Two things were discovered first.
On the surface, this village didn’t seem strange at all. Just an ordinary village you could find anywhere. But once you use time stop, the story changes.
The residents had terrifying appearances, as if their severed bodies were haphazardly stitched together. What was chilling was that they themselves were oblivious to their own issues.
They were gruesomely hunting and roasting their kind, yet not a single soul noticed anything odd. Even me, as an outsider, was caught up in it.
Until time stop was activated.
I didn’t notice anything strange.
In short, once you enter the village, you fall under hypnosis.
That was my conclusion.
If I hadn’t had the time stop ability, the moment I entered, I would have been caught. Thanks to that, I discovered that among my time stop abilities, there was also a mind control release, but I wasn’t happy about it.
So after time stop comes hypnosis? It’s one of the classic NTR elements. I could forgive many things, but I could never forgive that hypnotist. Those damn NTR-loving bastards.
But I had no intention of ruining things out of anger. Calmly, I began gathering information one by one using time stop. The state of time stop guarantees absolute safety.
Of course, there were limits on the information I could discover through time stop. Still, thanks to it, I could safely gather some information. What I found was as follows:
[Considering the dwarves’ forms seem consistent, they must have made them as their own art pieces.]
[In the village center, there was a huge tent made of red fabric that seemed entirely out of place.]
[However, most of the dwarves entering there were in the form of boys and girls, looking quite decent.]
So I really had no choice but to go into that red tent. I let out a deep sigh. I really didn’t want to go in. Because it was scary. But since I had already taken the job…
I had no choice. Plus, I had the ridiculously OP ability of time stop. I swallowed hard. If the situation got really dangerous, I’d run away without hesitation.
First, I checked the shortest route from the village to the red tent. As a result, I found I could reach the red tent in just 2 minutes from the village entrance. I hid in a suitable spot.
“Haah, haah!”
I couldn’t just rush in. At the very least, I needed to ensure the cooldown for time stop was completely over before entering. If I rushed in, I might catch an immediate attack. That would mean I would die right away.
After confirming the cooldown for time stop was finished, I immediately entered the red tent. The inside of the tent was very dark and quiet. At least until I stepped in.
Suddenly, things like fireworks exploded in the dark interior of the tent, and the entrance I came through vanished in an instant. What the hell? Was this a trap?
“Indeed! The commander of the Royal Knights! I can’t help but be amazed at your boldness!”
“What the heck is that?”
The dark tent brightened. Inside, the audience seats seemed to surround me. And there were kids, each of them grotesque and smiling.
Voices echoed from the air. Naturally, I looked up, and saw a man tightrope walking on a rope suspended in the air. His body was quite small.
But he was dressed in unnecessarily flashy clothing, with a clown-like face paint. Not just his attire and makeup. Every single word and action was overly exaggerated.
Just watching him made me feel very uneasy. It was as if he was performing teabagging. He was still moving around exaggeratedly, pouring words towards me.
“Surely, the commander of the Royal Knights wouldn’t fail to notice this obvious trap, right? Aha! Of course not!”
“……”
I just kept my mouth shut. He was neither ally nor enemy, and there was no need to let him know I was a total idiot. During times like these, it’s better to appear confident; it makes the opponent anxious.
“I have no intention of dancing to your petty rhythm. As a Royal Knight, I shall behead the demons. That’s all there is to it.”
“Wonderful! Truly wonderful! Indeed, a rising star among the new commanders of the Royal Knights!”
“……But why does your speech sound like that….”
“For such a magnificent commander, we have specially prepared guests! You might find them familiar!”
Once again, fireworks burst. Simultaneously, things suddenly popped out of thin air. They were all distorted monsters. I immediately stopped time.
In the past two months, I hadn’t just been idling around. I had sharpened my skills through sparring with the members of the Royal Knights. Especially, I had gained a lot of combat experience using time stop.
As a result, I had mastered the technique of quickly moving and striking the enemy while time was halted. I kicked off the ground, closing the distance in an instant, and swung my sword.
Swish!
Thanks to that, I could immediately stop time and attack. And as time resumed, the monsters’ heads fell to the ground. The commander gasped in shock and shouted.
“My goodness! Goodness gracious! To behead without hesitation! Are you devoid of blood and tears?!”
I pointed the tip of my sword at him and replied.
“Where is the mercy to give to the enemy?”
In the first place, I didn’t even know who these things were.
*
I must create the best stage.
That obsessive thought was the driving force that brought it to this position. That madness, which didn’t exist for monsters, propelled it relentlessly to the status of a demon.
Level 1, Level 2, none of it mattered. It simply wanted a stage for everyone to enjoy. So it always pondered. How can I create a great stage?
How can everyone laugh and have fun? It thought and thought every day. It indulged in knowledge. To decorate the stage, it didn’t shy away from human literature.
“Splendid! Truly splendid! Human!”
It accumulated much experience. It learned that touching young children elicited more intense reactions. It realized that making comrades fight was the ultimate stage.
Look.
Even now, numerous audiences are cheering, aren’t they?
Royal Knights, our hated foes. Yet I do not hate you. Because you are merely playing the role of a hated enemy, nothing more.
And a new actor has stepped onto the stage. The newly chosen commander right after the annihilation of the Royal Knights. Truly, a role that cannot help but draw everyone’s attention. Splendid, really splendid.
That’s why it sent out the actors that it had prepared to the best of its ability until now. Once called the Royal Knights, but now have lost pride and soul. Just puppets.
[You…!! How dare you harm my comrade…?!]
[Are you devoid of blood and tears?!]
[I cannot forgive this! I will definitely kill you!!]
The experiment has already concluded. The reactions of former comrades were nothing short of excellent. Just what kind of reaction will you show? I was so excited that I lost sleep for days.
“For such a magnificent commander, we have specially prepared guests! You might find them familiar!”
One was a boy from the Rat Clan, standing out among the Twelve Tribes. The other was a boy knight who was somewhat famous in the Dwarf Republic. Both were excellent knights, but.
Now, they had been twisted beyond recognition. Countless arms and legs tangled grotesquely. Yet their heads were oddly pristine…
The reason for that was merely for their comrades to recognize them properly. Naturally, even though he was the newly chosen commander, there wasn’t much difference. There was no way he wouldn’t recognize their faces.
That’s what I thought.
However, in an instant, what I witnessed was the sight of the actors’ heads flying through the sky, severed in an instant. Without even a chance to react, the beheaded actors crumbled away.
“My goodness! Goodness gracious! To behead without hesitation! Are you devoid of blood and tears?!”
There was no hesitation. Just recognized them as enemies, drew his sword, and swung it. As if seeing someone for the first time. But that shouldn’t be possible. Even if rotten, he was the commander of the Royal Knights.
Not some random human rolling around in a refugee camp, suddenly made commander. He must have some connection with the former members of the Royal Knights. Yet there was no hesitation in his actions.
He pointed his sword at them. With a coldness like midwinter, it was the first time he felt tension. No one had ever shown such a reaction before, not even once.
“Where is the mercy to give to the enemy?”
Though a bit surprised, it was no problem.
Just in case, I had also prepared another top-tier actor.
A duel between the former commander and the current commander.
It truly was a guaranteed box office success, wasn’t it?
