The Adventure of a Boy with the Mind of a Middle-Aged Man
Vol. 2 - Ch. 25 - Unyielding Determination

No longer needing to hide in the shadows, we exited the storehouse and took the back alleyways before brazenly strolling out onto the main street.

Dozens of soldiers soon surrounded us, but Kurama weaved his way through like a gale, slicing his short sword every which way. The short sword mowed through the soldiers' necks, leaving several afterimages behind.

Heads flew into the air, one after another, and blood began spurting out of the now headless bodies.

Kurama already had a well-built body, but after getting the title, "---'s Assassin," his strength, endurance, and agility shot through the roof. On top of that, he mastered a physical enhancement spell, and his power had exploded out of hand.

"K-kill them!!" shrieked the commander.

The kingdom's soldiers charged in after his orders with faces full of despair.

"Fools."

Mercilessly, Kurama kicked off the ground, setting off a shockwave like one from an artillery. He slammed into the soldiers and sent their entire bodies spiraling into the wall, leaving only their grotesque corpses behind.

He then jumped above one soldier, grasped his head and twisted in the air, letting inertia do the rest.

Then, he thrust his knife deep into the soldier's neck and slammed into the hard ground. The sounds of quick slashes accompanied his movement, which sent the soldiers' heads and limbs flying into the air.

The scene descended into hell in but an instant. Soldiers groaned in pain, but Kurama turned them into corpses before they could let out another sound.

In the end, Kurama stood alone, looking like he had been possessed by a demon---he must have lost himself.

Normally, people are adverse to both killing, and being killed, both feelings which are the essence that makes up a human. Nobody can perfectly control their will, no matter how much training they go through. And even if somebody could, they would have already lost their humanity.

"It's a m-m-monster!!" wailed the commander. He then fled the scene at the sight of Kurama grinning while covered in the blood of his victims, perhaps because his survival instinct had finally won over his sense of duty.

"C-commander!?" said one soldier. Now that the commander had fled, a wave of unrest spread throughout the remaining soldiers.

One by one, they began to step back, and many wailed as they followed in their commander's footsteps.

They were fleeing towards Camelot's north gate, and it would be a pain if they escaped the city, so I decided to kill them.

I pointed my palm towards the fleeing commander and began to incant a spell, but a voice reverberated throughout the battlefield, cutting me off.

"Only death awaits those who flee from the enemy!"

At the same time, several fireballs crashed into the commander and sent pillars of flame up into the sky.

From the direction of the voice stood several soldiers in full plate armor, all lined up in a row, and behind them stood dozens of mages.

So those mages were the one who had enacted out the commander's punishment just now. They were probably the invaders' strongest force.

"What squad are you from!?" yelled the giant man who was leading the armored soldiers.

"The Archivian Empire's," I replied.

"The empire's? You hearing this guys? The empire sure is reaching the end of her days if they're sending out a useless brat like him," the man sneered.

"Hmm, I'd have to agree with that one."

There's no way the emperor didn't know this was going to happen. He should have at least received a report or two about these invaders.

The Amrzs Kingdom and Archivian Empire were connected by an impassable mountain range of death, the Bardot Line, so the Radoa mountain range here was the only real border we shared.

Ultimately, the imperial government had put this land under my jurisdiction to protect the border.

But the collapse of the local clans after the undead attack must have affected a lot for form to go this far.

"How pitiable. If you go back to your mama's skirt and hide there, I'll spare your life."

"I don't care if you pity me. In fact, I'm grateful that you do, seeing as I'm about to kill you."

"A random kid like you is going to kill me?" he said, sneering at me.

"No more talk."

Regardless of what happened, they had invaded my lands, and had even killed off their own for such a ridiculous reason. I had no intention of playing nice.

I pointed my right palm towards him, but Hachi cut me off.

"Master, leave this to me."

She stepped in front of Kurama and licked her lips.

"You don't mind, right?" I asked.

Kurama was more proficient in hand-to-hand combat, so he was at a bit of a disadvantage against an armored opponent---although it was just a disadvantage. I couldn't even imagine him losing to opponents of this level.

"As you wish, Grey-sama," he said, lightly bowing before me and moving to the side.

"Oh? So you're my opponent?"

"That is so."

"Fine. I'll keep you company after this battle. On a bed, of course."

"Sure. That is if you can. Now, come," beckoned Hachi with one eye closed.

"You sure are easy-going. Anyone who captures that woman can do as they please to her!"

"Are you for real, commander?" one soldier asked.

"Yeah, no lies here."

"No takebacks then!"

Soon, several armored soldiers energetically stepped up and approached Hachi.

"Don't resist and you won't get hurt," said one soldier as he reached his hand out.

In the blink of an eye, Hachi's black shadow wrapped around the soldier's legs.

"Woah!?"

The soldier fell forward and looked back at his legs.

"They're b-broken!?" he screamed in disarray after seeing his shins facing the wrong way. "Shit. How!?"

She released her grip on Gleeb, who was frantically trying to protect his shins.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!?" he screamed. And of course he did, because everything from the knee down was now a clump of meat.

"Haha! How about it? It hurts, doesn't it? I injected my strongest poison, you know?"

"Poi......son?"

"That's right. Poison. The poison will circulate throughout your entire body and liquify your insides. Isn't that amazing?"

Honestly, even I was taken aback, despite being used to these types of things, and that went double for the soldier who actually got injected.

He screamed out in pain, "M-my legs!! It's spreading---"

His cells began to dissolve, and before he knew it, the wave of destruction began spreading throughout his entire body. In the end, he turned into a clump of meat as his now empty armor fell to the floor.

"She's using a strange spell! Hurry and kill her, mages!!" ordered the commander as the magicians began their incantations.

"I'll prevent that just in case."

I used Explosive Threads to bind the mages with a red thread while they were mid-chant and detonated them mid-air.

"I-impossible."

The commander stared at the mages who had exploded in astonishment.

"Retreat for now---"

Just then, the block shadow clumped up and dissolved his bones before he could finish his order, and his empty armor fell to the ground.

"Wha......"

The armored soldiers screamed, which served as the signal for Hachi's stomping.

"Kyahahaha!"

A cold laughter echoed throughout the battlefield.

"My arm!!" wailed one soldier. His arm had melted down to the bone, and he would soon turn into a paste.

"Gokaa!?"

The head of the soldier with a crew cut dissolved into mush and he collapsed onto the ground.

"Ahhhh!!"

"Ack!"

In the blink of an eye, the armored soldiers dissolved into clumps of meat without offering any form of resistance, and their armor fell to the ground.

"Don't worry. I'll be sure to feed you to my relatives."

The moment she finished her merciless statement, another soldier disappeared into a clump of meat.

Seeing their comrades dissolving left and right, the remaining Amrzs soldiers fell into a state of complete disarray.

"Uwaaaaa!!"

They sprinted towards the city's one and only exit in order to escape from this nightmare. But before they realized, Kama was already standing before them with a long sword in hand. Soon, they were mere pieces of meat.

Kama's weapon had been forged by the Chief of Engineering, Leroy, in order to bolster our forces.

It was the strongest sword, a katana. Forged by repeatedly striking the steel and various other blacksmithing techniques, the sword boasted the ability to cut through enemies like butter.

When I explained how to forge this weapon, Leroy was speechless at my obstinance on the peculiarities.

It was still a prototype and not mass-produced, so we prioritized handing them out to those specialized in swordplay.

Kama in particular had found an extreme interest in the katana and apparently never lets go of it.

"Running away from the enemy---how unsightly! If you're to call yourself a soldier, put your life on the line and show your loyalty!" said Kama.

He had taken off the upper half of his kimono and flung the blood off his sword as he said that cliched phrase.

Hey, anyone who sees this macabre spectacle would want to run. I feel like you're being too harsh.

In fact, Kama and the other two had barely even been able to speak at first, and one day had suddenly turned very humanlike.

Their sudden transformation was probably due to gaining the title "---'s Underling." Their body had experienced a drastic change, of course, but their thought processes had become indistinguishable from a humans, and they were then able to act on their own.

Kama in particular was like a westerner who had embraced the way of the samurai. They were insect people born from the spell "Gu," so it wasn't surprising they had received some of my memories.

By the way, I have been unable to use "Gu" ever since the three obtained their titles, and I can't even analyze the spell. I have no doubt that it went through some sort of change.

"Now, I'll take care of any enemies who have run away."

I marked the fleeing soldiers by the northern gate with Analyze Environment.

"【Lightning Rain】"

A rain of lightning fell onto the soldiers. The numerous lightning strikes fried the ground and burnt the foot soldiers and high-rank armored soldiers alike to a crisp.

"I feel like throwing up as usual," I thought.

The spell trampled over life, regardless of whether they were good or bad. The viciously counterproductiveness in it of itself was the true nature and the very work of war. Spilling blood with your own hands, and the politicians who haven't looking on from a safe spot--- both are immutable facts of war.

That's exactly those involved in war need it. We need an unyielding determination even if we miserably rot away like bugs.

"Choke the life out of them. Quickly, and painlessly," I said, once again ordering my subordinates to begin the execution.