Vol 5. Chapter 64: Of Course I’m Not Wrong
“Upperclassman Vinny, don’t you remember me? I’m Kero. Last semester, you gave me some pointers in the carriage on our way to the practical training site,” Kero said.
Still, Kero was not particularly surprised that Vinny had forgotten him.
He was just an ordinary nobody. He and Vinny had met only once by chance, and receiving a few pointers from him had already been an honor. How could Kero possibly expect Vinny to remember him as well?
“I... gave you pointers?” the black-robed figure asked after a moment of contemplation.
“That’s right. You may have forgotten, but I haven’t. I’ve always kept what you told me firmly in mind.” Kero scratched his head.
“But now that I think about it, what are you doing in these woods so late at night instead of resting in your dorm? And why are you dressed so strangely?”
Kero looked the figure up and down. He was draped in a black robe, making it impossible to see what he wore underneath.
“Oh, I remember now.”
After observing Kero’s reaction for a moment, the black-robed figure curled his lips. He raised his cold, faintly sinister eyes and gave Kero a smile that did not reach them.
“It’s you, Kero.”
“You still remember me?”
Although Kero found the Vinny before him rather strange—his entire presence was completely different from when they had met in the carriage—how much did Kero truly know about him?
People were complicated and had many sides to them. Everyone did. Kero had only met Vinny once, so how could he claim to understand what kind of person he really was?
Perhaps Vinny was simply in a bad mood tonight. Maybe that was why he had dressed so strangely and come to such a secluded place to clear his head.
This was Carillian Academy. Every island was protected by layer upon layer of security, especially the student areas. Nothing strange could simply slip inside.
“Yes. Of course I remember you. How could I possibly forget?” A dark, unsettling amusement colored the black-robed figure’s voice.
“Upperclassman Vinny, what are you doing in such a remote forest this late at night instead of returning to your dorm?”
Kero had confirmed that the man before him was Vinny, yet for some reason, he still felt there was something very wrong with him tonight.
“What am I doing?” The black-robed figure’s laughter abruptly stopped. “Do you want to know?”
“Ah, it’s fine if it isn’t convenient for you to tell me.”
Sensing something wrong with Vinny’s tone, Kero wondered whether he had disturbed him and made him angry.
“I won’t bother you any longer, then. I’ll be on my way.”
“No, Kero. You can’t leave yet.”
The black-robed figure smiled and lightly pressed a hand against Kero’s shoulder.
“Upperclassman Vinny?”
“I need your help, Kero.”
Beneath the glow of the illumination spell, the black-robed figure’s eyes slowly darkened.
“I hope you won’t be stingy.”
“My help? What could I possibly help you with?”
The chill in Vinny’s voice made Kero shudder involuntarily. Yet despite how completely different he seemed from the last time they had met, the person before him was undoubtedly Vinny.
Perhaps he was simply in an exceptionally foul mood today.
“Come closer.”
“Come closer? And then what?” Kero asked in confusion.
Naturally, he was willing to help Vinny. He trusted him and remained deeply grateful for the guidance he had received before.
“Enough questions. Just come over here.”
The black-robed figure’s icy voice brimmed with impatience. His patience seemed to have reached its limit.
“Ah, all right.”
Kero could only move closer.
“Upperclassman Vinny, what do you need me to do?”
“What do I need you to do?”
The black-robed figure paused, then let out a laugh that sent a freezing shudder through Kero’s body.
“I did you such a great favor. It’s only reasonable that I collect a little interest, isn’t it?”
“Interest?”
Kero trembled as a chill shot straight through his skull.
“U-Upperclassman Vinny, why is it so cold around you?”
Kero instinctively tried to step backward, only to discover that he seemed to have taken root where he stood. He could not move at all.
Looking down, he saw a patch of shadow beneath his feet as dark and viscous as a swamp. It had spread from beneath the black-robed figure and swallowed Kero’s own shadow without him noticing.
“Upperclassman Vinny?! W-What are you trying to do?”
“You said you would help me, didn’t you?” the black-robed figure asked coldly.
“Upperclassman Vinny, what happened to you? What are you trying to do?!”
As Kero spoke, the shadow beneath his feet bulged upward. The silhouette of a hideous beast’s head emerged from it.
Under the light of the illumination spell, Kero’s own shadow suddenly went berserk. It struggled desperately to escape the terrifying beast-headed monster.
Yet Kero’s body was bound and unable to move. His shadow could only be pounced upon, dragged to the ground, and devoured completely.
Kero himself had not moved, yet his shadow had defied all reason by displaying terror and trying to flee before being eaten by the monster lurking within it.
Kero had never witnessed anything so bizarre and horrifying. His legs had already gone weak with fear.
Even so, he could not collapse to the ground.
It felt as though someone had seized him by the collar and hoisted him into the air. He was completely restrained. His feet appeared to be planted on the ground, but in truth, they were not touching it at all.
He could not go anywhere.
“Nothing much. I just want to borrow some of your nourishment. I’ve been in this world for days, and I’ve had to go without ‘eating’ for far too long.”
The black-robed figure slowly dragged his tongue across his lips.
“Y-You’re not Upperclassman Vinny!” Kero cried in terror.
“No. I am. Of course I am.”
The black-robed figure placed both hands on the edges of his hood and pulled it back.
The face beneath it was unmistakably familiar to Kero.
And yet—
It was lifeless, utterly devoid of the vigor and vitality it should have possessed. It could not have been more different from the Vinny who walked openly beneath the light with his head held high.
His skin was as pale as paper. Were it not for the faint rise and fall of his breathing, he would have looked more like a walking corpse than a living person.
“Of course I’m Vinny. I’m the genuine article—the realest Vinny there could possibly be.”
The black-robed figure leaned closer to Kero and bared his teeth. It seemed he had not smiled in so long that his expression had grown stiff, making it all the more terrifying.
“This face is completely genuine. Do you see anything fake about it?”
“Y-You... Upperclassman Vinny, why are you—”
“Shh.”
The black-robed figure raised a finger to his lips.
“I hate chatter. I hate noise. I prefer silence.”
“This place meets my needs perfectly. It’s very quiet, and hardly anyone ever passes through here.”
“Academy life is wonderful, isn’t it?” the black-robed figure asked without explanation.
“Wh-What?”
“Ah, this world truly is unfair.” The black-robed figure shook his head. “Sure enough, every world is the same.”
“You little white rabbits raised in greenhouses have to do nothing more than sit quietly in the finest academy, studying without a care in the world. Then you return to comfortable dormitories where no predators or dangers can ever reach you and waste your time worrying about harmless little matters like your studies and future prospects.”
“Whenever a real problem arises, someone else will always be there to handle it for you.”
“What a comfortable life.”
The black-robed figure spoke with dark significance.
“This world strayed from its proper course long ago. It is filthy. Rotten.”
“You beneficiaries willingly joined it in its corruption, so you may as well perish with it and be swept together into the dust of history.”
“Upperclassman Vinny, what are you even talking about?”
His bitter, misanthropic words left Kero stunned.
In secret, Kero desperately mobilized all his mana and tried to reach his Spirit Soul so that he could break free.
Yet his meager power was like a mayfly attempting to shake a mountain. The mountain remained completely unmoved.
A murky force seemed to envelop his entire body, cutting him off from his Spirit Soul. It was as though the Spirit Soul had been thrown into a black sea and was sinking deeper and deeper into its depths.
“You don’t understand? That’s fine. I’ll make all of you understand in another way.”
The black-robed figure’s voice was cold enough to freeze bone.
“Whether you’re ignorant, pretending to be deaf and blind, or willingly complicit, I’ve had enough of you liars.”
“You do nothing but make sport of me, treating the hardships and misfortunes of others as idle entertainment to laugh over at your leisure.”
“That’s all right. I don’t expect you to understand now.”
“I’ll use another method to make you support me.”
The black-robed figure forced a stiff smile.
“You will become my nourishment.”
“S-Stop! Please stop, Upperclassman Vinny!”
A tearing agony ripped through Kero, wrenching a scream from his throat.
He felt as though something had brutally ripped his soul from his body, torn it into pieces, and begun swallowing those fragments one by one.
“Stop?”
The black-robed figure’s expression did not change, but chilling laughter spilled from his throat.
“You’re the ones who should stop.”
“Give up resisting. Join me in tearing this unjust world to pieces.”
“Upperclassman... Vinny, don’t do this! Y-You’re not a bad person!” Kero gasped through the unbearable pain.
“I’m not a bad person?”
The black-robed figure’s bloodshot eyes widened. He stared at Kero with neurotic intensity.
“Yes. That’s right. You’re absolutely correct.”
“The real villains are all of you.”
“Aren’t I killing a villain with my own hands right now and putting that villain to good use?”
As soon as he finished speaking, the black-robed figure curled one hand around empty air.
A crimson demonic sword covered in living blood vessels appeared within his grasp. Its flesh and veins throbbed ceaselessly like a heart pumping blood.
“You haven’t eaten anything since we arrived in this world. Go ahead. Don’t be shy. This will be your first meal here.”
It was impossible to tell whom the black-robed figure was addressing.
Then he drove the sword through Kero’s heart.
“Urgh!”
Kero let out a muffled grunt. The light vanished from his eyes, leaving them empty and lifeless.
Once the crimson demonic sword pierced his body, the blood vessels covering its blade began writhing even faster, as though continuously sucking flesh and blood from its victim.
And it was not only Kero’s body.
His soul was bound by the darkness beneath the black-robed figure’s feet and completely devoured by the monstrous shadow that had emerged from his own.
Body and soul alike were obliterated.
Soon, nothing remained before the black-robed figure.
Not a scream, breath, or trace of presence escaped. Everything had been isolated by the barrier of flesh he had raised.
As someone thoroughly experienced in the art of “feeding,” he naturally would not leave behind any evidence that could be used against him.
“Well? Was he delicious? As a student of Carillian Academy, his realm should have been fairly high.”
Once everything had fallen silent again, the black-robed figure spoke after a long pause, though it was unclear whom he was addressing.
“Passable. It was a filling meal, but I wouldn’t call him delicious.”
The crimson demonic sword slipped free of his control and floated before him. A voice that was impossible to identify as male or female came from the blade.
“What a thoroughly greedy Divine Armament,” the black-robed figure said coldly. “That was a student of Carillian Academy. Did you think he was some common meat bun lying around outside?”
“You know I’m not like those ordinary Divine Armaments. Naturally, my tastes are more refined.”
The demonic sword chuckled.
“Besides, doesn’t a greedy Divine Armament like me suit a greedy person like you perfectly?”
“You’re as glib as ever. I’ve fed you feast after feast. You’d better show some worthwhile improvement, or I’ll start thinking everything I’ve invested in you has gone to waste,” the black-robed figure replied coldly.
“What a thing to say. We’re one and the same. Haven’t you benefited plenty as well?”
“Besides, your evil Spirit Soul can’t absorb or refine the portion I consume anyway.”
“The two of us are perfectly compatible. Do you have a better option than me?”
“Hmph.”
The black-robed figure gave a cold snort.
“This young master has no time to trade barbs with you.”
“True. This isn’t the time for that.”
The demonic sword’s voice grew eager.
“Being brought into this world by sheer coincidence is a once-in-a-millennium opportunity. No one here knows there is now an evil Spirit Soul wielder and a sinful Divine Armament inside the Academy. They’re completely unprepared.”
“I can smell them. Exquisite delicacies are everywhere.”
The crimson demonic sword made an exaggerated slurping noise.
“Don’t think only about eating. Have you forgotten which one of us is in charge?”
“Of course not. You’ve always been the boss. I’ll listen to you,” the crimson demonic sword said with a laugh.
Whoever provided it with the most sacrifices was its boss. That was only fair. It had always worked that way.
That was why it had gone through so many bosses.
“So, boss, what do you think we should do next? Should we find a way back to our original world?”
“Our original world?”
The black-robed figure suddenly laughed.
“Do you want to go back?”
“You’re the one calling the shots, so that’s naturally up to you. Though from the look of you, I don’t think you have any intention of returning.”
“Exactly.”
The black-robed figure bared his teeth.
“It seems the ‘me’ in this world is a truly nauseating creature. He’s in league with those damned bastards, cut from the same rotten cloth.”
“Good-guy Vinny?” the demonic sword mocked. “Forgive my limited imagination, but I can’t picture anything so absurd.”
“Perfect. There was nothing left in our old world worth devouring anyway.”
The black-robed figure pulled his hood back over his head.
“Now that we’ve arrived in this new world, we might as well drain [N O V E L I G H T] it of every last drop of nourishment.”
“I never intended for this to happen, and I didn’t think leaving our original world would be a good thing. But after arriving here, I discovered that the people in this world are no different from those back there.”
“They’re all just as revoltingly hypocritical.”
“Then let me take the place of that worthless ‘me’ and crush this ugly, deceitful world into dust.”