Wayton and Alex were running at full speed toward the village.
Under normal circumstances, Wayton who could manipulate magical power would have been much faster than Alex, but the latter knew this area like the back of his hand.
Since childhood, he and his friends had roamed every mountain in the vicinity.
Unlike when they were with a group of thirty knights, they now took a path not commonly used by humans to reach the village that was often referred to as the animal path.
“We’re almost there!”
“Yeah, I see that!”
Neither could understand what Klein had seen to declare the village in danger.
However, they could not dismiss the words of someone who had slaughtered trolls with a single strike as mere exaggeration.
With such thoughts in their minds, both of their eyes widened in shock as they approached the village.
There was a huge ogre radiating dark energy.
And it was a Twin-Headed Ogre, no less!
This was a monstrous creature that even Wayton had only seen once before.
The sight of such a beast wrapped in ominous darkness was enough to haunt one’s dreams.
Nevertheless, the five knights were simultaneously attacking the Twin-Headed Ogre, but with each heavy and swift strike from the beast, the knights were thrown back and spitting blood.
Yet as if they had resolved themselves to face death, for every two steps they retreated, they advanced three, and for every three steps back, they pressed forward four and relentlessly attacked the ogre.
The darker the force erupting from the ogre’s body, the heavier it weighed on the knights’ shoulders.
Occasionally, thorns would burst forth from the shadows.
Wayton was certain that he could not have survived even five seconds in that battle.
Amidst this, a man standing behind the knights shouted.
“Now!”
At his command, the five knights who had been fiercely battling the ogre gathered their last reserves of strength and grabbed onto the ogre’s feet.
Only then did Wayton and Alex turn their attention to the young man who had just shouted.
The young man with black hair created a sinister blood-red disc in his hand and hurled it with all his might at the ogre.
The ogre seemed to sense the danger and unfolded a shield-like barrier of darkness.
“How dare you!”
At the boy’s shout, the barrier visibly trembled.
It wasn’t just the ogre that was shaken.
Alex’s legs gave out completely and Wayton fell to his knees as well.
The voice of the boy was commanding as if it came from an absolute authority.
Wayton was certain, without a doubt, that even the monstrous ferocity of the Twin-Headed Ogre earlier could not compare to this moment.
But perhaps that was its poison.
The voice of Shane shook Wayton’s soul.
As the heads of the ogre fell to the ground, Wayton and Alex could catch a fleeting glimpse of its shadow stretching towards them.
***
When Rodwill and four other knights looked at Shane with expressions filled with astonishment, Shane did not relax his guard.
It was his personal experience from his past life, but spirits that didn’t materially exist were always tenacious.
Of course, having dropped both heads of the ogre that had served as its physical form, the attack must have been significant enough to shake even the existence of the Rotten Wood Spirit.
It could still easily flee though.
Since it was now night and the sun had set, the Rotten Wood Spirit could hide anywhere in the shadows since it was a creature of darkness.
But currently, no one was as sensitive to the powers of darkness as Shane.
It would be problematic if the spirit returned and entered a human body.
Dealing with it would become more difficult, and unlike hiding in the shadows, hiding inside a human body could put it into a state of hibernation which would make it difficult to detect without direct contact.
Just then, Shane spotted a young man and a middle-aged man sitting at the entrance to the village on the eastern side.
It was Alex and Wayton.
“Hmm.”
Was it a messenger sent by Klein?
That’s what Shane thought at the time.
Alex rose on his trembling legs and Wayton approached alongside him.
“A-Are you alright sir?”
“The situation here has been resolved. What about the other side?”
He had anticipated that things were likely settled on the other side as well, but he asked nonetheless.
As expected, Alex and Wayton confirmed that by the time they were ready to leave, all the leading trolls had been killed, and only a few minor monsters like goblins and kobolds remained.
While kobolds could pose some danger, the village militia could easily handle a few escaping goblins.
“A-A young member of the knights told us to head to the village and evacuate …”
“It seems that won’t be necessary.”
With that, Shane glanced over at the ogre lying defeated nearby.
Meanwhile, Alex could hardly contain the pounding of his heart.
Klein’s display in the forest was really impressive, but Shane’s commanding shout also filled Alex with a deep sense of awe.
As he tried to think of a way to ask more of Shane,
Suddenly, Shane reached out to Wayton.
That was when the anomaly occurred.
“Uh! S-Sir Wayton …!”
Almost simultaneously with Shane’s gesture, Wayton who had remained silent until then grabbed Alex by the throat and stepped back.
“It seems there wasn’t enough time for hibernation.”
Shane said in a chilling voice, and Alex couldn’t regain his senses due to the pressure on his neck.
He was writhing in pain and barely managed to turn his gaze to Wayton.
By then, Wayton was already engulfed in a black mist.
How on earth?
As his consciousness slowly began to fade, Alex looked at Shane who was still casting a cold gaze in his direction.
“Human, release me. Then, this human lives.”
The voice was eerily chilling; it was completely different from the usually boisterous Wayton.
“Do you think you can escape?”
“This human dies.”
“If I release you, more humans will be sacrificed.”
“Then. Negotiate.”
“It’s too late.”
“……?”
Not a refusal, but too late?
Before the Rotten Wood Spirit could express its confusion, light burst from beneath it.
“Human…!”
The earth suddenly surged upward, binding the spirit.
The ground felt like steel; no matter how much the spirit tried to exert its strength, it couldn’t move.
“How is this possible?!”
The spirit who confirmed its condition with the knowledge in Wayton’s head was surprised.
How could a boy not yet a full adult perform magic without chanting?
Of course, when recalling the ancient times in which the spirit had lived, such beings were not unheard of.
But the idea that magic had been activated so covertly that even it couldn’t sense it was unbelievable.
Magic was, after all, the very force that constituted a spirit!
It was inconceivable that someone had performed magic without even the spirit knowing it.
“Do you really think you can understand this?”
Shane saw the shock on its face and laughed dismissively.
“W-Wait, human! Do you intend to kill this human?”
“What can’t I do?”
With that, Shane raised one hand and drew a magic circle with his magical power.
A metallic blade materialized above his extended hand.
“…….!”
After starting his new life, Shane had no intention of killing humans like he used to.
But that didn’t mean he was going to let things slide easily either.
He had resolved not to engage in merciless slaughter but that didn’t mean he intended to spare his enemies.
“Even if you remain in that body, that man will die just the same. No, perhaps he’d even wish for death himself.”
There was no one who understood better than Shane what it felt like to have one’s body violated while being powerless and trapped within oneself.
Suddenly, the metal blade that had formed above Shane’s hand began to spin rapidly.
“Farewell.”
“Pl-Please wait!”
Just as Shane was about to strike the neck of his foe with his blade-transformed hand without a hint of hesitation,
Alex rushed in and grabbed Shane’s arm.
A commoner daring to touch the body of a noble!
That alone should have earned a severe beating, but Shane merely twitched an eyebrow and glared at Alex.
“Didn’t you hear? This man will die regardless.”
“Isn’t there another way?”
Alex clutched at Shane’s arm and knelt down with a look of desperation on his face.
In that moment,
A memory flashed through Shane’s mind.
[Please, live. I beg you.]
The blood-soaked man, with three swords strapped to his back, was making a request to a blond handsome man.
The bloodied man looked at the handsome man with a pleading expression on his face.
[…I’m sorry.]
The blond man soon fell off the cliff.
Afterward, the lone blood-soaked man turned around to look at Shane.
Or more precisely,
He looked at the undead army standing in front of Shane’s eyes and exclaimed,
[I will not die a dog’s death.]
The man who appeared too weak to even take a step wielded the swords on his back and, after a fierce struggle, fell dead after taking down 15 death knights.
“…It was you.”
“Y-Yes?”
“…….”
He looked much different from that time.
His hair was completely white, and he was covered in scars; he was a stark contrast to the ordinary country young man he appeared to be now.
It was clear.
In his past life, he was one of the members of the organization that came with Klein to rescue the princess from the city where she was imprisoned.
In the process, everyone except Klein and the princess had lost their lives to Shane’s undead legion, and Alex was the last of the members to defend Klein until his life ended.
Had Alex not pushed Klein over the cliff, his life would not have been saved, nor would he have had a fortuitous encounter waiting below.
So that’s why his face seemed familiar.
Shane looked at Alex for a moment and then sighed softly.
I really didn’t want to do this if possible.
However, it was hard to find someone skilled enough to stand by Klein’s side in the future.
But one of those chosen few was right before his eyes.
With no other choice, Shane decided to take the risk and met the eyes of the still-bound and immobilized Rotten Wood Spirit.
“I’ll give you one more chance.”
“What?”
Before the Rotten Wood Spirit could even properly respond,
Shane infused magical power into the body of Wayton in which the spirit resided.
“Come to me. This is your only way to survive.”
“…Human. How arrogant.”
At the same time, the black mist that had seeped into Wayton’s body gradually began to shift towards Shane.
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