"Don't you think this is a very entertaining sight, General Kaio?"

In the middle of the fierce battle.

A man stepped in between them.

General was the title used for awakened who had reached level 30 or higher.

And only twelve people had ever been granted that title.

General Kaio and the ten fighting him.

And then—

"General Jinlei...?"

—with the last one included.

A total of twelve.

"For you to cut in all of a sudden. That must have surprised you."

When the fight between the generals had begun, the members of the leadership collapsed on the floor had been unable to rise under the pressure of that giant's presence, and that giant, though its soul seemed to remain alive, did not appear capable of saying the same for its body.

It had merely watched the scene in silence. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

And the final general—

the man who had even been called a hero.

Jinlei had done nothing but stand back and watch the fight.

"General, please just watch from the rear. We'll deal with him ourselves."

The surviving generals looked at Jinlei and spoke.

Unlike them, who had never even heard of that giant or this grotesque fortress, Jinlei was someone who had long since been carrying on dealings with the monsters together with those members of the leadership.

His existing position had already been high, but after entering into dealings with those monsters, he was even more likely to become their superior.

That was why they showed him courtesy and stepped forward, offering to handle the troublesome part themselves.

But—

"Just look at that."

As if he had not heard them at all, he looked at the giant of a man who was dying miserably.

"They were just killing each other a moment ago, and now they're flattering me instead."

"...?"

"Do they really think creatures who'll use even their own comrades as bait the instant they think they can profit from it can curry favor that way?"

Looking at General Kaio, he said it in a voice laced with mockery.

"...General?"

"Are you talking about us?"

Then.

Even the onlookers could sense that something about the atmosphere had turned strange.

"What are you doing, Jinlei?"

The Chairman and the other members of the leadership, still sprawled on the floor, turned around to look behind them and spoke with wide eyes.

"Hurry and kill that meddler."

"..."

"We're right on the verge of accomplishing the great undertaking. Just as you planned, didn't we gather in one place the people who would be useful if they became allies, but troublesome if left alive? If we get rid of the meddler, then—"

But.

Regardless of any of that.

"General Kaio. I sincerely apologize for dragging you into something like this."

Jinlei continued speaking in the same calm tone.

"I already knew you were never the type to agree to a plan like this."

"Ghhk..."

"If you had been a little more ordinary, I wouldn't have needed to call you here in the first place. If that had been the case, then even if I let you live, you either wouldn't have been able to put up much resistance... or you'd obviously have hidden away just to save yourself. But I ask for your understanding. If you were alive and well, you'd have been a serious obstacle. I had no choice either."

At those words, General Kaio looked at him with blurred eyes and opened his mouth.

"Jin... Lei."

"Yes."

"Did... you... agree... with... a plan... like that...?"

He looked like he might collapse at any second.

Even so, there was something Kaio wanted to ask Jinlei.

"Hah."

The General Jinlei he knew...

might have been far from the hero others claimed him to be.

But still—

"No."

—he had not been the kind of man obsessed with his own advancement.

"There is no way I would agree to trash like that."

***

"General Jinlei!?"

"What do you mean by that? Wasn't this the bargain your side proposed to us!"

Not just the generals, who had naturally assumed Jinlei was on their side—

"What are you doing, Jinlei!"

"Didn't I order you to kill the meddler at once!"

Even the leadership turned to him and shouted.

"Please refrain from making unreasonable demands."

Jinlei looked at the leadership as though they were pitiful, then let out a hollow laugh and said,

"For 1% of humanity to survive, the remaining 99% get offered up?"

Even if most of his achievements had in fact not been his own, but the work of those monsters,

General Jinlei was still one of the generals.

"That would be a horrifying thing, wouldn't it?"

It was already hard enough dealing with Kaio alone, and if one more enemy were added, the remaining generals really might lose after all.

"So now you're going to act righteous!?"

"You built your reputation by offering people up as sacrifices, and you aren't even ashamed!"

The generals, now convinced Jinlei had turned against them, let their hostility surge.

Everyone present believed Jinlei had taken Kaio's side.

...But.

'That's...'

In that place.

Only one person.

'It's different.'

General Kaio alone

thought the meaning of Jinlei's words might be slightly different.

"The truth is—"

As the other generals had said, it was true that Jinlei had built his reputation by offering human lives in sacrifice.

But.

The General Jinlei Kaio knew...

was not the kind of man who would regret his own actions now of all times.

"That these hideous wretches would survive at all—much less 1% of them."

To begin with.

Jinlei was not a man who cared about his reputation.

If he had been offering humans as sacrifice from the start, then that would not have been for the sake of building up his own fame.

Quite the opposite.

"That would be a horrifying thought, wouldn't it?"

"...What?"

The act of 'offering humans as sacrifice' itself

had probably been Jinlei's goal all along.

"Grand Duke."

Jinlei, who had been looking at Kaio, turned his body and began walking toward the Grand Duke and the members of the leadership collapsed before it.

"Do you remember when I first set foot in this castle after obtaining your invitation?"

-Of course.

Shrrng.

Two solid military greatswords appeared in his hands.

"And you haven't forgotten what you promised me back then either... have you."

-I have never once forgotten my promise to you.

"If that is so, then as I promised as well..."

Pwaaaak!!!

"...I shall offer all humanity to you."

The moment his blades swung, showers of vivid blood burst from the throats of the old men lying on the floor.

***

Even before the ruin.

These were men who had stood among the core figures of one of the world's most powerful nations and wielded every kind of power.

After the ruin, they had continued acting as leaders of humanity, and each of those figures in the leadership had also been a powerful awakened in the high twenties.

Pwaaaak!!!

From their throats, vivid fountains erupted.

"You crazy bastard!"

The generals who saw that began swinging their weapons.

"Do you still think you're some kind of hero!?"

"When even all the achievements you've built up were nothing but lies. Arrogant bastard!"

Four had died in the fight against General Kaio, but six still remained alive.

And those six had survived precisely because they were stronger than the four who had died.

"Mutter mutter mutter mutter..."

But.

"Why is garbage like this so damn noisy...?"

"...!?"

Then from Jinlei's hand, a fierce blaze poured out.

Paaaaak!!!

"Kyaaaaagh!!!"

One general, who had never even imagined such an attack would come, had an arm turned to ash in an instant.

'Whenever we occasionally fought together, he'd only ever shown hand-to-hand combat... Was he actually a mage?'

'Impossible. The close-quarters ability he showed in normal times wasn't ordinary either!'

'So he's a spellsword-type awakened... But if his magic alone is that powerful, isn't it on the level of the late Brigadier General Wang Jun...?'

While they stood in shock—

Slash.

The neck of the general whose movements had slowed from the burning pain was severed by a blade.

He had been so confident in his own swift sword that he was poor at defense and evasion.

Vivid blood sprayed in all directions.

"Even so!"

If he really was a spellsword-type awakened, then however cool the name sounded, the vast majority of them were mediocre at both close combat and magic.

Given the power of the spell he had just shown, his close-range combat ability probably wasn't all that impressive—

Slice.

—or so

the general who rushed in to exploit the opening thought.

'Huh...?'

The general charging toward him felt his body flying up into the air.

No.

It wasn't his body flying upward.

'Why is... my body over there...?'

Before he had even realized it, his neck had already been severed, and it was his head that was flying through the air.

"...!?"

The generals who saw that had no choice but to stare in shock.

Even they had failed to properly see the process by which that general's neck had just been cut.

A swift sword to an unbelievable degree.

There had been only one person in the guild capable of wielding a sword that fast...

but that man had died just moments ago.

"...Ha. We thought it'd be over once we dealt with General Kaio."

"This is insane. Fine."

Only then did the generals realize that even if the fame Jinlei had built had been false, his skill itself had not been a lie.

They tightened their grips on their weapons.

"There aren't many of us left now. If we fight like before, we'll lose."

"I know."

"Hah. How the hell did things turn out like this...!"

Kang, kaang!

As the four surviving generals finally began fighting in proper coordination, even Jinlei no longer seemed able to handle them with ease.

Their weapons began crashing together violently.

"Grand Duke...!"

While that fierce battle continued,

"Pl-please. Please kill that traitor!"

One of the surviving members of the leadership—

the Chairman crawled across the floor toward the giant and cried out.

"Didn't you promise us!"

-...

"If we paid the proper price, then we too would become your bloodline... and enjoy eternal life. Wasn't that what you said to us!"

Even in the middle of that, the battle raged on.

Slick—

'That was close.'

Jinlei's blade lightly cut across one general's skin.

A shallow wound that did little more than draw a few drops of blood.

'I can ignore that and keep fighting—eeeeeeghk!'

Puuuuung!!!

His head swelled to a grotesque size and then exploded violently, scattering chunks of flesh and blood in all directions.

"If only you kill that traitor, then the bargain between us will still be completed without issue."

-...

"Please, I beg you... help us, help us...!"

One of the generals failed to avoid the blood spraying through the air.

The moment his vision was obscured, Jinlei's sword sliced through the opening.

-Inferior child. You are under a misunderstanding.

"...Pardon?"

The battle went on.

The corpses of the strong fell to the floor.

-I never made a bargain with the likes of you.

"W-what... what are you talking about?"

-When you first set foot in this castle, did you not see the warning?

A colossal nation where billions of humans had once lived.

Those who had managed to survive inside that nation.

And among them, the strongest of the strong, who possessed talent, skill, and luck in abundance.

-That any who entered my castle without permission would one day pay a price in blood...

"...!"

-You were warned of that, were you not.

Their blood splashed in every direction and was violently strewn across the floor.

-The only ones ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) exempt from paying that price are guests formally invited by me. And the only ones who may make a bargain with me are those who visit this castle carrying my invitation.

"That would be us! We came here by your invitation—!"

-And the one who received my invitation...

And then.

At last.

-...is standing behind you now.

"...!"

Slash.

There was only one human left in this place who was still breathing.

***

Only a few seconds earlier, the dark center of the castle had been filled with the sounds of a savage battle.

But now it had become eerily silent.

"It seems quite a bit of time has passed since the promised day."

In the middle of that vast chamber, the only person still moving spoke in a respectful tone.

"I apologize for the delay. It took time to make the preparations."

As though showing courtesy before a king, he dropped to his knees on the floor with utmost respect and said,

"These are the finest offerings I could present to you."

As he knelt and lowered his head, there, within the reach of his gaze—

the blood pooled across the dark floor twitched.

And began to flow somewhere.

"It is the blood of the strongest people I know."

The blood spread thickly in every direction formed a river with a single stream.

"They are, in essence, the blood of beings as hideous as can be, so it may fall far short... but I ask that you accept it generously."

The end of that river lay in the deepest part of the dark castle.

Sluuurk...

The giant's body there began sinking into the blood-formed river.

-It certainly is not a splendid offering.

A moment later.

A voice rang out from within that pool of blood.

-But... there are times when hunger itself is the finest seasoning.

The pool formed by that enormous river of blood dried up in an instant.

"Haa..."

And what revealed itself from within that now completely dried basin

was—

"It has been a long time, and blood tasted after so many years has quite a special flavor."

—the figure of a handsome man, smiling with a face full of life.