Volume 3 - CH 40

Act 3-40: A Lifetime Goal(SIde: Oboro)

The bipedal monster with a lion head, who brought me along with my subordinates from Crimson Raven, Nemea, led us to enter a realm with a huge grassland.

Nemea stood in front of us all and declared in a domineering voice,

『A protector can’t be weaker than the one they’re protecting! That’s why you people are going to undergoes special training here. Don’t worry, we’re currently inside an independent realm called ‘Norn’s domain’. Here, time flowing differently, that’s why you don’t have to worry too much about the time spent and just focus on your training to become stronger.』

He declared, sending chills running down my spine.

「Flow of time? Training? I have no idea what are you talking about…」

Unfortunately, Nemea ignored the question expressing culmination of our confusion.

『I said it’s training, but you humans are the weakest amongst intelligent races. Your body aside, your mind-with exception of some amongst your race-, most of you are going to die if we do this for more than 150 years. After 80 years, you’ll start to develop a completely different personality… In short, the longest you can stay in this realm while keeping your original personality intact is no more than 80 years. For efficiency sake, I’ve to use the fastest method to allow you to learn real combat as soon as possible.』

Nemea rambled on about the seemingly extremely dangerous training with a proud look on his face.

「That’s why I told you I have no ide――」

As if to interrupt my objection, Nemea drummed his fists on his broad chest as a smirk formed on his face. The next moment, we were struck by a wind blast.

『This is the imperial decree from My Lord! I’ve to accomplish it at all cost! I’ll be troubled if you people have a hard time against skinny lizards like Deboa!』

Nemea’s eyes were bloodshot, as if he turned into a mad beast.

Oh shi*t! My sense of crisis, that had been sharpened until now, rang alarms like crazy. I instinctively realized that the current Nemea was bad news.

「P-Please wait a minute――」

『FOUL FEEDER, COME!!』

And just as expected, Nemea’s voice echoed throughout the grassland before I had the chance to speak.

Suddenly, a small white rat appeared in front of us.

『Kyu~』

When the white rat raised a cry, Nemea pointed his index finger towards us.

『Foul feeder, go play with these fellas. Ah, make sure to hold back as much as possible since these fellas’ body are way too weak. Just make sure that you don’t accidentally kill them.』

『KyuKyu.』

The white rat raised its right-hand amidst adorable cries.

Nemea nodded few times, satisfied with the white rat’s reply, and to us, who still had no idea what was happening, he soon explained,

『This is your first training! You’ve to land a strike on this foul feeder! And don’t hold back since the lost parts of your body will be regenerated. 』

「This rat doesn’t seem to be able to bi――」

I couldn’t finish my remark due to the severe pain transmitted from my spinal cord. Much to my surprise, when I looked at the source of the pain, I found out that my entire right arm was missing as fresh blood spurted like crazy from the open wound.

『Don’t let its appearance fool you, this foul feeder is God’s Kin(Our Loyal Servant). Even a single one of them can literally annihilate the entire human race. In short, the first thing you’ve to do is―― transcend beyond humankind! That’s your first assignment! 』

「UWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!」

Our despaired screams became the gong that start this hellish training(literally).

◇◆◇◆◇◆

I’ve had no idea how many months had elapsed since the start of our training. That white rat was powerful. Or rather, the word powerful might be an understatement. The current me could confidently claim that the white rat was an overwhelmingly powerful existence that could single-handedly kill the likes of Deboa, who we had a hard time against. That’s why, it was only natural that we got beaten to pulp without even being able to resist the rat’s onslaught. And every time we got injured, the wound would be restored to normal by a mysterious slime. Our body got eaten, healed, then eaten again during training, it was an endless spiral of madness.

Just what kind of human could endure this kind of abuse? But then again, as we lived our life in that kind of environment, we started to get used to fear. Nowadays, as we sat around a bonfire, drank liquor(?) given to us during our break, my subordinates’ topic of conversation was,

「Ma~n, my shoulder got bitten-off today.」

「It’s right-leg in my case, that rat is so damn fast.」

「Fast aside, the time it took for a bite is also so damn fast. Look, I got a literal wind hole on my abdomen.」

Such heavy conversation was being carried out way too normally as we enjoyed ale, as if we just finished a job. At this moment, I realized that all of us, the Crimson Crow, had changed deep inside.

More time passed, we finally managed to land a hit on「Foul Feeder」’s limb.

Strangely enough, I didn’t feel happy or delighted. I just felt that this long moment had ended. And for some reason, both me and my subordinates felt a sense of emptiness, like what we felt after a festival ended.

Nemea then observed us who sat on the ground, exhausted, and then squinted his eyes with a satisfied look on his face.

『Good job. With this, all of you have finally broken through your human limits. It should be something worth celebrating for a human right? And you reached your goal quicker than my expectations. With this, we can finally start the real training. 』

If it was the old us who heard that, we would definitely raise a despaired wail.

「The real training? You mean, this isn’t the end of our training?」

I unconsciously questioned.

『The end of your training? What a foolish thought. All you did until now is just the minor adjustment to prepare your body to withstand the training. The real training is just about to begin.』

Nemea’s remark felt like a blessing on our dried and empty heart. It turned out that rat kin was nothing more than an appetizer. The goal, the main course, that we had to reach might be in the inviolable realm that none of the humans, demons, dragonewts, dragons, mythical beasts, monsters, or any other races in this world ever managed to attain. That’s why――

「Since that’s the case, how much stronger can we become? 」

I couldn’t hold back from asking the question that suddenly popped up in my mind.

『That depends on you. Your rivals are already few steps ahead of you. Well, those fellas might be a little bit special amongst your race though. 』

They had gotten ahead of us, eh. That’s what make things even more interesting. I snapped out and ended up smiling wryly upon realizing my messed-up train of thought.

「And what will be waiting for us after we reach that point? 」

『It’s been decided right? Become sword and shield of Our Supreme Ruler. And you people have been given such honor by My Lord. You should’ve realized just how honorable that position is and how lucky you are, right? 』

Became the sword and shield of the Supreme Ruler, eh. The Supreme Ruler here must refer to none other than the monster revered by these abnormal beings, Nemea and co―― Kai Heineman.

We didn’t feel sleepy in this realm. Therefore except for a short rest provided to heal our mental fatigue, we tried to hunt that monster of a rat all the time without having any spare time to think about other things, aside from fighting. But, now I had some leeway to think about this matter after we accomplished that mission. I recalled the first question I had in my mind when we were brought into this realm.

（Just who in the world is that man? ）

Normally speaking, since he was the leader of Nemea and co, the first and most natural answer was “There’s no way that he is a human”. Was what I felt, at least right until we undergo this baptism. In fact, Nemea and co. might also think this way because it was normal for them to think that a human wouldn’t be able to reach such heights. That’s why Nemea might’ve regarded Kai Heineman as the same kind of otherworldly being as them.

（And yet, Kai Heineman has clearly stated at that time that he is a HUMAN.）

Yes. Kai Heineman replied without a shred of hesitation when I asked him that question.

（Nonono, that’s too absurd…）

Kai Heineman was a human. “Like hell I could believe that” was what the old me might feel. But, my instinct had told me that Kai Heineman didn’t lie to me when he said that.

I was a villain, a scoundrel who grew up in slums, I had gotten used to the life of cheating since a tender age, living my life at the sword’s edge. Thus, I developed a skill to see through lies. And upon recalling Kai Heinaman’s gestures, small movements, and remarks at that time, I knew that the other party wasn’t lying.

「Kuh! HAHAHAHAHA!」

Thus, I couldn’t suppress a passionate laugh from leaking out of my mouth.

I SEE! I SEE NOW! Nemea would definitely murder me if he could read my current thoughts. Nevertheless, I believe that I came up with the most accurate answer.

「HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! TO THING THAT SUCH ABSURD THING EXISTs!!」

Yeah, I might look like a mad man right now. I mean, that’s just how charming you are! TO THINK THAT I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO REALIZED THE REALITY ABOUT A HUMAN WHO SURPASSED ALL THOSE TRANSCENDENTS WITH HIS OWN, HUMAN BODY!!

If Kai Heineman was something along the line of gods or devil, I might not feel this kind of reverence that turned my world upside-down. But, Kai Heineman was a human. That small, weakest race with a huge handicap placed upon them since their birth. NEVERTHELESS, that person crossed that barrier, and became the strongest existence in this world. Moreover――

「KAI-SAMA, YOU’RE THE BEST! 」

This was a yearning, a yearning that brought me to tears!

Yes. This is not a joke! As if I’m going to let go of the honor to become the spear of that personage against those otherworldly beings! I had no idea how long it would take us! But, I’ll definitely became the sharpest spear for that personage! We have to! We must become one for Our Lord!

「Nemea-san, start the next training immediately!」

For the first time in my life, my voice was full of devotion.

===

TN: Lesson from Martial God, Kai vs Signiel