“Alright then, let’s start the interrogation. Should we do this classic, traditional or avant-garde?” [Ryner]
Ryner said with a sleepy-looking expression as he looked at the two men dressed like assassins that he just captured. Having just finished his fight, he dragged his two trophies to where Maya and Evelyn were waiting. There were some additional people that appeared while he was fighting which included the Cain, about half of the heroes and the knights that finally caught up.
The comfort that came with risking his life in a deadly battle had long since faded and what replaced it was nausea. All around him were corpses that he himself created. Dead bags of meat and red blood decorated his surroundings.
It made him want to throw up like usual, but he couldn’t do it in front of everyone present. So, he forced it down and acted tough by pretending that he was fine.
“Then, shall I do it? It’s been a while since my last interrogation.” [Evelyn]
“Evelyn, is this also something you learned?” [Maya]
“I’ve been taught about many different subjects. However, there were some that I had to learn by myself, like cooking.” [Evelyn]
“… I can make an omelet, if that’s what you’re asking.” [Ryner]
“But, every time you make them, they are always slightly burnt. Moreover, an omelet is the best dish you could make, or did you improve?” [Evelyn]
“Not one bit. Now, let’s interrogate them already and get this over with. I want to know who or what I’m dealing with.” [Ryner]
Ryner ignored the suspicious stare Evelyn was directing at him and focused on the two apprehended criminals. There were a lot of things he had to figure out, things that didn’t make sense. One of them would be why they stayed to fight until they were wiped out, even though they clearly had no chance. Was it out of desperation or confidence?
While he was mulling over their suicidal behavior, Evelyn and Maya had satisfied looks on their faces. Just as they expected, Ryner came out of that fight without a scratch. Cain was impressed and the knights who just arrived were perplexed and didn’t know what was happening.
As for the heroes, they were all pale in the face. Given the fact that monster hunting was like a game where you leveled up, today was the first time they had seen so much human mass killing.
“Seriously…? Is this a war documentary…?” [Jayce]
Jayce’s dark skin looked paler than usual and his joking tone as he tried to lighten the mood was tense. He had been in a lot of fights since he was young. They were street fights, brawls, matches that had no rules. But, they didn’t end in bloodshed. Sure, there was blood on more than one occasion, but no one ever got stabbed in the head with a knife before.
“*Gulp*” [Aria]
Aria acted tough and sported a strong-willed expression, but sweat flowed from her forehead and she gulped nervously. She was a delinquent in middle school. She wasn’t a stranger to violence at her young age, but the picture of hell that she saw made her weak in the knees. If Elena wasn’t holding her hand, she would have fallen on her butt like many other girls around her.
“Ry… Ryner…?” [Elena]
In fact, her best friend was one of them. Sitting on the ground, Elena said the name of the sleepy-looking man in a weak voice and with teary eyes. With one hand clinging to her best friend, she clenched the other one near her chest and was trembling like a small animal. She didn’t think he would be capable of doing this. She didn’t know how he could act so calmly after spilling so much blood.
Similar to her, Ryan was asking himself the same questions as he tightly clenched his fists. The hand on the handle of his sacred sword was trembling which irritated him. It was proof that he was scared, but a hero shouldn’t be scared. He thought he handled the sight of the destroyed city by dragoons pretty well, but seeing someone he knew kill so many people shocked him even more.
Ignoring the heroes that weren’t sure what they should do in this situation and Cain who was about to tell him to leave the interrogation of the possible perpetrators to his men, Ryner made plans of his own inside his head. With Avalon’s resources, he could use some of the stuff inside the chemical room to get his two victims to talk.
However, someone stepped up and ruined them.
“Why are you taking two of them?” [Dan]
Dan asked as he pushed up his glasses and walked towards Ryner.
“It’s to compare their answers and see if they’re lying.” was what Ryner planned on saying without looking at him, but his instincts warned him of danger. Quickly capturing the youth with his eyes, he was just in time to see him shoot a blade of wind that cut in half the man with the dislocated shoulders and leg.
“Obviously, you only need one person for interrogation.” [Dan]
The skinny black-haired man said as he pushed up his glasses, his left hand that had just fired the spell was raised in front of him. Everyone was shock at what just happened, especially the heroes. It was understandable since one of their classmates just killed someone. They had been killing before. They had killed quite a few monsters, but never a person.
Yet, right in front of them, one of their own killed a man, a human. If the morality they grew up with could still be applied in a different world, then their classmate, Dan, had just become a murderer.
“D-Dan… What did you just-?” [Ryan]
“This is how it is, Ryan. I had a lot of time to think about things after we came out of the ruin alive. All of us probably thought about a lot of things and I’ve made my decision. We can’t continue as we had until now. If we want to live in this world, then we need to adapt. We need to be stronger. We need to be able to do this sort of thing whenever we have to. We need to be able to kill.” [Dan]
Dan said in a strong voice and with absolute confidence, interrupting Ryan’s words and shutting him up. His classmates were looking at him wide-eyed, not expecting this sudden action from him. In fact, the same could be said of Cain and the knights as well as Maya and Evelyn, though the latter two were also mad at him for getting in Ryner’s way and for acting on his own.
His declaration made silence reign over the group and, basking in the attention, he turned towards Ryner who had been looking at his dead prisoner.
“An attack on the city might happen again, so we need to be stronger than we are now. This is exactly what Ryner told us back in the ruin. We can’t be kids anymore.” [Dan]
Dan said and waited for the affirmative that he expected. But, instead of seeing their former instructor agree with him and praise him for his growth, a sword was suddenly pointed at him.
“Wrong.” [Ryner]
A white sword with a pair of wings and a blue gem was glowing faintly in Ryner’s right hand. The blade was aimed at the hero.
“This isn’t what I told you, you damn brat.” [Ryner]
His voice had a repressed anger that threatened to explode at any moment. His eyes that always looked sleepy were staring at the young man as if he was trash.
“You’re not supposed to kill like this.” [Ryner]
Everyone was surprised by his sudden change. One moment he looked like he just came back from the convenience store after killing nearly forty opponents, the next he looked like he was about to cut Dan’s head off.
“Your first kill is supposed to be horrible. You’re supposed to shake, cry, puke and scream. But, more than anything, you’re supposed to have killed him with conviction. To know that you took a life, to understand what it means. So, what the hell was with that smug attitude? What the hell was up with that disgusting smile?” [Ryner]
Ryner was angry. They didn’t know why he would be angry when he himself had killed so many. They didn’t know why he would talk about conviction when his hands were stained with the blood of countless. But, Cain and the knights had an idea why since they, as soldiers, were no stranger to killing.
Furthermore, the knight commander knew his personality a bit after talking with him when his three subordinates died in the ruin. Maya and Evelyn knew why since what he was saying now was something that he had preached to them and emphasized on.
Dan didn’t know why he wouldn’t agree with his own words from the scolding he gave them. It didn’t go as planned at all and now he looked totally uncool after looking so cool. Things really weren’t going according to his plans and his patience was at its limits.
“*Sigh* From now on, do as I tell you to, ok…? Obey me.” [Dan]
With those exasperated words, his unique ability took hold of everyone present. There was no flash of light, no special sign, only his will.
“W-what!” [Cain]
“U-ugh…” [Aria]
“U-uh?” [Ryan]
“I… Can’t…” [Elena]
“T-the h-hell…?” [Jayce]
Suddenly, heroes and knights lost control of their body and they became unable to move as they wished. It was like countless chains had them shackled from head to toe.
“Kuh…!” [Maya]
“T-this is…” [Evelyn]
“… Crap.” [Ryner]
Maya, Evelyn and Ryner also couldn’t move anymore no matter how hard they tried. Everyone shifted only their eyes to look at the culprit that was standing around with a smile on his face.
“I don’t want anyone to see this, so let’s move away from the city.” [Dan]
Dan said as he started walking away from Elura, far from prying eyes, and everyone followed behind him like obedient soldiers, no, like mindless machines.
“At first, I tried hard to get the respect I deserved. I mean, I’m a hero after all. I know I need to put in some work and build up my reputation.” [Dan]
The entire group, with Dan at the head, was now running further and further away from the city walls. Ryner and the knights were somehow able to keep up with the S ranks. Dan didn’t want to overexert himself and was only lightly jogging, but with body strengthening, the speed was quite fast.
“I’m quite patient. I put up with playing second to Ryan for months since we got here, even though he was clearly inferior to me. But, Ryner just showed up out of nowhere and threw things out of whack.” [Dan]
Having been given the order to be silent, no one could talk as they tried to resist by firmly planting both feet in the ground. However, it had no effect and their bodies continued to run by themselves.
“He gave us unreasonable training, scolded us who were superior to him and was even deemed as the ‘protector of the Holy Wings’?! What’s more, he’s got one, no, TWO hot women following him! What about me! Why am I, a hero, getting pushed around and treated like some background character?! Where’s my respect?!” [Dan]
Dan’s voice gradually became louder and louder until it turned into an angry roar, showing his disappointment, wrath and humiliation. All the fantasies he harbored as a high school student, his expectations when he was summoned as a hero in this world and his elation when he discovered what kind of unique ability he had were all betrayed.
He didn’t reach the peak of the pyramid like he thought he would. His ordinary days that became extraordinary still didn’t allow him to become super popular and stand above all others. It wasn’t his name that people chanted the most when he passed through the streets with his classmates. It wasn’t him that the ladies chased after.
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“*Exhale* So, this little event was made so that I could raise my reputation by valiantly fighting off dragoons and so that I could rack up on exp points. I don’t want the same pathetic thing to happen as the last time in the ruin. What kind of hero gets killed by some random monster before he defeats the demon king?” [Dan]
Calming down and adjusting his glasses, Dan talked in an almost cheerful voice as if he was boasting about himself. He felt good. Everyone was, for the first time, at his mercy thanks to his ability.
“I forgot to mention, but the unique ability given to me is the power to control anyone that I casted my spell on. Once it’s attached to you like a bug, I can activate it and take control of your body. It continuously drains mana, so I can’t control someone forever, but thanks to being a hero, I can maintain control for days.
I tested it once. You guys remember the horned wolves that gathered together? The same thing happened here. I had dragoons come over to get killed by me and had these guys wait outside for the second round. But, they were super weak. I should have gotten something better than a bunch of bandits.” [Dan]
Dan turned his head slightly, sending over a look at his new slaves. Sure enough, though some of his classmates were still in disbelief, everyone was glaring at him with hatred. However, their eyes only made him smirk with glee. He could really feel his superiority in this situation.
“You guys shouldn’t look at me like that. Don’t you get it? If I wanted to, I could have taken over the kingdom by controlling the king, his family and every noble. I could have controlled any of you whenever I wanted. A slave harem would have been easy to make. It’s too bad I can’t erase memories, or I would have had some fun.
But, I’m a hero. So, I wanted to do things right and get you guys to acknowledge my greatness by killing a bunch of monsters. You would then see that, in this world, I should be the leader. It’s too bad things went bad again. Ryner keeps ruining everything. That’s why we’ll have to switch to my backup plan.” [Dan]
He continued to prattle on, feeling like a strategist that had his enemies caught in his intricate trap. His opponent couldn’t oppose him at all. The knights, the heroes, Maya and Evelyn were all directing their bloodlust which pricked his skin, but nothing more, though Ryner looked calm. He knew they couldn’t do anything to him. He had faith in his special power.
Everyone was outraged that one of their own, a hero no less, had betrayed them. Moreover, he had hidden his unique ability and planned on using it for himself to take control of everyone. He was even responsible for the hundreds of horned wolves that were heading for the city. Moreover, he was responsible for this disaster that claimed numerous lives.
Ryan, Jayce, Aria and Elena, none of them could believe it. They never once thought that Dan, who was a quiet and model student in the class, was this kind of person. Ryan and Elena still looked shock while Jayce and Aria looked like they wanted to pounce on him and beat him to a pulp.
“You guys want to hear about my backup plan, right? But, first… Yeah, we should be far enough. Now then, let’s hear your thoughts. You may speak.” [Dan]
Stopping after a while, he looked in the direction of the city that was dozens of kilometers away. If it was from here, those on lookouts wouldn’t be able to see them properly. Speaking in an authoritative tone, he gave them permission to talk. Everyone felt the force around their mouth disappear and they instantly spoke their mind.
“Dan, you traitor!” [Random hero]
“Have you no shame?!” [Random knight]
“This is inexcusable, Dan!” [Cain]
“Aren’t we classmates? Comrades?! Dan?!” [Ryan]
“It’s useless, Ryan. You heard his true thoughts. We should just bash his head in!” [Jayce]
“Agreed. He needs to pay.” [Aria]
“Dan… Why…?” [Elena]
Forgetting their situation, they hurled insults at him or questioned his betrayal. Dan basked in it all, feeling more and more fulfilled from all the attention. Very soon, he won’t be hearing most of them. He couldn’t wait to see the looks on their faces when they realized they stood no chance against him from the beginning.
After doing it himself, he now knew why villains in movies liked to boast about their plans. The attention, the feeling of being in control, the fact that he was indeed in control and that his foes were powerless, everything felt intoxicating. Of course, he wouldn’t ever say it out loud since he was a hero.
Only Ryner, Evelyn and Maya were silent. The latter two were imitating Ryner and kept quiet, though they really wanted to tear that chatty kid’s head off right now. The sleepy-looking man had his usual look on his face and held onto the White Wing that wasn’t returned to the pocket dimension. His thoughts couldn’t be read on his face at all.
“You guys can keep saying what you want. Heroes are often misunderstood, after all.” [Dan]
Dan shrugged his shoulder and talked with a small smile on his face. There was no tension in his words at all.
“You’re insane.” [Aria]
Aria spoke venomously with clear wrath on her face even though she could only stand in one place without moving. The same could be said of everyone that was watching Dan walked back and forth with his hands behind his back.
“That’s just because you don’t understand how great I am. Then again, I’m not surprised since you kept following Ryan instead of me.” [Dan]
“I can’t believe my men sacrificed their lives to save you…” [Cain]
“Your men didn’t. They failed. They died and let the monster approach me. They did an awful job of protecting me, the guy who’ll be their future king, after I marry the princess of course.” [Dan]
“Kuh! Yoouu…!” [Cain]
Cain gritted his teeth in frustration for being unable to do anything and in anger for having his subordinates spoken ill of. The brat that was acting all high and mighty wasn’t scared after his three knights died facing the Predator. He wasn’t scared after seeing people die in front of him. He was scared for his own life. He didn’t care about anyone but himself.
Rather, it was more correct to say that out of all the students that were summoned, he treated his situation as a game more than anyone else. It was his delusion, his fantasy, his story. It was exactly like in the novels that he read. He was the protagonist and they were his supporting cast.
However, things weren’t going according to the script, so he had to act out of character. With the ridiculous power to easily control anyone inflating his ego to massive proportions, he believed that he was the main hero that would beat the bad guys and get all of the girls.
“Anyway, everyone shut up.” [Dan]
With one command, no one could speak a word or utter a sound. Dan, walking triumphantly, went in front of Ryner who was masking all emotions. He then stretched his right hand out.
“Before I tell you about my backup plan, I’ll have you all see how mistaken you all were. Ryner, you weakling, kneel down and give me my sword, the Holy Wings.” [Dan]
Ryner’s body moved by itself automatically and he went down on one knee. Then, he presented the Artifact with both hands and lowered his head like a knight before his king. Seeing his position, those present realized what it was that Dan was trying to do.
“This is what didn’t happen during the ceremony. The one where Ryan got clearly rejected, but no one wanted to admit it. This is proof that you’re all wrong and that I’m right. I’ve been right all along.” [Dan]
His right hand grasped onto the handle of the sword before everyone’s eyes. After a second, after half a minute, nothing happened at all. Dan’s smirk widen while the others were dumbfounded. Then, a minute passed followed by another minute.
He held it longer than Ryan did and still nothing happened. The sword didn’t react at all to his touch. He wasn’t rejected. Knights and heroes were shocked with horror and their faces turned paler. Maya and Evelyn also didn’t think that the result was possible and they looked towards Ryner with doubt.
Dan, already expecting this result, merely chuckled lightly as he ran his eyes over those who witnessed his glorious moment. He didn’t say anything, but his arrogant expression was obviously looking down on them. Then, he declared in a powerful and confident voice.
“This is proof that I am, a TRUE HERO!” [Dan]
He raised the white sword and lifted it over his head much like Ryan did as he basked in another moment of victory. However, it was short-lived since the White Wing emitted a bright light without warning and he was suddenly blown away much like Ryan was.
But, unlike the other times, the impact of the force was greater than having a grenade detonate in someone’s face. A normal person would have been torn to pieces, but Dan activated body strengthening prior to touching the Artifact. Despite believing that he would be chosen, he had still used it as a precautionary measure. That was how he managed to keep his life and how Ryner’s first plan failed.
Dan flew backwards, rolled around and stopped face-down, stunned by what happened since he wasn’t actually expecting such an outcome. Those who witnessed it were also slack-jawed, but unlike the hero with glasses, relief and a tinge of mockery started to settle in them.
After this completely unwanted result, Dan didn’t have time to rest on the grassy ground. As the sword fell before Ryner’s feet, the kneeling man with unkempt black hair went straight for his second plan.
Immense killing intent, cultivated by battles and madness, poured from his body and assaulted Dan. With his opponent’s mental state destabilized, Ryner was now going to try to make him lose control of his power.
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*Author* The fight's coming to an end. There's been a few questions in the comments. They'll be answered in future chapters, but if you want to know now, I'll put it here as spoilers.
1. Why can't Ryner use magic?
2. Shouldn't he have an endless amount of weapons?
3. Why are the heroes mentally weak?
Spoiler :
1. Ryner once told Aria that he can't use magic. The reason was made up, but it's true that he can't. It's not a problem of control, his body is incapable of magic and he didn't bother changing it. There's a difference between being born in a world and creating your body.
2. He's got a lot of weapons, but it's not endless. Guns, Artifacts and Avalon are useless against Alice once the fight escalates. Also, he doesn't carry most of them in his pocket dimension. Most of the space is taken up by supplies like food and materials. You need bullets to fire guns. He keeps the strong ones, the practical ones and those that hold a special meaning.
3. Because they're normal high school students that lived in a peaceful city. I don't think they should be resilient to killing people.