> Point of view: Dust

I had escaped with my wife three months ago.

This happened in the midst of the war between the realms when the five heroes bearing the star's mark faced the four demon kings.

None of the high-ranking officials in the Shylk kingdom had mentioned anything about the catastrophe, so we continued our vacation, shopping in Serath Village, a trading settlement near the kingdom.

As the kingdom began to fill with fire, the battle extended to the villages. By the time we realized the reality, it was already too late.

Demons had surrounded the place, and the terrified screams of the people echoed everywhere.

A horde of demons slaughtered anyone in their path. They showed no mercy, whether they were women or children; they killed them without any remorse.

When this happened, everyone fled.

In our case, being inside the clothing store, we didn't have many options. Valerie was pregnant, and we were about to be cornered by the demons.

She insisted I go out to help.

"Honey, leave me here. I'll create a barrier and protect the villagers inside. You help those on the outside before it's too late."

For someone like me, the first gunslinger knight, I knew what to do against demons. After all, it wasn't my first time facing them.

"Yes, I know. You don't have to tell me; that's exactly what I'll do," I said, giving my wife a kiss. "Please, if you're in danger, don't hesitate to call me."

I then drew my dual pistols and opened the front door while she shielded the civilians with a magical barrier.

I still remember thinking it would be easy to protect the village and defeat the demons. However, when faced with the actual problem, I witnessed a horrifying scene.

"Ugh! My life essence! Someone, anyone, please help me!"

The cry of one of the heroes rang out in front of me. It seemed this hero had been captured by one of the demonic commanders, who was holding him by the head while draining the power from his body with a strange weapon.

"I told you to be quiet!"

Without a word of protest, the demonic commander wielded the lance in his right hand and repeatedly pierced the hero.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! This is your doing, you damn humans! You wanted war, so now you'll have it!"

Although the hero was dying, the demonic commander continued to stab him with the lance. He only stopped when he saw that his heart had stopped.

Then, he threw the hero's bloody body to the ground.

That commander was Idris.

A demon with a human appearance and a thick, reddish armor with two horns on his forehead and a pair of tattered wings. His mere presence could intimidate the lesser demons under his command.

My heart raced because of the dark mana pressure emanating from his body.

I couldn't move, didn't know what to do.

Demons without status could be vanquished by knights, but the presence of a commander who had just defeated one of the heroes...

It was impossible.

"Hey, you! Pitiful human! Move away from the door! I need to complete my lord's mission!" he exclaimed, advancing toward the store where Valerie was. "Wait a moment, you... You're not a full human, are you?"

A sense of fear didn't leave me. It was like being under the pressure of certain death. Even with this, I had to do something to save Valerie and those in the store.

"Don't take another step!"

I said, pointing my pistols at him.

Immediately, Idris snapped his fingers, and a small fireball grazed the left side of my face, leaving a slight cut on my cheek.

"Why would I stop for you? Do you even have the strength to face me?" he asked, casting a disdainful look in my direction. "You're weaker than the hero; you'd just waste my time."

When Idris asked, the village was still engulfed in flames, and smoke filled our surroundings. There were many charred bodies, much blood spattered on the ground. With all this, it was absurd to think I could act calmly.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"I don't have time for your doubts!"

In the blink of an eye, the demonic commander appeared in front of me and kicked me so hard that I flew into the remains of a fruit stand.

With that speed, there was no way I could react to such an impact.

"Did you think you could do it? It's incredible that you would even consider challenging me, despite having killed one of the heroes," Idris exclaimed as he conjured a massive fireball. "You fool, you should stay put and watch as I destroy them!"

I tried to move, but my body wouldn't respond.

At that moment, Idris hurled the fireball at the shop, and I watched as the impact obliterated the entire store. There were no walls left, everything was in ruins and surrounded by flames.

The villagers who were with Valerie were saved thanks to her magical barrier. This would have put my mind at ease if it weren't for complications, but the reality was different.

While magical barriers served as a shield of mana that protected against most damage, they also depended on two aspects in the users who employed them: vitality and mana.

When I was thrown against the fruit stand, I endured the damage because Valerie had placed a barrier on me before leaving home. Additionally, she had generated another barrier to prevent an explosion as large as the one Idris had launched at the store.

But she couldn't handle it.

At that moment, the barriers protecting me and those in the store shattered.

Valerie lay unconscious on the ground.

Seeing what was happening, Idris didn't hesitate to laugh maniacally at what had occurred.

"Marvelous! It's incredible that a young woman like her could divert the damage from my eternal flames!" he exclaimed as he examined Valerie closely.

All the villagers began to run and abandoned my unconscious wife on the ground.

"Wait a moment... Oh, what do we have here?" he said, approaching Valerie. "I didn't expect to find the vessel of Diwss here! Well, all the more reason to kill her!"

Vessel of Diwss?

At that moment, still amidst the rubble and unable to move my body, I charged magical power into my pistols to confront Idris with all my might.

"On cold winter nights, the wind gripped my weapon and enveloped every last one of my bullets: Wind Control Bullets."

As I invoked my most powerful enchantment, a magic circle formed beneath my feet, creating a strong gust that allowed me to walk.

Bang!

Then, I began firing a barrage of bullets, focusing on his vital points, but Idris easily dodged them.

"What do you think you're doing? Do you really believe you can save her?" Idris exclaimed as he held Valerie by the arm.

"Let her go!"

"Or what? What will you do?"

"I'll kill you!"

"Hahaha! If you couldn't even dodge a simple attack, do you think you have a chance against me?"

Despite hating his words, he was right.

I couldn't harm him. However, while the fire surrounded the area, I had the wind on my side.

After thinking of a method, I took advantage of the smoke that enveloped us and added to it with a gust of wind. Then, I threw two of my light magic explosives, which were very effective against demons.

Everything began to glow, causing Idris to be temporarily blinded.

"What have you done!" he exclaimed, clutching his eyes and releasing Valerie. "Where are you? Where are you, you bastard?"

Immediately, I ran as fast as I could to my wife and picked her up before she fell to the ground. And seeing how injured she was, I shed a few tears.

"Forgive me for not being strong enough, dear."

With her in my arms, I advanced through some side streets of the village. Most of the demons that followed Idris were right behind me, so I also dropped some smoke explosives along the way.

However, just when I thought I had lost Idris, he reappeared, holding several people in his arms.

"You wretch! Did you think you could stop me? If you don't come here, I'll grind these bones to dust and kill them one by one," he exclaimed, advancing towards me with bloodshot eyes.

Apparently, his face had several burns from the earlier luminous explosives. Since light magic was very potent against demons, it had also cost him his sight.

Idris continued shouting for this reason.

"Do you hear me? I said I'll kill them!" he yelled, choking one of the villagers.

Although I wanted to stop him, I couldn't.

I felt useless.

If a hero had lost to that monster, there was no way I could do anything...

Tears of helplessness welled up as I abandoned my title of gunslinger knight and did what a husband and future father would do to protect his family.

I held my wife with all my might and began to run to save her life, even knowing that the villagers would be killed.

If you can't save people, why did you become a knight?

Gradually, my thoughts began to attack me as I ran through the entire village.

You can't do anything, you're useless.

Are you really a knight?

Knights use swords; guns are for deserters.

In the end, you were never able to do anything good.

And the voices in my head were right.

Although I wanted to deny it, with every step I took through the village, I could feel it.

Desperation, anguish, fear.

The cries of all those people begging for mercy as they were killed by Idris echoed in my head. Despite being a knight, they were calling for a hero, and I wasn't one.

I wanted to defend them, to ensure that each one could escape with their lives, but I couldn't bear to lose my wife. I couldn't afford to lose her for the sake of justice.

I've always been a burden.

Despite running with all my might, Idris and the demons following him were closing in on me. Then, I saw a multitude of fire arrows falling from the sky.

In that moment, I was hit by several of them in my back and right leg, leaving me weaker than before. But even with all the pain, I couldn't give up, so I gave it my all to reach the border of the Human Territory.

By the time I was near the gate that divided the Human Territory from the Territory of the Beasts, my two legs stopped moving, and I was stranded.

"Move, please, move!"

However, the energy in my body had been completely depleted, and they didn't respond to my pleas.

I began to tremble in fear.

I didn't want to lose Valerie; I didn't want to lose anyone again. But I was on the verge of passing out. All my hopes were fading, and all I could do was scream for help like a wretch.

And as I screamed, I saw two familiar figures in the distance.

They were two semi-humans who had had their second child a few months ago. I remembered helping them the time they were captured as slaves by the kingdom's nobles, who enjoyed killing them because they considered them impure.

Their names were Shyla and Thyek.

They were outside the gate, preparing their carriage to escape to their native village. But when they saw a large number of demons approaching, they didn't hesitate to repay the debt by extending a hand to help me escape the human kingdom.

First, they lifted Valerie onto the carriage, then Shyla and her baby, and finally, her husband helped me get on.

By that point, everything seemed to be going well, but when Thyek was about to climb into the carriage, he was struck by Commander Idris's spear.

"Darling!" Shyla screamed as she watched her husband being impaled by the spear, which disappeared and returned to its owner after causing the damage.

With what little strength I had left, I managed to grab his arm and pull him onto the carriage before he fell to the ground. Shyla began to cry uncontrollably, but even through her tears, she made an effort to keep Thyek awake.

When I realized the situation, I urged the horses to move quickly, losing sight of Idris in the plains.

Three long hours passed, trying to regenerate the dark cut inflicted on Thyek by the demonic lance.

I used all my knowledge of second-level healing magic, even expensive health potions, but the damage still exceeded the healing.

By that point, Valerie regained consciousness.

Then, an idea occurred to me. If the damage had been caused by a cursed lance, the regeneration of the affected area needed to be corrected by a light mage. I could use light explosions, but Valerie was the only one who could produce the light element with her barriers.

Perhaps, instead of forming a regular barrier, if she could engulf it with light, it might serve as a catalyst, and the mitigated regeneration would take effect in Thyek's body.

So that's what we did.

When Valerie produced the barrier and covered Thyek's entire body, the curse began to gradually diminish until it became a nearly invisible scar.

Although the issue was resolved, all we could do was wait for the healing spells to take effect, and then...

"My love!" Shyla exclaimed, throwing herself into her husband's arms.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch. You're going to kill me; don't hug me so tightly," Thyek responded, stroking Shyla's hair and looking at me with his head bowed. "Again... It seems I'll never stop owing you favors, Knight Dust. Thank you very much for saving us. I thought I wouldn't live to see my second daughter."

"No. You have nothing to thank me for, Thyek. It was my fault that you ended up in that condition. If it weren't for you and your wife, Valerie and I would be dead," I replied.

After a long four-day journey, we arrived in Kurait, the Kitsue's hometown, and I began to live with them.