“Ahh, ahh, ahh…! W-what was that…!?”
Meanwhile, a young man ran through a forest relatively close to the children’s home.
He rested against a tree, as he checked if there was anyone nearby, and thought back to what he saw.
“A person turned into a monster armor beast? Or did a monster disguise itself as a person? What was that…?”
The young man… Rush Winhelm, trembled and whispered at the unbelievable sight he witnessed.
He was instructed by Zenon to monitor Yuugo, but he never expected to see something like that… Rush was shocked about that too, but that was not what really surprised him.
It was how Yuugo was casually fighting that monster.
“He not only didn’t back away from a monster like that, but he even won…! That Yuugo, that scum, is that strong…!!”
He thought of himself as a brave man, but even he was scared of that monster. And yet, Yuugo valiantly stepped up, and took it down without any fear of getting wounded.
Rush saw him fighting, and the dazzling result that was his victory, and both of his hands trembled, as even though he assured himself that Yuugo cheated to make himself stronger than him, the situation meant that he had to accept Yuugo’s true power.
Yuugo was strong. Most likely stronger than Rush himself.
Rush saw a display of power that made him question how Zenon even beat him, but his pride refused to accept it.
“I… There’s no way I lost…! That scum cheated! If we had a proper duel I… I…!”
He was supposed to be discovering how Yuugo cheated, but Rush groaned, as seeing a pure display of power from Yuugo caused him distress, because the situation pressed him to acknowledge Yuugo.
What Zenon told him was swirling in his head. He was stronger than Yuugo. In a fair duel, he would surely win.
When Rush’s heart was broken by the humiliation of that defeat, he clung to the possibility that there was foul play to encourage himself, but now that was having the opposite effect.
“I’m supposed to be strong. I shouldn’t be losing to scum like that…!”
…His misfortune was getting caught up in the unreasonable charisma of the main character, Zenon. Because of that, he found himself unable to properly gauge the true power of the villain, Yuugo.
If he was not instructed by Zenon to observe Yuugo, he would not have witnessed that fight.
But even if he somehow did see it, if the words uttered by Zenon, that Yuugo was cheating scum and that Rush was stronger, were not etched into his mind, he would have probably just accepted that Yuugo was strong.
Rush and Marcos were very similar. Both lost a duel to Yuugo, and found themselves straying off course.
The big difference was how they felt after that, and who they came in contact with.
At the very least, Marcos did not run away. That was why, even if he suffered after facing the gap between his power and Yuugo’s, he was able to slowly accept it. And the incident that just happened served as a spark for him to accept his weakness.
But Rush could not do that.
He did not feel jealousy, as that was a negative emotion that came from acknowledging someone else. He simply looked down on Yuugo with hatred in his heart, and could not accept that he was stronger than him.
But reality stayed the same. And it did not allow him to look away after facing it directly.
Rush was not ready to accept it, and was not given time either. He was assaulted by intense palpitations that came with the feeling of everything he believed in crumbling.
He did not want to accept it. He did not want to lose. Yuugo was scum. Zenon said so too.
There was no way he was below him… And as those negative emotions continued to swell inside his heart…
“Good. You’re very good.”
“Eh…!?”
…Suddenly, without warning, a voice echoed.
Rush was surprised, turned to the side, and yelled after seeing the hooded person next to him.
The person’s face was hidden, and he could not really tell very well the stature, or even if said person was male or female.
Rush was at a loss for words, but yelled after seeing yet another person right next to the first one.
“W-who…!?”
“W-wait, help…! It’ll go better next time…! So please…!!”
Rush remembered seeing the face of the man who was crying and begging for forgiveness.
He was the monster that Yuugo and Marcos fought back… The one who transformed into a monster armor beast.
He was missing some teeth, probably from being kicked by Yuugo, but he looked almost exactly the same.
Rush was perplexed, wondering why that man was brought there, and silently switched between looking at one and the other. And then, the hooded person spoke.
“You’re very good. You’re what I want. No, I wondered what to do when the one I had my eyes on was purified, but I’m really lucky to find someone even more suitable like this.”
“What do you mean? Who are you…?”
Rush wanted to know the meaning of what the hooded person was saying, but rather than an answer, he was given something.
Rush took what looked like a pure black crab claw, that exuded an ominous aura that was clear to anyone who looked at them. He was confused, but the strange person, who was suddenly standing right next to Rush, put the crab claw in Rush’s right hand, and opened them so the man begging for mercy could be seen between them.
“You saw it too, didn’t you? This man is scum that was going to kill those children. My precious prototype was ruined too, so I’m just the tiniest bit upset. So… You know?”
“Wait! Please sto…!!”
Rush felt like he understood what was going on.
But his body refused to listen, and he raised his arm just as the hooded person guided him.
The hooded person let out a satisfied sigh, touched the scissors, and…
“Yes, clip clip.”
“Abah…!?”
As if a movie shoot was starting, a clapperboard closed.
The next moment, the man seen between the claw screamed, and when the claw was opened again, he was gone.
…Only a pool of brownish red blood remained.
“…You can have that. You have to raise it from scratch, but you’re a better prospect… And if you keep feeding it like that, it will become stronger and stronger.”
“W-what happened to t-that man…!?”
“I told you, right? You fed it… Well, that’s it. But don’t worry, he was scum. It’s a fitting end for scum, right?”
The hooded person said like it was nothing, before silently taking distance from Rush.
And as that person stood right in front of him, they uttered words that came off like they could see through everything.
“You’re strong. I gave you a tool to display that strength. Don’t fear it, take it.”
“But by feed you mean people…!”
“Yes. So? To achieve something, you need sacrifices, right? And you already did it to one… It will be the same if it’s ten or twenty, right?”
“No way…! This dangerous thing is…!!”
“I know, I know. But can you think about it? The one you want to beat cheated in some way, right? That means you have to cheat too… That’s only fair, right? Am I wrong?”
“…!”
…The person behind the hood saw through Rush to the point of being unsettling.
More precisely, they were very familiar with the darkness in one’s heart. They understood very well what words to throw someone, and how to utilize the negative emotions humans carried.
And that was why it was so easy to lead Rush by the nose.
“Well, it’s up to you how to use it. If you can’t take that step forward, how about asking that hero you trust? That will give you the determination to use it or not. Well then, excuse me.”
“Ah…!?”
The hooded person said before disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Rush was left holding the black crab claw, and gulped.
“Power…! With this, that scum Yuugo…!!”
As he whispered, the eyes looking at that ominous thing were already beginning to fill with madness.
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