Chapter 134 - Buried Alive

"Sir Sao! Here is the corpse of the rebel Gangastra! Please, inspect the remains!!"

One of the Niosebuk soldiers shouted with glee. I looked down, but... honestly, what was I even looking at?

The "lump of flesh"—or rather, that red-and-white something—the soldiers had dragged over no longer resembled a human corpse. It was completely unrecognizable.

"How exactly am I supposed to judge that this... thing... used to be the Third Prince?"

"I... I truly couldn't say...!"

Even Tamagushi, standing beside me, covered her mouth at the gruesome sight.

I suppose it was inevitable. Even wounded, the opponent was a high-ranking official of a military nation with an ultimate destruction skill. The gap in raw power between him and a common foot soldier was like heaven and earth. To crush him with the "violence of numbers," the soldiers couldn't afford any mercy. In their desperate struggle to hack and stab him to death, they’d turned him into this gory mess.

"A corpse stripped of its human dignity...!"

This was definitely a "Rated Z" scene. The kind that needs a warning label: [Caution: Contains Extreme Graphic Violence].

Looking at the remains, I felt a flicker of pity. Third Prince... this is the result of living exactly how you wanted. You valued only strength and lived a life of despising others; in the end, it all came back to you.

Tamagushi, still pale, whispered, "Sir Sao... even so, this is the fruit of the soldiers' desperate efforts. They did this because they want your recognition. In other words, it is proof that they recognize you as the new King of Niosebuk from the bottom of their hearts."

"......"

I’d been wondering about it for a while, but I think I finally see Tamagushi’s true objective.

"Tamagushi... do you want to make me the King of Niosebuk?"

"Yes. Precisely."

Precisely, she says...

"My 'Divine Calling', [Valkyrie], is a class destined to be enslaved to a hero. My very reason for existence is to lead the hero I recognize as my master to the summit and push them to the top."

She spoke clearly, without a hint of hesitation.

"Just like a 'Divine Calling,' one should make the most of whatever they are born with—including the paternal bloodline you didn't know you had until today. The military might of Niosebuk that you can grasp by being recognized will surely serve your path to supremacy."

In those words, I felt the "truth" she had been hiding finally come to light. She found more meaning in fulfilling her instincts as a [Valkyrie] than in being a Princess of Niosebuk. That was the reason for everything she had done since meeting me.

To appear to guide the hero. To serve the hero. To not even hesitate to provide sexual satisfaction with her own body.

That is the mission of a [Valkyrie] serving a hero.

"Now, Sir Sao... speak to your soldiers. From now on, they are the limbs that will move for you, the paving stones for the path of supremacy you tread. Use them, and the summit will be easily within your reach."

Well, if Tamagushi says so, I suppose I’ll do it.

The soldiers began to hoist the tiny pieces of the Third Prince they had hacked off, impaling the flesh on the tips of their swords and spears. To display the pathetic state of a rebel... I guess that’s the Niosebuk way of celebrating victory. I felt a dark, cold sensation seep into my chest.

I climbed to a high point so my voice would carry. Tamagushi followed, standing by my side.

"Soldiers of Niosebuk! Listen to me... My name is Sao."

First, the introduction. The tens of thousands of gazes fixed on me were shimmering with greed, hope, and excitement. A new "Strongest" had appeared—one who had effortlessly crushed the Third Prince, who was previously thought to be the strongest. It made sense they’d be excited at a new candidate for the throne. Truly, this is a nation that finds value in nothing but strength.

"I didn't know until today, but apparently my father was the King of Niosebuk. Normally, an illegitimate child who isn't even recognized wouldn't have a right to the throne, but..."

"That does not matter here!" a voice shouted from the crowd.

"We care not for the customs of weak neighboring nations! In the Kingdom of Niosebuk, the most important trait for a leader is STRENGTH! As long as you possess strength, we care not who your mother was!!"

"Take the throne, Prince Sao! Lead us until the entire world is Niosebuk territory!"

"If you command it, we do not even fear death! We are not like those soft weaklings in Reniosegra!!"

They already had the eyes of hunting dogs right before a chase. With a single command from me, their master, they would sprint at full speed toward the designated prey and sink their fangs in.

"...I see. So, you need a command?"

"Yes! Command us anything!"

"Then I command you... Die."

Every single one of you making up the Niosebuk army: die right here. Die right now.

With that command, the heat of the cheering soldiers vanished instantly, replaced by a chilling silence. It was like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over the entire square.

"............I grew up in the Kingdom of Reniosegra. In a rural village at the very edge of the country. It was poor and had nothing, and its only merit was its peacefulness."

There, I grew up receiving plenty of love from my mother. I played with my sister. I was raised being taught that the bonds between people are the most important things in life. And I still believe from the bottom of my heart that this is the truth of the world.

"The things humans need to live... loving your family, loving your friends, greeting your neighbors. Respecting your superiors, responding to your subordinates. Keeping promises. Being moved by things."

And, to fight thoroughly against the enemies who despise those things and try to destroy them.

"I want to build a world where the people I love can live with smiles on their faces. If you respect me, surely you will cooperate? Then there is only one thing you must do..."

Die here.

You have already strayed from the path of humanity. You are merely beasts with human faces. Beasts who cannot believe in love and drown in violence can never return to being human. Your broken reason will never be fixed; you will only continue to destroy and slaughter under the impulse of violence. I cannot let a single one of you... no, a single beast... live.

"You are harmful and useless to the country I want to build. Therefore, if there is a way for you to be useful to me, it is only by everyone dying here at once. Please, cooperate with me."

"Sir Sao...!" Tamagushi tried to say something, but I immediately silenced her with a gesture.

Not just with words, but with the sheer pressure of my aura, I signaled that my will was absolute and unchangeable. Silence reigned. What decision would they make?

"I... I don't want to...!" someone in the crowd shouted.

"I'm not afraid to die on the battlefield... but I don't want to die for no reason in a place like this! There's no warrior's pride in that!"

"That's right! I'm leaving the capital! I'll go join the Sixth Prince’s army!"

"That man will use us better than some brat raised in a weakling country!"

Ah, they ran away after all. What happened to their boast about not fearing death if I commanded it? In the end, they were just beasts who only accepted words that were convenient for them.

"Unfortunately, you cannot run."

Sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-kt! With a light, rapid series of sounds, flowers of blood bloomed everywhere. Using my [Expansion] skill, I fired my rod at god-like speeds, crushing the heads of the soldiers trying to flee.

"I expected you to refuse. I guess I really have to build the world I want with my own hands."

"Wha...?! Gwaaaaaah...!!"

Here, I used the power of the Spirits once more. The [Earth Stigma] glowed. At the same time, the ground beneath the soldiers' feet crumbled away.

Quicksand.

With the Third Prince, I’d turned the ground to mud to trip him, but this time, I turned it into a mass of fine sand that swallowed everyone standing upon it.

"Gwaaaaaah!!" 

"I'm sinking! I'm sinking!!"

The Niosebuk soldiers panicked, but the more they struggled, the faster they sank—the golden rule of quicksand. These "beast-soldiers" who bragged about not fearing death were now screaming in pathetic terror.

"Help me! Don't leave me behind!!" 

"Shut up! Don't grab me, you'll pull me down too!!"

The power of a Spirit, the power of nature itself, is limitless. The quicksand expanded across a massive area, swallowing the army of over a hundred thousand whole. I looked down in silence from my safe high ground.

"Sir Sao...?!" Tamagushi stared at the disaster below, her face deathly pale.

"No! Not like this! This death has no honor! There’s no warrior’s pride in this!! Gwaaaaaaaaah!"

"At least let us die taking down a strong foe! Pride! Give our deaths pride!!"

You never had any to begin with. You aren't warriors. You're just criminals. It’s an insult to real warriors to be lumped in with you. You kill people and disturb the peace just by existing. Since you can do nothing else, you are all equally trash.

However, even trash can ferment if buried in the earth, becoming nutrients for the soil and contributing to the growth of trees and flowers. I’ll bury you all in the hope that you’ll at least be useful for that.

"No! I refuse to die here! I’ll be the one to survive!!" 

"Gah! You bastard, what are you doing?!"

Some soldiers even began using those next to them as stepping stones to try and climb out of the quicksand. Naturally, those being stepped on resisted. It escalated into a frantic slaughter beneath me.

See? You're killing each other after all. Such good boys, following my orders so well.

Soon, the corpses numbered in the hundreds... then thousands...

"Yes! If I can secure this many footholds...! I’ll survive! I’ll survive...! Guh-ack!"

Whenever some lucky soul looked like they were about to escape by climbing over the pile of bodies, I used my [Extend] skill to punch a hole through them.

No one escapes. Whether they were silent corpses or the living screaming for mercy, the quicksand swallowed them all without distinction. I even made sure the Third Prince’s remains, which no one was paying attention to anymore, were buried too.

Everything sank. In the end, only a flat, empty wasteland remained.

"Sir Sao... what... what have you done...?"

The only person left alive besides me, Tamagushi, was shaking.

"Eighteen-hundred thousand Niosebuk soldiers...?! To erase them all...! You will surely need military force for what comes next! And there are no better elites than those of Niosebuk, who fight without fear of death! And yet...!"

"Tamagushi..."

I guess she really is a Princess of Niosebuk. Her way of thinking is dyed in the colors of the "Tiger-Wolf Nation."

"I have my own ideals. I have a vision for the future I want to realize."

In that future, many good people are living with smiles. I cannot allow the people of Niosebuk, who do nothing but destroy such things, to exist in my future.

"I won't build my ideals with their help. They would only be an obstacle. That’s why killing every last one of them here was the right answer. Tamagushi... do you understand?"

If she didn't... then she, too, was an enemy of Niosebuk that I had to strike down. I’d hate to kill a woman I’ve held—it leaves a bad taste in my mouth—but I know there are some things in this world that can't be avoided.

Now, Tamagushi. Give me your answer.

"...It seems I still didn't understand my own role."

As she spoke, Tamagushi began to undress. She removed her princess-like dress, then her underwear, exposing her beautiful naked body on the empty, silent ground.

"The [Valkyrie] serves the hero. That means submission, not trying to lead or teach him as a mother would a child. Please, forgive my impudence."

She turned around and thrust her bare, lush rear toward me, as if inviting me to ravish her like a beast from behind.

"Please, proceed toward your ideals exactly as you wish. I am content simply to assist. And, to be violated like a toy, to be the outlet for your lust. Please... give me a 'punishment sex' session for failing to grasp my Master’s heart... ❤️❤️"

I’ll follow her lead on that one. Across the lonely wasteland where over a hundred thousand soldiers were buried, the sound of slapping flesh and lewd moans echoed into the distance.

Prev            TOC            Next