A lone thug with a yellow scarf walked by with his rifle, pointing it around as he searched for his target. The moment he peeked into an opening in the wall, I grabbed him from behind and hooked my left elbow against his neck. He struggled against my grip, trying to pull down my arm as he gasped for air. The man passed out shortly after, hanging down with his weight on me. I brought his body inside the opening and made sure it was hidden from sight.

After dealing with the body, I continued to wander around the tunnels with my body slightly crouched down. I did my best to control my muscle movements, making sure that every step I made felt light enough not to make a single sound.

My ears caught an echo of footsteps, making my body tense up and stop in its tracks. It was coming from the direction I was facing. The end of the straight pathway I was in was connected with another pathway, so I quickly assumed that I was going to meet them at the intersection. There seemed to be around 2, no, 3 of them passing this way. I shifted my head around and found a box of supplies to hide behind.

Peeking my head out a little, I watched them walk past the intersection. Luckily, they continued forward instead of turning here. Before the last person could catch up with them, I pulled him behind the corner, knocking him out and dumping him inside one of the boxes. As much as possible, I wanted to reduce the number of threats without causing a ruckus.

The furthered I progressed, the more people I was able to take down. It took a lot of patience to find the right moments to strike, but I was able to manage it. However, it became harder to find places to hide the bodies. People started to get suspicious, wondering where the others went and grew restless. They started running around the tunnels and searching through minecarts, boxes and openings on the rocky walls, making it tougher for me to hide anywhere. I started to run as well, knowing that my footsteps couldn’t be distinguished from any of their own.

Little did I know, I was already running out of luck.

I bumped into one of the Midas thugs, causing both of us to fall down on the ground.

“Ouch!” they screamed.

This is bad!

“You!” Before he could say another word, I picked myself up and drove my fist down his face.

I have to get away from here quickly!

Two more soldiers witnessed the scene from a distance and yelled.

“There he is!”

“Get him!”

Their screams echoed far onto the tunnels, causing my heart to shudder. I swiftly ran towards the opposite direction, almost tripping from a sudden misstep. My eyes were set on the closest passageway, trying to get out of their sight as quickly as possible.

It was only after I passed through that I realized how much of a mistake that was. I had found myself in a rather open area connected to multiple passageways. The worst part was….

“Found you!”

A round figure came out from one of the passageways, stroking his double chin with a creepy smile. He pulled his tongue out, like he was ready to partake in a delicious meal. I cringed at the sight of the man, the way his eyes glanced towards me brought shivers down my spine. The man only wore a metal waistguard with some yellow cloth, showing off his bare upper body full of flab and black tattoos engraved on his arms, chest and belly. In terms of physique, he appeared to be the strongest out of everyone in the Midas Hogs.

The one and only Tusker, also known as the Devourer.

As for how he got that title, I don’t even want to think about it.

If that wasn’t bad enough, many of his men popped out of the rest of the passageways, trapping me here with nowhere to go. They all pointed their guns at me, so I placed my hands up in the air.

“If any of you shoots him down, I’ll kill you,” Tusker said. “This boy belongs to me now.”

“What do you plan on doing to me?” I asked.

“You’ll find out soon enough, pussyboy.” He cracked his knuckles. “I’m going to give you an experience so amazing you’ll grovel on the ground crying, begging me to kill you.”

I looked down on the floor with a wince, not saying a single word.

“Come here, kitty,” Tusker gestured his finger towards him. “You wouldn’t want me to blow your head off, would you?”

Tusker pointed a Detonator towards me with his other hand, with his finger rubbing against the button like he was teasing me. Without saying a single word, I simply nodded and walked over to him.

“You’re awfully obedient, aren’t you? That’s not the pussyboy I know. I thought you hated listening to me! Do you not understand what’s going to happen to you? Or have you given up and accepted your fate?”

Looking at him up close, I realized how much his huge stature towered over me, forcing me to tilt my head upwards just to match his eyes.

“I don’t believe in fate, piggy.”

“What do you just call me, you stupid brat?!”

“White.”

The magical sword responded to my call and I swung the blade right towards his face, making him grunt in pain. However, even after taking such a direct hit, he barely budged. It just seemed like a slap to the face for him. Gripping my sword tightly, I swung against his face once more. Again, he continued to stand his ground, taking the hit with an annoyed look on his face. I gritted my teeth and tried an overhead swing, but this time he simply grabbed it with his hand with a firm grasp.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

I’m sure those hits connected really well on that ugly bastard, that had to hurt a fair amount. Was he just that resilient against pain?

“What are you trying to do, pussyboy? Is this supposed to be some sort of magical sword? I can’t you believe you had something like that up your sleeve,” Tusker scoffed.

“Tsk.”

“Pfft, whatever. That didn’t even do anything, you dimwit. Was that supposed to be your last resort?” Tusker laughed.

“Not really,” I glared at him. “I just wanted to gauge your strength, that’s all.”

I hope this works.

“Enough with these childish games. Know your place, slave. You’re under my control now.”

“Shut up, porkchop.”

“You-”

I closed my eyes and muttered the magic word.

“Illuminate.”

A bright flash of light emanated from the blade, blinding everyone within the vicinity for a short moment.

“My eyes!” Tusker yelled.

I have to make use of this moment!

I unleashed a flurry of attacks against Tusker, targeting as many pressure points as I could. Liver, solar plexus, jugulars, feet, temples, anything to break the man down.. He flailed his heavy arms around chaotically, but his attacks were slow enough for me to dodge easily and strike back with a counter. Despite taking all of those vital hits, the giant still wouldn’t fall. The best I could do was force him to stagger back. So, I had no choice but to resort to that technique.

As soon as the light dimmed away, Tusker’s vision began to clear, his eyes raging like a mad hog.

“Screw it, I’m going to blow your head into smithereens!” He pulled my cloak away, exposing my slave collar.

“Die!” He yelled, pointing the Detonator towards me.

Tusker pressed the button, and I thrusted my blade right between his thighs with full force.

Bullseye!

“H-How?!”

A high-pitched yelp came out of his lungs and his body knelt down to the floor. I slammed my sword repeatedly towards his face until he finally passed out and dropped to the ground.

“Sorry, but I already defused my collar a while back,” I threw the Defuser up in the air and caught it with my hand.

In a contest of pure strength, I wouldn’t have been able to beat him. But this isn’t a contest. This is a battle of survival. I’ll do whatever it takes to defeat the Midas Hogs and save the slaves.

The other men stared at me, blinking their eyes blanky before realizing what had happened.

“S-Screw what Tusker says! Let’s just kill him!”

They pointed their guns towards me and started shooting.

“Protect.”

A blue sphere formed itself around me like a shield, protecting me from the gunfire. Small cracks started to form around the shield, so I started running away.

Since the biggest threat was taken out, all I had to do now was clear out the remaining forces that were hunting me down. With the power of White and my hit-and-run strategy, I was finally able to defeat them all.

“Haah…”

I dropped to the ground with one knee, using my sword as support to keep myself from collapsing completely. Grasping my chest, I could feel my heart pulsating itself against my hand. My muscles felt heated up and my lungs rose heavily under my breath. Taking on all those guys took a huge toll under my body.

It would be nice if I could take a rest, but I can’t stop now. I still have work to do.

There were many slaves in the tunnels cowering down in fear, with one of them right next to me trying to keep his distance.

“W-Wait. Don’t go! I can set you free!” I called out to him.

He stopped in his tracks with a look of shock on his face.

“C-Can you really do that?” he said.

“Yes, but you have to follow what I say if you want the Midas Hogs gone once and for all,” I held his shoulder.

I pointed the Defuser on his collar, firing a condensed ray of both Blue and Cyan Magium energy against their explosive red counterpart, nullifying its properties.

“T-Thank you so much!” he said as he hugged me.

After defusing his collar, I told him to call out the others. Many slaves gathered around me, and I defused their collars one by one. It felt fulfilling seeing their eyes sparkle with a newfound hope. To think that I would end up becoming their savior, something I would have never dreamed was possible when I first set foot here. Is this what it is like to be a Hero? I should be happy to achieve such a feat. Yet somehow, I couldn’t get myself to smile. Maybe I just don’t deserve happiness anymore, so why should I bother seeking it?

Lars. Happiness is not something that people should chase after, because if it was, they would spend their whole lives running in puddles of tears.

So are you saying I should not try to be happy?

I’m saying it’s not something you try to achieve, lest you admit that you are in sorrow.

Eventually, the number of freed slaves grew to an amount way more than the amount of members of Hector’s gang. I could no longer keep any track on all of them, but I noticed that they started collecting weapons from the soldiers who had passed out.

Wait a minute……

The soldiers’ own weapons were pointed against them and a series of gunfires had ensued throughout the tunnels. They were all murdered in cold blood.

It felt sickening for my stomach, to the point where I could taste the bile almost leaving my mouth. I knew that they had it coming to them, but still. It all felt disturbing for me to watch. They were all killing because of me. This was all my doing. To be honest, I didn’t know what to think of this.

It was only me who swore off the act of killing, so it shouldn’t have mattered much if other people did. Yet why did I feel so much guilt in my heart? Is it because there was another way to end things peacefully? Was there a way for those slavers to redeem themselves? What if they were given another chance? I don’t know.

Freeing the slaves and allowing them to murder the Midas Hogs, was that truly the heroic thing to do?

Did you really not expect this to happen? You know how the Midas Hogs treated everyone. They absolutely deserve it. It’s natural for a human being to seek vengeance. For them, it is considered just. An eye for eye. Can’t you relate?

The memories flooded back to me. Alessia, Sir Alvarro, Miss Felicia. All of them were killed, with the blame being forced upon me. My dreams of becoming a Hero had been ruined and everything I cared about had been taken away from me. All because of that man. Marko.

I haven’t thought about it much ever since I was banished to the Under Sectors , but what would I do if I saw him again? Would I be the same as everyone here?

Or would I choose to stick with my idealistic view of what a Hero should be?

A man of selfless justice, not selfish revenge.