CHAPTER 67

The assassins were all crushed by our joint attack.
They were now all captured and confined inside the cave.
“Do you have any idea who’s backing us to pull a stunt like this!”
“You’re in big trouble now. You’ve messed with people you shouldn’t have.”
The assassins chattered on and on.
Among their ramblings was something interesting, so I approached one of them.
“And who is this amazing backer of yours?”
“What, are you scared now?”
“No, I was just wondering if they’re someone more important than our backer.”
As I said that, I pointed behind me.
“We have a disciple of the Sword Lord on our side, you see.”
The sneering assassin’s face instantly stiffened.
The other assassins, who had been chiming in, gradually fell silent.
So, their backer was beneath Soun, the Sword Lord.
Then they weren’t a backer worth worrying about.
“So, go on. Tell me. Who’s your backer?”

He clamped his mouth shut.
He must have decided that saying anything more would only put him at a disadvantage.
“You’re all just grunts working for money, right? It’s not like you have some grand sense of duty, so why risk your lives like this?”
“...”

No answer came back.
It seemed he thought the consequences of opening his mouth were far worse than what I would do to him.
In that case, I just needed to change his mind.
“Everyone, step outside for a moment.”
This was not a sight they needed to see.
At my command, not only my party but also the Kar'dun clan obediently followed.
Having fought the assassins alongside us, they now seemed to see us as comrades.
Once everyone was gone, only the assassins and I remained.
Horizon had bound them thoroughly.
I had even checked inside their mouths for weapons; they had nothing.
“You know a little about the Divine Order’s paladins, don’t you?”
I squatted down in front of the man who had been the loudest.
Then, I placed a hand on his shoulder.
“And you probably know what kind of torture they practice.”
Immediately, Holy Magic began to flow into his body. As a healing magic, it began to mend his injuries.
But the healing magic didn't stop there.
Just as it had made my own muscles swell grotesquely, the Holy Magic continued to surge violently inside his body.
His muscles gradually began to bulge and turn red.
Crack, crunch—
At the same time, the sound of his bones buckling echoed through the cave.
The assassin’s face changed in an instant.
He, who had been forcing himself to hold back his screams, began to tremble uncontrollably, his mouth agape.
The loud-mouthed bastard was now dying without being able to let out a single scream.
Furthermore, the sight was utterly horrific.
The spectacle of every muscle in his body swelling up was beyond the threshold of horror a human could endure.
The faces of the other assassins froze.
Even so, I didn’t stop the flow of Holy Magic.
“St-Stop, he’ll die!”
One of the assassins, unable to watch any longer, shouted at me.
Hearing that, I blinked nonchalantly.
“What are you talking about? I am killing him.”
POP!
At that moment, something burst.
His heart, which had swollen the most inside his body, had exploded.
The assassin collapsed to the floor, blood pouring from every orifice.
Seeing it, I naturally didn't bat an eye.
I was already accustomed to death, and the deaths of others were no different.
Killing someone, or dying myself, no longer had any effect on me.
The other assassins watched the scene with wide eyes.
I placed my hand on the next man’s shoulder.
The assassin flinched, looking up at me with trembling eyes.
He now knew full well what was about to happen to him.
“From now on, I’m going to kill all of you just like this.”
It didn’t matter if they died without saying anything.
After all, I have Resurrection magic.
There was only one reason I was trying to get information from them.
I just wanted to find out about their precious backer beforehand, so they couldn't come after us for getting involved.
For that one reason, I acted without hesitation.
“You can say whatever you want. However, I won’t listen to anything the person who’s about to die says. I’ll only listen to what comes from the mouths of others.”
The one facing death will say anything to survive.
But what others say, with their own deaths before them, is sometimes more accurate than such desperate rambling.
If they lied, the first reaction would come from the one being tortured.
“If you feel like talking, just speak up.”
Once again, I began to infuse Holy Magic.

The assassin’s body quickly began to swell.
“I’ll talk! I’ll, I’ll talk!” the man shouted hastily before his neck could bloat any further.
But I didn’t stop the Holy Magic.
As I said from the beginning, I would listen not to him, but to the others.
The assassin quickly looked at his comrades.
They also looked hesitant, unsure of what to do in this situation.
“You guys, say something! He said he won’t listen to me! Qui-ck, g-guh, ugh!”
A pained sound escaped the assassin’s lips as his voice was cut off.
“Our backer is the Dog Keeper of Nox! The client is the R-Red Flame Lord!”
Hearing that, my hand stopped for the first time.
“Ha, that damn whore.”
So she was the one behind this madness.
Now I understood why they were so confident about their backer.
The Red Flame Lord.
That golden firebird, mad for money, was collecting Seeds of Nature to enhance her own abilities.
Seeing as she didn’t hesitate to consume human flesh, she must be in a desperate situation.
I also understood why they got scared when the Sword Lord was mentioned.
It was already somewhat known that the Red Flame Lord was being hunted by the Sword Lord.
Though it was a coincidence, from the assassins’ perspective, it must have looked like I knew everything from the start.
My gaze flickered toward the cave entrance.
Babiyen, the disciple of the Red Flame Lord, was outside.
“You’re the Hounds.”
The Dog Keeper of Nox.
From what I'd heard, he was the top son of a bitch in Nox who handled all his business by unleashing the hounds he raised.
These men were the hounds handled by the Dog Keeper.
I had wondered why they were so accustomed to killing people, but it all made sense if they were the Dog Keeper’s Hounds.
“Ye-Yes, that’s right.”
“How long have you been dealing with the Red Flame Lord?”
“W-We don’t know the exact details, but the mission came in a few months ago.”
The timing alone told me roughly when it started.
So this is where the Red Flame Lord had fled to—Nox.
I had a bad history with the Red Flame Lord.
She had burned me to death herself.
More importantly, she had joined hands with Black Dawn.
And I had already decided to wipe every last member of Black Dawn from this world.
I had no intention of letting the Red Flame Lord, who was associated with them, go free either.
As it happened, Aranseol had already contacted Soun.
I could just pass this information on to him.
I had heard enough.
I immediately infused Holy Magic.
SPLAT—
The assassin’s heart exploded, and he died.
It seemed these guys didn’t know how to protect their own hearts with mana.
Having grown up in Nox without proper training, they only knew how to kill people, not how to protect themselves.
“Wh-Why?”
Bewilderment filled the assassins’ faces.
Their eyes asked why I was killing them when they had told me everything.
“You talked, so now I’m giving you a painless death.”
Do you have any idea how blissful it is to die without pain?
Despite my kindness, their faces just turned deathly pale.
But that wasn’t the expression for people who had already killed countless others with their own hands.
They were trash who, like the uncivilized this-worlders they were, didn't understand the concept of reaping what you sow.
After killing all the assassins by exploding their hearts, I cut off a finger from the one who had talked so readily and stored it as a Sacred Weapon.
It was a calculated move, thinking it might be useful just in case.
A moment later, I called back those I had sent outside.
No one said anything upon seeing the dead assassins.

Their faces all said that they were scumbags who deserved to die anyway.
It was a natural reaction for people who hunted human hearts for money.
I relayed everything I had learned to them.
Unsurprisingly, the one whose face hardened the most was Babiyen.
To Babiyen, the Red Flame Lord was no longer a master, but a nightmare itself.
“Aranseol, let’s inform Lord Soun of this.”
“Yes, I was thinking the same thing.”
The Red Flame Lord was a pain, but she wasn’t an opponent we could face.
I had gotten stronger in my own way, but I was still just a fly that would die with a single flick of her finger.
A Lord should be dealt with by another Lord.
If we left it to Soun, he would take care of her properly.
“U-Um, w-will that be okay?”
Then, a voice came from an unexpected source.
It was Horizon, speaking up cautiously.
“Is there a problem?”
Horizon knew Nox in detail.

I asked, wondering if there might be an issue, and Horizon mumbled her words.
“W-Well, there’s a rumor that the Owner of Nox has hated the Sword Lord for a very long time. If the Sword Lord goes to Nox in person, I don’t think she’ll just stand by.”
She spoke with a worried expression, as if she could already see Nox being turned into a wasteland.
The reputation of the Owner of Nox was on par with that of the Lords.
The Red Flame Lord might have deliberately gone to Nox from the start, counting on the Owner of Nox for protection.
With the Owner of Nox and the Red Flame Lord joining hands, a rash invasion could lead to even bigger problems.
Furthermore, I had to consider the possibility that this was a trap laid by the Red Flame Lord from the beginning.
If Soun fell into a trap, nothing would be more troublesome.
The situation had become complicated.
Just like the Red Flame Whore she was, she spread her legs for anyone, anywhere.
“...Knowing my master’s personality, he’ll probably just charge in without thinking about anything.”
Aranseol also voiced her concern over Soun’s likely actions.
Soun was the type to rush in the moment an incident occurred.
He would definitely charge into Nox without a second thought.
The best course of action would be to drive a wedge between the Owner of Nox and the Red Flame Lord, but I didn't know if that was possible.
“Horizon, can you consult with Madame about this matter?”
“Yes, I’ll ask her as soon as we get back.”
Horizon nodded, also worried about the situation.
She was born and raised in Nox.
She didn’t want to see Nox get embroiled in a major incident.
For now, there was nothing we could do.
The best we could do was gather and relay accurate information.
So, we decided to end our discussion there.
“Thank you. You saved us.”
Afterward, the Kar’dun man thanked me repeatedly.
He seemed to have acknowledged us as his saviors.
“Given the situation, you should refrain from entering the 2nd World for a while.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. If you ever come to Kar'dun, I will surely repay you. Tell any of the Kar'dun clan my name. Then, anyone will help you.”
I guess this was a connection, in its own way.
In any case, the Kar'dun clan departed after expressing their gratitude.
Our party also decided to make a quick return this time. Having learned of such a major incident, we couldn't stay in the 2nd World.
The moment we emerged from the 2nd World, I heard even more unexpected news.
The Tower of the Holy Mages.
The news was that the Tower of Grace was being demolished.