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Chapter 177: Feed

~Tempest Cloud’s point of view~

「What the hell is this monster!?」

Heaps of corpses all around…

I was left speechless at such a hellish sight.

While I was left stunned by the power of the first magic, the situation suddenly took a turn for the worse.

Right now, a bizarre and mystical sight of our soldiers falling from the sky spread out before my eyes. What’s more, what followed was a torrential downpour of numerous weapons…

Even if you’re not a mage, you can clearly understand that this was caused by the magic cast by that magic beast… However, exactly because I was mage, I can understand that the magic was controlled with a terrifyingly high level of skill.

The answer that emerged from piecing together these pieces of information was an unreasonable and hopeless answer: “This is not a battle, but a one-sided execution.”

(Why is this happening? If it had gone according to plan, we would have been the ones who were one-sidedly attacking Plainevelt by now…)

We, the rebel army, who were hiding in the vicinity of Plainevelt, were suddenly enveloped in a bluish-white light when we began to invade with the order of our commander. It was only after the surroundings changed that I realized that the source of the light was a teleportation magic circle.

Immediately after the teleportation, what caught my eye was a black magic castle eerily illuminated under the light of two moons. As I looked around, I saw soldiers and adventurers who were just as confused as I was.

Intuitively, I could understand that all the rebels had probably been teleported as well. However, I’ve never heard of a large-scale teleportation magic circle that can transport a large group of 3,500 people in a single cast.

As I was frantically trying to sort out my thoughts, I caught a shadow that slowly descended from the sky.

It had the presence of a leading role descending onto the stage of a theater.

However, the following words made me realize that he was not our hero, but the villain.

「Shut up, you maggots.」

It wasn’t loud at all. However, that voice reached even me, who was in the last row of the formation, and hit me with a sense of intimidation that I had never felt before.

Just one word… just hearing that one word made me think that “that being is on a different level”. The energy to stand up against that being was robbed in an instant.

After that, being in a situation where I could only watch from the back when the magic was activated cleared my mind instead. Now that I think about it, at this point I had probably given up on living.

After the two magic activations, that being landed on the ground as the night breeze blew and harvested hundreds of lives in a matter of seconds. Every time the night breeze rushed through the battlefield, the limbs of the soldiers who were in the front were sent flying apart, and it was hard to tell whether it was a dream or reality.

(If there is a “King of the Night”, he must look like this…)

I wonder how long it took for the monster to reach me. It felt like a very long time, but also felt like an instant… It was a strange feeling.

All the rebels, except me, have already turned into corpses. It’s my turn to be killed next…

「You are the last one. Do you have any last words?」

Being asked that, old memories suddenly rushed back into my mind. I wonder if this is the thing which is called “life flashing before your eyes”…

The name of the party was [Tempest Cloud]. This was the party I belonged to.

From the beginning of the party’s formation, we were said to be “hope of the kingdom”, and set the shortest record to be promoted to an S-rank party at that time. I started a clan called [Daytona] with Bride and the others and became rank number one in the Arto Kingdom. Our plan should have gone as smoothly as possible.

——When did life start going wrong?

——Why did I have to be caught as a criminal?

——Why do I… have to die here?

…Ah, come to think of it, I almost died once in the past… It was when the Alraine dungeon was discovered when we had just become D-rank. We entered the boss room without proper preparation and were almost wiped out.

There was a member at the time – Aun. Thanks to him acting as a decoy, we were able to escape, but we, who were born in a noble family, couldn’t openly say that we left our member behind in the dungeon.

It couldn’t be helped… and it was easy to cover it up at that time.

…Why did I remember this now?

「This is my last wish. Please tell me… the name of your master, the ruler of this Phantom Castle.」

「…Very well. Then engrave that name into your brain along with death. My master’s name is “Doumeki Aun-sama”.」

「Au, n? …Go…fu」

Just when I thought the night breeze was gently caressing my abdomen, I noticed that there was a hole in my torso.

Even while falling to my knees, I desperately resisted collapsing onto the ground, but blood gushed out from my mouth and nose, staining the ground bright red.

Even in such a situation, instead of thinking about my own death, I was thinking about what the monster in front of me said.

“Doumeki Aun”… I could never forget it. He is the clan master of Star Supremacy, whom Bride fought in the finals of the ranking battel. I never imagined he was hiding such a secret…

And the name “Aun”. It’s the same with him…!? Could it be…

……No, even if I knew that, it’s already too late. I can no longer do anything.

「Time to eat.」

In the midst of my gradually fading consciousness, I heard those ruthless words clearly.

A few seconds after that, I mustered the last of my strength and looked up. The mouths of the zombies that had surrounded me before I knew it slowly opened.