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As the black sphere burst forth, it felt like the three worlds were in a vacuum. It was as if the flow of mana within the forest was converging in one place.

The aura released from the tip of my sword split the black sphere in half.

Boom! Boom boom!

A deafening explosion overwhelmed the forest. Cliffs crumbled and the surrounding trees shattered like weeds underfoot.

Kieeeek!

The basilisk took my attack head-on, its entire body turning black alongside the collapsing cliff.

And it was falling as well.

The basilisk, scorched and shrieking, plummeted to the ground with me and Leo.

The fierce wind brushed past my ears as my unprotected body helplessly fell to gravity, sending chills down my spine.

“Ha, shu, shush.”

With a face as pale as a sheet, devoid of any soul, he tightly gripped my shoulder and looked at me with dazed eyes. Those eyes, dilated and blind to the light, seemed to beg for my help.

“It’s okay. It’s okay, Leo.”

I embraced him tightly and infused mana around my feet.

The mana scraped through the air, gradually slowing our descent. The vast mana enveloping us defied gravity. I slowed down more and hugged Leo’s trembling body tighter, conveying my reassurance. I maintained eye contact with him to prevent him from gazing at the surrounding sights during our fall.

As our speed lessened, it was comparable to the descent of flower petals by the time our feet touched the ground.

Finally, my feet hit the ground. I let out a sigh of relief and then tilted Leo’s chin to meet his gaze.

“Leo, you did well.”

I gently pushed him away to create some distance between us. He fell backward without resistance.

I approached the smoking basilisk.

“Now rest. I’ll take care of the rest.”

The basilisk was already drained from the chase against Leo and hadn’t even recovered from its injuries.

Now, it was just a matter of snuffing out its life.

I covered my sword with black aura once more. The wide-area attack I had just performed had gathered all my aura and burst it out at once, leaving me fatigued, but I was better off than the soul-harvested Leo.

Whoosh.

I pulled my sword out of the basilisk, embedded deep in its body. The basilisk writhed feebly, groaning helplessly.

It could no longer escape.

“I’ll need to wash this sword once I’m home.”

The entire sword was coated in a viscous black blood, sticky to the touch. Holding back my nausea from the horrendous stench, I infused more aura into the blade.

Zing!

The sword, imbued with aura, vibrated. The red mana stone embedded in the hilt sparkled. I thrust my foot down on the basilisk’s head while gripping the hilt with both hands.

The shining silver blade glimmered in the sunlight.

Kieeeek…

The basilisk faltered, with the sword embedded near the junction of its head and body. The smell of monster blood and flesh burning from the aura was horrific at any time.

At last, the basilisk ceased to breathe.

“It’s done.”

As I felt the aura of black magic disintegrating, all the tension in my body released. With a heavy sigh, I took my foot off the basilisk’s head.

“Two calamities killed in two days. Harabana and the basilisk; both are known as the most formidable monsters among calamities. I don’t think anyone in continental history has achieved the feat of killing two major calamities just a day apart.”

“First… I need to retrieve the heart.”

Gazing down at the basilisk’s carcass with cold eyes, I thrust my sword into the midsection of its body, tearing it open recklessly. Enduring the revulsion, as I scraped through the insides, I discovered an oddly shaped massive purple chunk of flesh.

This was the heart of the basilisk.

Holding my breath, I pulled out the heart. Dark magic pulsed from it.

The dark magic dissipated immediately upon the death of the monster, and it was exceedingly difficult to find evidence that someone had controlled a monster with dark magic since the corpse oxidized and disappeared within an hour of its demise.

“The only part that retains the presence of dark magic is the monster’s heart.”

The heart, akin to a core, kept traces of the spell even after the dark magic was undone. I stuffed the basilisk’s heart into the pouch, sealing it multiple times with mana to prevent the poison from leaking out. This had a specific purpose.

“Ugh… I’m exhausted.”

Dragging my weary footsteps, the purple poison leaking from the basilisk squelched beneath my feet.

It was obvious that I wouldn’t be perfectly fit after facing Harabana the very next day. Facing the basilisk in my current state, it was only normal to feel utterly drained to the point of collapsing at any moment.

“But I can’t rest yet.”

After distancing myself about a meter from the basilisk, I strained my already weary mana circuits to draw up more mana.

Swoosh.

A translucent barrier surrounded the carcass of the basilisk. The violet poison that had been spreading and melting the ground was trapped inside.

“I have to hold out until the paladins and priests arrive.”

The place where the basilisk had moved was already devastated by poison. If I left the corpse, expelled of all poison, lying there, the forest could become desolate before the paladins and priests arrived.

Despite the mana circuits seemingly on the brink of burning out from being overworked, I had to maintain the barrier.

“Kashmir!”

Leo, having regained his senses, rushed toward me. For a moment, I leaned against his hand on my shoulder and managed a small smile.

“Leo… No.”

As I began to call him by the name I had always known, I corrected myself. My patience wouldn’t allow me to wait any longer.

“Should I now start calling you His Majesty King Alexandros?”

Alexandros Leandro Leoned Atara.

That was his true name.

Leo’s face, which had only just begun to regain some composure, turned pale again. The strength drained from the large hand gripping my shoulder. He opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, releasing a strange noise.

“… Why, why did you think that?”

It was simply because I knew the original story. However, I couldn’t answer like that, so I chose the prepared answer.

“The second prince called you Your Majesty. You came from the Atara Kingdom.”

“T-that was just the second prince joking—”

“Most importantly, the color of your aura—it’s exactly the same as that of the Atara King.”

Alexandros Atara was famous for his fluorescent green aura, resembling a lethal venom.

“In the original story, it was white, so why has it changed like this? Did my time with him have an impact?”

Not knowing why, I found it perplexing that the boy I had seen before was suddenly not so simple.

Leo, possibly struck by the truth, faltered and averted his gaze, stammering in an attempt to defend himself.

“The color, it’s just similar! It could happen, right?”

“Leo.”

I gently called him, staring at him with slightly sorrowful eyes.

“Are you thinking of keeping this from me?”

Yeah, I was pretty upset. Upset that he didn’t consider me someone trustworthy. It bothered me that he continued to hide himself. His eyes shook as I bit my lips, showing my feelings.

“Shush. So I’m—”

“Do you think of me as someone untrustworthy?”

I spat out my feelings of resentment, causing Alexandros’s face to tighten. He inhaled sharply and lamented as he let out a noise. His light brown hair became a mess beneath his hand.

“Sigh… yeah. I…”

His eyes, filled with mixed emotions, looked at me. He gulped, ready to speak.

“… I am the king of Atara.”

Finally, he directly revealed his identity. The moment the secretive Leo became Alexandros.

“But why… are you like this?”

His head hung low, as if burdened by some grave error. His tightly clenched hands only reinforced my feeling that something was wrong. Staring at Alexandros as he turned his head away, I slowly spoke.

“Did you hope I wouldn’t find out?”

“Uh…”

“Did you intend to hide it forever?”

“That’s not it. I just…”

He slowly raised his head. His eyes held a glimmer similar to before.

“I hoped you’d find out as late as possible.”

Alexandros was afraid.

‘…This person?’

Confused, I narrowed my brows.

“What do you mean?”

“You know what kind of person the current king of Atara is. How I… how I seized the throne.”

“The current King of Atara… grew his power by allying with the Empire and killing his siblings to take the throne.”

There was a stain of countless lives on Alexandros’s throne. He sighed in a way that conveyed the horror within.

“You liked kind people when you were younger. You said that just recently.”

“… Ah. Ah!”

Suddenly, a memory sprang up.

“Hey.”

“Hey! Call me sister.”

“… Sister, you… what kind of person do you like?”

“Why the sudden question?”

“Just answer!”

“Geez, like a chubby calf.”

“Answer me!”

“Well, I haven’t thought too deeply about it but…”

“Um… I probably like kind people.”

“Someone who values others as much as themselves and cherishes dying lives. I like someone who doesn’t treat others carelessly.”

“What about you?”

“I also probably like kind people.”

“… Kind people?”

“So you’re saying, if I find out that Alexandros, who seized the throne with so much bloodshed, is the king of Atara, you think I’ll look down on you?”

Attaining that conclusion made me put on a face of disbelief. No matter how I reacted, Alexandros seemed unfazed, maintaining his serious expression.

“You only know me as the young Leo.”

He looked at me. Alexandros’s eyes were exceptionally heavy.

“This grown version of me, you think I’ll disappoint you…”

His fading words were pitiful. I found myself momentarily speechless as I gazed at him.

Indeed, I had always liked kind people since childhood, and even now, if asked to choose between someone bad or someone kind, I favored the latter.

In reality, even knowing that Leo was Alexandros, I often saw him as the polite boy I had known rather than as the brutal ruler who ascended by slaughtering his siblings.

‘That’s true, but…’

I gazed up at Alexandros, who retained the contours of his younger self but had changed considerably.

‘Was his desire to remain Leo for me similar to my wish to stay as just Shushu for Aria?’

Though I had calmly revealed that I was Mir after coming to the Duke’s Mansion, I actually wanted to remain as Kashmir for my beloved sister. I simply wanted to stay a normal sister to her.

‘You thought I’d despise you if I knew you were Mir? How ridiculous. Why would you think that?’

‘Well, you know. There are plenty of absurd rumors about Mir…

“Well, let me ask you this. If I were a murderer, would you despise me? Since I’m not the naive Aria you knew?”

“Of course not!”

“Exactly. I feel the same. Whether you’re a black calamity or the lord of hell, I will still love you. What I love is you, as you are.”

“To truly cherish someone means to accept even their dark side.”

Yet Aria had grown far better than I had expected. Remembering her words, I slowly continued.

“I… I dislike cruel people.”

His shoulders shuddered. Alexandros’s face rose sharply, looking as pale as a corpse drowned in water. I continued to speak slowly.

“I hate dismissing lives carelessly. I don’t like cruelty or violence either.”

I might not like King Alexandros’s tendencies. No matter how long I lived as a mercenary, even though I had resolved for warfare, I’d only killed once in my life.

I had never liked someone who cavalierly treated human lives.

 

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