backwards, the longsword hit the ground with nowhere to go.
“It’s not impossible to understand why he ran away to Sylvania, but I never thought he planned to use the princess to get himself excommunicated. I never thought he could be that meticulous. So, when I heard that he was alive, I was skeptical. “He wasn’t the type of guy to survive like that.”
“Isn’t that the one who sent Kadec and Nox to kill me in the first place?”
“No, I’m not talking about that time.”
Crepin is vaguely aware that I am a separate person from Ed Rosstaylor.
It’s not something you can’t understand, but it was strange to make such a conclusion. This is because there is no clear evidence.
Crepin explained the reason clearly.
“It’s already been more than a year and a half since I sent you the letter informing you that I had excommunicated you.”
Crepin Rosstaylor’s letter notifying his excommunication.
It was the first document I checked after coming to this world, and it was the only medium through which I was able to understand the entire situation after being kicked out of Ofilis Hall.
For me, it was a letter that was the starting point of all stories, and it was a notification that announced the beginning of this terrible period of survival.
“After that, the reply my son sent before he was kicked out of Ofilis Hall… “You don’t know.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Now, this is a story that is completely unprecedented.
If you answered that letter, it wasn’t me… It was clear that this was Ed Rosstaylor before I was possessed.
What Crepin said next was completely unexpected.
“──He wrote to me in detail about how he felt about ending his life, saying that he no longer felt any reason to live. “I didn’t necessarily tell Tanya.”
At those words, I took a deep breath.
Ed Rothtaylor abandoned all of his family’s prestige and ran away, only to realize that he had no place in the world anymore.
He was lost in endless emptiness and stared at the bachelor outside the window.
In a quiet room. Now we have to be kicked out soon. A life penniless and forced to survive alone in a cruel world. The only future left for him is darkness.
The path he eventually chose after sitting alone in a quiet room was… This is the end of the journey of life.
There are many ways to do this in a quiet and secluded room. All you need is a long piece of twine and a chair that you can kick over.
From what I remember, Ed Rothtaylor appears briefly in the ending credits. It wasn’t a very nice thing to say, but I remember being able to survive anyway.
The difference between my memories and this reality.
Ed Rosstaylor clearly intended to end his life that day.
However, even that failed.
Even his death did not go as planned. why?
The likely reason for this is── ‘To be honest, I was very surprised.’
Belle Maia.
The day I was kicked out of Ofilis Hall, I felt like they were taking strangely good care of me, who had a reputation for being nothing short of an idiot.
I thought she was just an unbiased person who was doing her duty as a maid at the Ofilis Building, but… .
‘Still, I didn’t think you were living like this… When he left Ofilis Hall, he looked so lost in the world that I thought he would just leave the school.’
‘Anyway, I’m glad you’re doing well.’
The meaning contained in each line of her lines feels completely new.
Even after that, he spoke to me as if he was relieved to see that I had become much healthier and more enterprising.
He somehow maintained a business-like topic and didn’t try to go against my feelings.
Whenever he had time, he would come to the camp and check on me, and if there was anything he could help with, he would help.
I realized this from the way he treated me so strangely well. Belle Maia, the maid in charge of Ed Rosstaylor, witnessed the moment when he made an extreme choice and prevented him.
Only then did Belle Maia’s unnatural behavior flow come together like puzzle pieces, and I felt like I could even see why I had entered this world.
Ed Rosstaylor, who had lost all will to survive, no longer wanted to endure a life filled with darkness.
I am… He took over the life he had abandoned.
Phew.
Was he aiming for an opportunity where the flow of thoughts was running wild?
The crepin’s blade pierced my shoulder. It was a speed that was difficult to even recognize because no magic power was felt.
As the pain surges, I see Crepin smiling darkly in front of me.
My body, which had already reached its limit, screamed, and I felt as if my consciousness was slipping away little by little.
* * *
A huge wind surrounded the annex of the mansion.
Everyone who gathered at the mansion grounds could see the scene with their own eyes.
Beyond that rooftop, a man is fighting an ominous energy.
The night sky of the mansion, where a huge wolf appears, roars and runs wild, and where all kinds of high-ranking magic comes and goes, is bright.
If you close your eyes there, it feels like you are sitting facing a mirror in a pure white space.
Place a large mirror in front of you that reflects your entire body at once, and sit down on a wooden chair.
Then, in the mirror, a blond-haired man sitting with his hands clasped together with a serious expression will look straight at me.
A mirror reflects everything in the world equally, but sometimes it feels like something inside is peeking through.
The blonde man in the mirror image looks straight at me with a somewhat unfamiliar gaze.
Ed Rosstaylor glares at me.
These are the eyes that look back on a life in which all they could do was run away, without being able to properly fight against the enormous injustice that was attacking them.
He had too much work to do right now.
If I was kicked out of Ofilis Hall, I had to find a place to live right away, and although I still had a bachelor’s degree, there was no place to get support for tuition, and all I had was food and a few clothes to wear, and the bachelor’s reputation was so bad that I couldn’t find any help. There is nowhere to ask.
Even at the place he arrived at after running away, there was no place for him to rest comfortably… He might have wanted to give up his life.
I gritted my teeth and struggled to escape the darkness of my family, but what I ended up with was this nothingness. Life is a futile thing.
What kind of life did I live after taking over the baton there?
I slept less than 4 hours a day and did my best to survive.
I made my home by tearing off tree bark, boiling it, eating it, sewing old clothes to wear, and somehow incorporating magical theory into my body with my slow talent.
Only by gritting my teeth and holding on again and again was I able to create a simple but decent home.
A large cabin, a couple of wooden sheds, a good campfire for starting a fire, and a wooden shelter where Lucy sometimes rests. In addition to the hut where Jenica stays, Lortel has even started building his own villa, and even Belle comes in and out to help with the work.
Now, I can say that it has become a hideout that I don’t want to give away to anyone else, and that it has truly become my home.
The position within the academic department has also changed a lot.
My grades improved, I became a scholarship recipient, and I recently became the top student in my grade, and I have a lot of juniors who follow me.
As I walked around the school, there were quite a few people who said hello and looked at me. I know quite a few big people, so I never hear people say I have limited connections.
I envy you.
The source of the voice that suddenly rose up was me beyond the mirror.
After saying that, the man bowed his head and said nothing more.
I sat down in front of him and just stared at his lowered head.
The boy just bowed down for a while, wiping his face.
He had already lost the will to live. All I want is a comfortable rest.
So, there was only one thing to say.
That’s it, you can rest comfortably now.
I’ve done enough… I can finish it for the next day or so.
The boy just kept his head down for a while, perhaps because my thoughts had reached him.
Sigh!
I grabbed Crepin’s right hand, which was poking at my shoulder. This was the first action I took even before my vision returned.
Merilda’s rising wind envelopes the surroundings, removing some of the magic floating around… I grabbed Crepin’s right arm and threw him backwards.
Quang! Kwadangtang!
“Wow, heheo… .”
Crepin, who probably thought it was a cleanly delivered blow, did not expect a counterattack at all and let out a groan. It seemed like his back suffered a huge shock as he fell to the floor.
The shock also caused the sword to go deeper into my shoulder, but I gritted my teeth and pulled it out and threw it away. Blood flowed from her wounds and intense pain welled up… After gritting his teeth and holding on, he stepped on the fallen Crepin.
Blood is dripping down.
The blood that was covered was already stuck, but my blood was added on top of it.
“Big, huh…” .”
I lost my breath. I can’t breathe as I want. Nevertheless, I bit my teeth as if they would break and took out the dagger.
Even the ceremonial dagger was already soaked in blood.
I faced life-threatening situations several times. It’s the same whether it’s before coming to this world or after coming.
I have actually experienced death, been seriously injured, and collapsed from overwork many times.
There were more than one or two trials that came to me as if they hated me, and they all tried to take my life, but I defeated them all.
When I was walking around the battlefield, I remembered what my comrades said to me.
It wasn’t a nickname I liked very much because it didn’t have a good connotation.
“I am a cockroach.”
Without any intention of stopping the dripping blood, I pressed down on the crepin and looked down at him as I spoke.
Grinding his teeth, he lowered his dagger.
grasp!
With difficulty, he blocked it with his left arm, but by putting his weight on his flailing arm, he somehow managed to pierce the strange-looking arm and go down.
Crepin held on with all his strength and gritted his teeth again.
“I will never die. never.”
Along with the cool voice, even the fishy eyes seem to be frosty.
In the midst of that miasma, I somehow gritted my teeth and continued the struggle of strength.
