“That was…kind of not filling?”

“You…your name is Mana, right? What rights do you have to complain like that after eating our breakfast?!”

The woman, Mana Minase, flops diagonally with an exasperated face. Her face says it all, tired of life, eyes unmotivated to do anything, and frowns that she is irritated by something. She hugs her knees as she lay down.

“I’m sweaty…I’m thirsty…I’m still hungry…I’m sleepy…I’m tired…I don’t want to work anymore…! Gaaaahhhhhh… spare me of my energy from even walking…spare me from living a life of a working drone…spare me a life of working in front of a computer all day long…aaahhhgggg…”

“What…the hell is her problem…?!”

She began blabbering things about being tired of many things and things I do not understand anymore. I look at Miss Bacarra for an answer but she only shook her head slowly indicating that I should not even ask about it further. I get the feeling that it is something I should not try wrap my head around it.

“Arrggghhh…my arch nemesis…Blue screen of death…go away…!”

“A-Arch nemesis…? Blue what of death? Eh? That sounds dangerous!”

“Yeah…yeah…! It’s dangerous I tell you! Even if I drown myself with a lot of alcohol, he won’t go away!”

“E-Excuse me?”

“In an instant, he will erase everything with no trace! Everything that I worked hard for…gone…! I have to redo everything and it is still my fault that that shit happened! Why can’t we get a better IT personnel?!”

As she shouted those, she immediately darted towards me with widened eyes like she has gone mad. She grabs my shoulders with her hands with unfathomable strength. She is not grabbing it with pain but rather, I can’t let myself free from it. Is this a strength of a hero or she is just someone special? In any case, isn’t she too strong?

“Umm…umm…please…let me go…I swear I don’t have anything against you!”

“You are not a real adult if you don’t know basic adobe and c++! However…HOWEVER, most of our software is shit! Adobe and its plugins can’t be updated because of the shitty internet, I can’t even update the Microsoft application and if I try to, I’ll get reported, what the hell?!”

“P-Please…speak our language…!”

“Works kept piling up and I got scolded every now and then and the manager is a pervert! Even though I broke twenty-seven bones without being noticed, he still kept coming for me. I work more than seventy hours a week and my salary is only good for feeding me and paying my rent. After that, I can’t even go for a travel or anything even though I have tons of shit saved up!”

I absolutely don’t know how to console such person. I am clueless on how to for the reason I am shy in expressing my honesty to most situations. And not to mention, I guess this is the first time I admitted it myself even though inside my head about that…

The woman in front of me won’t let me go and she kept rambling incomprehensible words that I even lost myself in listening to her. She is like a drunkard who just lost a gamble and now, is about to sell his house to pay for the bet.

I can’t even ask Miss Bacarra for help now as she is still weak from lack of blood. She also mentioned before that she has this condition of low blooded that makes her extremely lethargic early in the morning or it gets hard for her to move.

I need to do something about this situation quick so I can procure more food or I’ll be stuck here with this woman for the next god knows how many more minutes.

“UUUhhhh…”

“E-Eh…T-that’s…an ugly crying sound…”

“You’re thinking of ditching me…I know that face.”

“I-I’m not! I…uh…just needed to do something…”

“I’ve heard that line…like…thousands of times now…”

“I need to get some food for us…”

“Really?!”

“You change mood swiftly…”

“Okay! Just don’t go over there…”

Mana pointed at the forest as she warns me. I also look at the direction where she is pointing and squints my eyes to see what’s in there but, even if I try to detect anything with my magic, I can’t seem to feel anything.

“What’s in there?”

“Hmm? An enemy who watches me since yesterday…”

“An enemy?”

As Mana said that, an exploding presence rushes over us and a wave malicious power immediately shook me to the core. I can feel my face paling from being bathed to such bloodthirst. As a professional adventurer befitting of S-rank, this kind of killing intent and power will immediately trigger my instinct to escape and call for backup to defeat it, however, I cannot readily do that as Miss Bacarra can’t move well and Mana isn’t even reacting.

From the shadowy curtains of the forest, my mouth gapes and my eyes widened a man as tall as my step brother, Balrog, comes out. His body robust like it is rock, a bearded man wearing a really heavy armor but moves with ease. This man is none other than a dwarf, but a dwarf like him is emitting such fear-inducing presence is rare.

“Aye, now that ya’ said, I feel like a fool for playin’ that hide and seek game when right from the start, ya already know that I am there.”

“Yeah…I mean…you stand out too much…”

“Hmph. It can’t be helped. I’ll introduce myself to be polite. I am Gorluck a dwarf. I am from the Order of Arcana and I am the current Arcana of Greed.”

“Oh, I am Mana Minase, I am from *beep* *beep* Company. I don’t have any card with me right now but please, do take care of me.”

They started introducing with each other formally. Mana removed her hands from my shoulder and walked right in front of the dwarf, Gorluck, who said he is from the Order of Arcana. If I remember right, those people are Ichirou’s enemies too!

While introducing herself, Mana bows her head down formally when…

BAM!

The ground violently shook like there was an earthquake when in actuality Gorluck just sent an earth breaking punch towards Mana. The punch was directed downwards and Mana’s head was immediately buried. Her body lifelessly lays there with her head unfound as it is beneath the ground.

Everything happened so fast that I wasn’t able to even react. It just happened. The woman that I just met earlier, Mana Minase, is already dead, right in front of me.

“Hmm…That was fast. Because you have the weakest presence of all the heroes, Lord Nil almost forgot that you existed. We don’t even know that you’re there. Well, it’s not like anything I say now matters. Your presence is weak because you are weak, huh. That’s all there is to it…”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

As Gorluck said that, his gaze shifted from the buried Mana Minase to us. I grit my teeth as I already sensed that we are his next targets. I slowly take a step back and I saw Miss Bacarra’s face that is full of anxiety. She tried standing up but her legs are unsteady and I myself know well of what kind of hardship she is going through.

I suddenly pushed the idea of revenge to her and left her with unnecessary life burden. She willingly accepted such notion but, I know myself that she won’t even think about it if I hadn’t told her.

I did that because I want her to live…

But as things stand now, as the situation got worse early in the morning, I’d rather have Miss Bacarra run away. I made her enter the world where hatred is born and I if want her to achieve that revenge, she better live. This may already have been out of my boundaries as I intervened too much but…

I am an adventurer. I became one to protect the land to lessen the burden on Cattleya’s shoulder. I am well aware of what I could end up if I fight with this dwarf here but, I have already prepared myself in such peril. I won’t even come to where I am now if I don’t have such resolve.

I am a daughter of a true ancestor, I am a warrior, but most of all, I am also a girl who falls in love.

“Diyu…”

“Miss Bacarra, please leave. You’re just going to be a burden.”

“No…that’s not it…You better…leave this battle to Mana…”

“But she’s…!”

“Arrggghhh…my head…my head feels like splitting apart…!”

Mana’s voice was heard.

From the rubbles of rocks where she was buried, her head pops out unscathed. There were no injuries or whatsoever with the exception of the broken glasses that lost its true value as its fragments fall apart.

Even Gorluck who started walking towards us since earlier is startle upon seeing Mana uninjured. He could only mutter…

“What in tarnation…?”

“You…broke my glasses…they’re so expensive…urrggghh…I’ll sue you…”

BAM!

Gorluck’s fist comes flying again towards Mana’s face without abandon. The impact is so strong that Mana was blown away towards the trees. Even the harmless trees are mowed down. However, no matter how strong that punch is, Miss Mana’s face doesn’t even look hurt at all.

What kind of sorcery is this?

The atmosphere changed. From Gorluck’s overwhelming presence comes another one that easily beats his. It was no hostility or bloodthirst but simply, a presence that says I am here. As I immediately scan the place where Mana landed, I immediately realized, it was her.

Holding an axe that looks like it has gone through many murders, Mana stands up unsteadily.

“Arrrggghhh…you did it again…my head hurts…it hurts so bad!”

“What the hell are you!?”

“Ahhh…I feel like throwing up…I feel so tired...Gaaah…”

BAM!

Another earth shattering blow from Gorluck’s fist comes rushing to Mana. It didn’t end there as Gorluck pounded Mana repeatedly on the ground with his herculean strength that can even pulverize rocks and stones.

“Ow…Ouch, ouch! It hurts…it hurts! My head is breaking…ow…ow!”

Are the only words Mana can mutter as she was being slammed on the ground.

As I watch the spectacle, my shirt is tugged by Miss Bacarra. As I look at her eyes, it is still full of anxieties.

“Diyu…Let’s leave.”

“Miss Bacarra…? Wait…now?!”

“Yes. Diyu, carry me.”

“I can do that but, you are going to leave your companion?!”

“We are going to get killed…I don’t want that. After you gave me a reason to live, I am determined to carry out my revenge, however, I still need to time to reaffirm everything. So please, let’s go.”

“Miss Bacarra! Mana is your friend right?! Are you thinking of using her as a fodder? How can you be so cruel?!”

“No…that’s not it…I care for Mana but…if this goes on, she may end up killing us too.”

“She?!”

“Mana’s power solely relies on accumulated stress. The more stress she accumulates, the more powerful she becomes. Even without stress, she is toughest among anyone in our group.”

“But then, how can that be dangerous for us?!”

“Mana is prone to attacking even allies at her enraged state…In battles, she does more harm than help to our group so we’d rather have her not to engage in any battle at all.”

“Wha--!”

“Her weak presence is caused by a curse created by Priscilla and I. We also altered some bodily functions inside her such as the increase in adrenaline rush so she wants get easily agitated. However, since losing sight of her for the past weeks, the curse is getting weaker and now…she is far dangerous than that man…”

“How can you say so?! What if she dies before even--!”

“We also determined her accumulated stress by sheer observation with a percentage. The way I see it, the sudden change in her earlier was just a small percentage of it, so please, Diyu, let’s get out of her, okay?”

With Miss Bacarra’s explanation, even if it is true, I rather do what she told me too, to be honest. I’d save Miss Bacarra together with my sorry butt, even if it means using Mana as fodder.

I immediately carried Miss Bacarra in my arms. She scantily clings to my neck so hold her tighter so she won’t fall while I am running. I noticed that Miss Bacarra is heavier than she looks. My eyes immediately darted to her chest with enough volume to drown anyone’s face on it…

I immediately stride away from the battle that was happening behind me. Even though my speed is decreased, I know I can still run fast even under the sun which happens to rise now. My vampiric abilities may have decreased drastically and I am not in the demon continent but, I am confident that I can run away.

Each stride makes Miss Bacarra’s boobs jiggles violently that my eyes and chest started to hurt.

However, before even making a considerable distance, Gorluck’s assault on Mana stops and the next thing I know is the ground shaking violently again.

BAM!

I lost my balance as earth spikes threw me off. I was able to keep Miss Bacarra in my arms but we still fell and in an instant, in front of us is a tall wall made of soil rises to keep us from running away…

That’s not fair…

“Ya bastards think ya can run away? I’m keeping an eye to the two of you. Well, I guess I can move on to the two of you now. I’ve beaten this one plenty and I don’t see any reactions from her anymore.”

“What do you want?! What did we do to you?!”

“What? I’m just here for this punk, however, I want to see the two of you despairing. It will be a good inspiration for my next artwork, a sculpture of frightened maidens.”

My blood started boiling and I am getting in the mood to fight.

I just heard something that totally ticks me off.

“Bastard dwarf…so uncouth…!”

“What did you just said?!”

“Sculpture? You just said sculpture…? Sculptures are the worst! They are stupid! They are in labyrinth, dungeons, mazes, and even in boss rooms! Why do they even exist! And you are telling me that you want to create sculptures!”

My blood as an adventurer who is fed up with sculptures blazes. After all, those things have a lot of traps that could kill anyone. They have those shiny stones embedded to them that will trick anyone and they would instantly fall into a trap door to death or to somewhere else.

I was about to charge in when Miss Bacarra tugs on my clothes again.

“Diyu…”

“Don’t stop me now…I am kind of annoyed…”

“That’s not it…but…it is better to step out of this…”

“But Mana is…”

“Mana won’t even die like that…”

The atmosphere took a huge change again…

This time, her presence is all over the place. It was a prideful, daunting presence that one could feel it was majestic. A presence that is boasting and cocky that no one can ignore it. It was hard to be scared of this presence because there was no bloodlust or any hostility…

What scared me the most is that…it’s only true goal is to remove something unsightly…

A silhouette appeared behind Gorluck even though the sun is shining ever brightly. A giant silhouette that has glasses and face covered in dark shade, a menacing sight that it wasn’t even there. Before I knew it, my eyes are just playing tricks on me.

However, with that sensation, Gorluck paled and wasn’t able to resist turning around where Mana is…

“Who told you that you can…obstruct me?”

“Even with all of those beating, you’re still standing?!”

“Who told you that you can grant me a headache?”

“What are you?!?!”

“Who told you that I won’t retaliate to this pain?”

“Gah!”

“The only one who can decide that…is me.”

Her attitude drastically changes…

A halo made of light appears on Mana’s head. It is a halo with an archaic design befitting of a blessing. I can already feel the strong power emanating from her. Even though her face is twisted in pain, her unsteady stance never falters or straightened. It was her natural stance…

In her hand, the bloody axe shines brightly before taking in another form. It was also an axe but a bigger and has more complex design of a feather in the back of the edge. It is an axe colored in golden radiance with complex and words I do not understand marks the throat of the axe.

Gorluck who saw the scene gapes his mouth in surprise…

“That’s…that’s the Godly Artifact True Heaven Splitter…!”

Upon hearing the name, my eyes immediately darted to the axe. If that’s true, then this woman here, Mana, is a true monster…

“Blessing maturation…”

“Miss Bacarra…?”

“It also happened to him…before he was backstabbed…”

Miss Bacarra said as she stares at the halo with lament.  Blessing maturation… what is that…? Is it something only a hero can have?

Gorluck couldn’t move anymore and Mana raises the Heaven Splitter overhead with him as the unlucky target of such power.

In an instant…

“No one told me about this…”

BAM!

An exploding sound is heard but…the ground didn’t shake this time. Upon slamming the axe towards Gorluck, a strong radiant power spreads out and vanquishes everything in its path. However, it was just not Gorluck who was pulverized by such overwhelming power…

The ground where he was previously was is pried open. A thin ravine is made out of thin air as the Heaven Splitter did not only split the sky itself but also the land. If the map is going to be revised, then this ravine would actually show up…

I can’t be shocked now…I’ve seen so many powerful people in the past…

“Diyu…”

“Miss Bacarra…don’t tell me…”

“Her stress level, by observation…is only…”

“…only…”

“Around thirty percent…”

Now I’m worried…

In an instant, Gorluck was utterly annihilated by Mana. I am worried since the wielder of such power has an unsteady mind…

.

.

.

Night falls and we didn’t even budge from this place.

It is for the reason that Mana kept sleeping even after waking her up like dozens of times already. We were able to approach her after she cooled down. Miss Bacarra said that Mana’s mind is in berserk stage and she does not regard any foes or allies. That’s why we need to wait until Mana’s stress level went down again.

But, by the time it went down, it was already sunset.

Haa…

This situation I am put through…is so bizarre…

I wanted to meet Ichirou so bad right now… I want to tell him how I love him and wait for a kind but awkward rejection. I feel like being with Mana always puts me on the edge…

“Is anyone here? Does anyone here needs help or lost?!”

My ears picked up a voice!

“Here! We’re here!”

From the thicket, a woman with red hair and formal attire came out together with a dozen of adventurers…

The attire she is wearing belongs to a guild receptionist!

“Oh, my…what happened to you people?! And you two are demons…”

“Is there any problem being a demon?”

“None whatsoever, it’s just rare for a vampire like you to be lost here.”

“I see. Then, please, we need help. We’ve been lost for like weeks now…”

“That’s understandable. This forest is in the boundary of human and elven territory.”

I see!

That’s why it doesn’t look familiar to me. However, being inside the elven forest has been a great help as food procuring wasn’t hard.

“You guys can tell me the situation when we get back. However, we must know your identity and further investigate you three about the tremors that were felt hours ago.”

“Ah, yes! Also, I’m an adventurer! My name is Diyu Hellbeing, an S-rank adventurer. Here’s my card!”

“Oh, thank you for this. With this, you three won’t be having a hard time now, so, what about the other two?”

“Let us tell you in private…please…”

“I see…”

I received my card back as I showed it to the woman with red hair. Miss Bacarra just let me do my thing and Mana just lay down there, curling up like a cat…

“Well, then, do you guys have somewhere to stay?”

“Ah…none…and we don’t have any coins with us…”

“That’s okay. Nanab Harbor town is known for its hospitability. You can stay at my place…there are a lot of unused rooms after all.”

“Is that fine with you? That woman with glasses has an issue…”

“Like?”

“She’s too strong…”

“Oh? Don’t worry about it then. I am used in dealing with stupidly strong people!”

I wonder…why did she say it with confidence…?

“Ah, by the way, you can call me Cecille. Nice to meet you, adventurer Diyu, I hope we can get along. Strong adventurers like you are always welcome.”

“Yes, thank you. Please take care of us, Miss Cecille.”

And that’s how we ended up in Nanab Harbor Town.